Newspapers and weekly magazines catering to the investing crowd often rank funds according to the returns generated in the past. Aside from satisfying sheer curiosity, these numbers are probably also the basis on which investors pick a fund to invest in. In this article, we fully characterize...

According to the Sharpe-Lintner capital asset pricing model, expected rates of return on individual stocks differ only because of their different levels of non-diversifiable risk (beta). However, Fama/French (1992) show that the two variables size and book-to-market ratio capture the...

This paper introduces a benchmark model for financial markets, which is based on the unique characterization of a benchmark portfolio that is chosen to be the growth optimal portfolio. The general structure of risk premia for asset prices and portfolios is derived. Furthermore, the short rate is...

We provide a framework for the analysis of term structures of credit spreads on corporate bonds in the presence of informational asymmetries. While bond investors observe default incidents, we suppose that they have incomplete information on the firm's assets and/or the threshold asset level at...

This paper describes a financial market modelling framework that exploits the notion of a deflator . The denominations of the deflator measured in units of primary assets form a minimal set of basic financial quantities that completely specify the overall market dynamics, where deflated asset...

In this experimental study of tax evasion and its determinants participants earn their income in a complex stochastic intertemporal environment including the possibility to invest into a risky asset. The earned income has to be declared in four tax returns which are randomly verified. If tax...