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Contribution Details

Type Working Paper
Scope Discipline-based scholarship
Title Improved Inference in Financial Factor Models
Organization Unit
Authors
  • Elliot Beck
  • Gianluca De Nard
  • Michael Wolf
Language
  • English
Institution University of Zurich
Series Name SSRN
Number 4107472
Number of Pages 28
Date 2022
Abstract Text Conditional heteroskedasticity of the error terms is a common occurrence in financial factor models, such as the CAPM and Fama-French factor models, This feature necessitates the use of heteroskedasticity consistent (HC) standard errors to make valid inference for regression coefficients. In this paper, we show that using weighted least squares (WLS) or adaptive least squares (ALS) to estimate model parameters generally leads to smaller HC standard errors compared to ordinary least squares (OLS), which translates into improved inference in the form of shorter confidence intervals and more powerful hypothesis tests. In an extensive empirical analysis based on historical stock returns and commonly used factors, we find that conditional heteroskedasticity is pronounced and that WLS and ALS can dramatically shorten confidence intervals compared to OLS, especially during times of financial turmoil.
Official URL https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4107472
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