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The profitability and investment premium: Pre-1963 evidence

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  • Wahal, Sunil

Abstract

I investigate the profitability and investment premium in stock returns using hand-collected data from Moody's Manuals for 1940–1963. Controlling for value, the profitability premium emerges as important in this period. In contrast, there is no reliable relation between investment and returns, regardless of whether investment is measured using growth in total assets or book equity and even after extending the data back to 1926. In spanning regressions, factors constructed from profitability and book-to-market ratios (RMW and HML, respectively) improve the mean-variance efficient tangency portfolio but the investment factor (CMA) does not.

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  • Wahal, Sunil, 2019. "The profitability and investment premium: Pre-1963 evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(2), pages 362-377.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfinec:v:131:y:2019:i:2:p:362-377
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jfineco.2018.09.007
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    Cited by:

    1. Chen, Shan & Liu, Xujun & Li, Tao, 2023. "Does the investment-profitability correlation affect the factor premiums? Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    2. Cosemans, Mathijs & Frehen, Rik, 2021. "Salience theory and stock prices: Empirical evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(2), pages 460-483.
    3. Jacobs, Heiko & Müller, Sebastian, 2020. "Anomalies across the globe: Once public, no longer existent?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(1), pages 213-230.
    4. Lin, Qi & Lin, Xi, 2021. "Are the profitability and investment factors valid ICAPM risk factors? Pre-1963 evidence," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    5. Cakici, Nusret & Zaremba, Adam & Bianchi, Robert J. & Pham, Nga, 2021. "False discoveries in the anomaly research: New insights from the Stock Exchange of Melbourne (1927–1987)," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    6. Egwakhe A. J & Falana R. B & Asikhia O. O & Magaji N, 2020. "Business Strategies and Competitive Advantage: Evidence from Flour Mill Companies in Lagos State, Nigeria," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 12(2), pages 17-26.
    7. Söhnke M. Bartram & Harald Lohre & Peter F. Pope & Ananthalakshmi Ranganathan, 2021. "Navigating the factor zoo around the world: an institutional investor perspective," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 91(5), pages 655-703, July.
    8. Tarunika Jain Agrawal & Sanjay Sehgal & Vibhuti Vasishth, 2020. "Firm Attributes, Corporate Fundamentals and Investment Strategies: An Empirical Study for Indian Stock Market," Management and Labour Studies, XLRI Jamshedpur, School of Business Management & Human Resources, vol. 45(3), pages 366-387, August.
    9. Kilic, Mete & Yang, Louis & Zhang, Miao Ben, 2022. "The cross-section of investment and profitability: Implications for asset pricing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(3), pages 706-724.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Asset pricing; Multifactor models; Dividend discount model; Profitability; Investment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G15 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - International Financial Markets

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