Equity Premium Puzzle, Prospect Theory and Subprime Crisis

The equity premium puzzle is one of the most important phenomena in finance. Related to behavioral finance, we use the concept of Myopic Loss Aversion (MLA) to explain the puzzle in developed and emerging markets. Empirically, we support the robustness of the positive equity premium across the most developed and emerging markets before the subprime crisis. However, the equity premium becomes negative during the subprime crisis, except for the financial markets of Hong Kong, India and Tunisia. Using a simulation method, we find that myopic emerging and developed market investors evaluate their portfolios annually. Furthermore, the optimal stocks allocation by myopic loss-averse investors is higher in emerging markets than in the developed markets