We propose a theoretical framework for constructing a market proxy that corresponds to the ldquo;market portfoliordquo; of financial theory. We construct this proxy, analyze its determinants and test its efficiency and explanatory power over the period 1974-2003 with respect to the return...

The weak empirical evidence linking diversification and international equity flows calls into question the diversification paradigm at the international level and the analytical framework it implies. Using a novel measure of diversification that includes all the moments of the distribution of...

In this paper we use the Clark (1991) methodology to estimate the macroeconomic financial risk premium from 1985 to 1997 for Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela, the 6 Latin American countries with the largest stock markets, and test whether and to what extent it affects...

In this paper, we empirically investigate the relationship between equity and credit market development and economic growth, in a sample of five very important 'emerging' markets. In particular, we employ a multivariate time-series methodology to test for long-run trends and causality between...

The concept of efficient portfolios plays an important role in modern financial theory and practice. Although there is an extensive and growing literature that focuses on testing portfolio efficiency, outside of mean-variance optimization, which has several serious shortcomings, no systematic...

In this paper, we construct zero cost portfolios based on second and third degree stochastic dominance and show that they produce systematic, statistically significant, abnormal returns. These returns are robust with respect to the single index CAPM, the Fama-French three-factor model, the...