The structural uncertainty model with Bayesian learning, advanced by Weitzman (2007), provides a framework for gauging the effect of structural uncertainty on asset prices and risk premiums, and has quite a few appealing attributes. In this paper, we provide an operational version of his...

This paper studies the time series predictability of currency carry trades, constructed by selecting currencies to be bought or sold against the US dollar, based on forward discounts. Changes in a commodity index, currency volatility and, to a lesser extent, a measure of liquidity predict...

In this paper, we develop lower bounds on the variance of the permanent component and the transitory component, and on the variance of the ratio of the permanent to the transitory components of SDFs. Exactly solved eigenfunction problems are then used to study the empirical attributes of asset...

When the transitory component of the stochastic discount factors (SDFs) prices the long-term bond, and the permanent component prices other assets, we develop lower bounds on the variance of the permanent component and the transitory component, and on the variance of the ratio of the permanent...

This paper addresses questions regarding the dimensionality of the stochastic discount factor and the selection of the best factors that enter it. We analyze these questions theoretically and empirically with a novel methodology which performs both (i) estimation of factor loadings and (ii) best...

This study formalizes the departure between risk-neutral and physical index return volatilities, termed volatility spreads. Theoretically, the departure between risk neutral and physical index volatility is connected to the higher-order physical return moments and the parameters of the pricing...

This article presents a framework for studying the role of recovery on defaultable debt prices (for a wide class of processes describing recovery rates and default probability). These debt models have the ability to differentiate the impact of recovery rates and default probability, and can be...

The treatment of this article renders closed-form density approximation feasible for univariate continuous-time models. Implementation methodology depends directly on the parametric-form of the drift and the diffusion of the primitive process and not on its transformation to a unit-variance...

This article provides several new insights into the economic sources of skewness. First, we document the differential pricing of individual equity options versus the market index, and relate it to variations in return skewness. Second, we show how risk aversion introduces skewness in the...

This article develops and empirically implements a stock valuation model. The model makes three assumptions: (i) dividend equals a fixed fraction of net earnings-per-share plus noise; (ii) the economy's pricing kernel is consistent with the Vasicek term structure of interest rates; and (iii) the...