This paper investigates whether the risk-free rate may explain the movements observed in the conditional second moments of asset returns. Original results are derived, within the C-CAPM framework, that attest the existence of a channel connecting these seemingly unrelated quantities. The...

This paper deals with the estimation of the risk–return trade-off. We use a MIDAS model for the conditional variance and allow for possible switches in the risk–return relation through a Markov-switching specification. We find strong evidence for regime changes in the risk–return relation....