We use corporate bond yield spreads to gauge investors' return expectations. We then replace standard ex-post, averaged measures of return with our ex-ante return measures in asset pricing assets. We find that the market beta plays a significant role in the cross-section of returns when...

We use a fully-specified neoclassical model augmented with costly external equity as a laboratory to study the relations between stock returns and equity financing decisions. Simulations show that the model can simultaneously and in many cases quantitatively reproduce: procyclical equity issuance;...

The q-theory implies that investment is a first-order determinant of the cross section of expected returns, and that optimal investment drives the external financing anomalies. Our neoclassical model simultaneously and in many cases quantitatively reproduces: Procyclical equity issuance waves;...

We conduct a comprehensive study of the cyclical movements in economic fundamentals for value and growth firms. We document that the fundamentals of value firms are more adversely affected by negative business cycle shocks than those of growth firms. The differential response between value and...