Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
5088537 Journal of Banking & Finance 2015 15 Pages PDF
Abstract

We provide evidence using data from the G7 countries suggesting that return dispersion may serve as an economic state variable in that it reliably predicts time-variation in economic activity, market returns, the value and momentum premia and market volatility. A relatively high return dispersion predicts a deterioration in business conditions, a higher value premium, a smaller momentum premium and lower market returns. Dispersion based market and factor timing strategies outperform out-of-sample buy and hold strategies. The evidence are robust to alternative specifications of return dispersion and are not driven by US data. Return dispersion conveys incremental information relative to idiosyncratic risk.

Related Topics
Social Sciences and Humanities Economics, Econometrics and Finance Economics and Econometrics
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