The Time Variation of Liquidity Risk on US Stock Markets

The influence of liquidity costs and liquidity risk on asset returns has been proven by several empirical studies. This paper analyzes the conditional version of the liquidity-adjusted capital asset pricing model and shows that betas significantly vary over different economic regimes and that liquid portfolios provide diversification benefits compared with illiquid portfolios. The results support the effects of a flight-to-liquidity. The time variation of liquidity betas induces additional risk for investors, which has important implications for investment decisions and asset allocation.