We amend the conditional CAPM to allow for unobservable long-run changes in risk factor loadings. In this environment, investors rationally "learn" the long-run level of factor loadings from the observation of realized returns. As a consequence of this assumption, we model conditional betas...

This paper explores the theoretical and empirical implications of time-varying and unobservable beta. Investors infer factor loadings from the history of returns via the Kalman filter. Due to learning, the history of beta matters. Even though the conditional CAPM holds, standard OLS tests can...

This paper finds that the market betas of value and small stocks have decreased by about 75% in the second half of the twentieth century. The decline in beta can be related to a long-term improvement in economic conditions that made these companies less risky.

Mandatory contributions to defined benefit pension plans provide a unique identification strategy to estimate the market's assessment of the value of internal resources controlling for investment opportunities. The price decrease following a pension-induced drop in cash is magnified for firms...

The paper argues that the market significantly overvalues firms with severely underfunded pension plans. These companies earn lower stock returns than firms with healthier pension plans for at least 5 years after the first emergence of the underfunding. The low returns are not explained by risk,...

We introduce a new dynamic trading strategy based on the systematic misspricing of U.S. companies sponsoring Defined Benefit pension plans. This portfolio produces an average return of 1.51% monthly between 1989 and 2004, with a Sharpe Ratio of 0.26. The returns of the strategy are not explained...

The paper argues that the market signifficantly overvalues firms with severely underfunded pension plans. These companies earn lower stock returns than firms with healthier pension plans for at least five years after the first emergence of the underfunding. The low returns are not explained by...

We complement the conditional capital asset pricing model (CAPM) by introducing unobservable long-run changes in risk factor loadings. In this environment, investors rationally “learn” the long-run level of factor loading by observing realized returns. As a direct consequence of this...

We complement the conditional CAPM by introducing unobservable long-run changes in risk factor loadings. In this environment, investors rationally `learn' the long-level of factor loadings from the observation of realized returns. As a direct consequence of this assumption, conditional betas are...

In the first three decades of CRSP data, value stocks have higher betas than growth stocks. Later on, the ranking is reversed and the gap in beta widens. What makes growth strategies nowadays bear more market risk than value strategies? What are the causes of the reversal in the ranking of...