Our aim is to analyze the link between optimism and risk aversion in a subjective expected utility setting and to estimate the average level of optimism when weighted by risk tolerance. Its estimation leads to a non-trivial statistical problem. We start from a large lottery survey (1536...

This article examines how the introduction of an ETF replicating a stock index impacts on the liquidity of the underlying stocks when the ETF market involves liquidity providers (LPs). We find that index stock spreads decline, relative to those of non-index stocks, after the introduction of the...

This paper proposes a consumption-based model that accounts for term premiums of the nominal term structure of interest rates. The model focuses on ex ante term premiums, which depend on the volatility processes of real consumption and inflation. The contribution of the paper is to derive and...

Size has become a significant factor in explaining returns. According to the size effect, smaller capitalization stocks on average outperform larger capitalization stocks over long periods of time. This paper first documents the traditional size effect on the French market for the 1986-1998...

This work shows how long-term investors can benefit from adding volatility as an asset class to their portfolio. Two types of "structural" exposure – long implied volatility and long volatility risk premium – are now simple to implement. Implied volatility exposure can be used to...

The diversifying power of inflation-linked (IL) bonds relative to traditional asset classes has changed significantly. In this paper, we study the dynamics of conditional volatilities and correlations for three asset classes, IL bonds, nominal bonds, and equities, in the USA and Europe. Using a...

We derive the implications from the absence of arbitrage in dynamic securities markets with bid-ask spreads. The absence of arbitrage is equivalent to the existence of at least an equivalent probability measure that transforms some process between the bid and the ask price processes of traded...