A Unifying Approach to the Empirical Evaluation of Asset Pricing Models

Two main approaches are commonly used to empirically evaluate linear factor pricing models: regression and stochastic discount factor (SDF) methods, with centered and uncentered versions of the latter. We show that unlike standard two-step or iterated generalized method of moments (GMM) procedures, single-step estimators such as continuously updated GMMs yield numerically identical values for prices of risk, pricing errors, Jensen’s alphas, and overidentifying restrictions tests irrespective of the model validity. Therefore, there is arguably a single approach regardless of the factors being traded or the use of excess or gross returns. We illustrate our results with the currency returns constructed by Lustig and Verdelhan (2007)