Essays In Empirical Asset Pricing PDF Download

This dissertation consists of two chapters, all of which attempt to shed some light on what constitutes the time-varying risk premia in financial markets. The first chapter demonstrates that monetary policy shocks identified from New-Keynesian dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) models explain the risk premia in stock markets. Indeed, the implied ICAPMs explain the value and the industry premia for the periods of 1980 to 2004. In particular, the permanent monetary policy shocks to inflation target capture the value premium and part of industry risk premium once I account for the capital market imperfection endogenously in New-Keynesian models. The shocks to investment technology, as a main determinant of the external finance premium, are also important for understanding the value premium.