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Stock-market crashes and depressions

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  • Barro, Robert J.
  • Ursúa, José F.

Abstract

Stock-market crashes are informative about the prospects for macroeconomic depressions. Long-term data for 30 countries reveal that, conditional on a crash, the probability of a minor depression is 31 percent and of a major depression is 10 percent. The largest depressions are particularly likely to be accompanied by crashes. We allow for flexible timing between crashes and depressions to compute the covariance between stock-returns and an asset-pricing factor, which depends on the decline of consumption during a depression. With a coefficient of relative risk aversion around 3.5, this covariance accounts for the observed average (levered) equity premium of 7 percent.

Suggested Citation

  • Barro, Robert J. & Ursúa, José F., 2017. "Stock-market crashes and depressions," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 384-398.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reecon:v:71:y:2017:i:3:p:384-398
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rie.2017.04.001
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Rare disasters; Stock-market crashes; Flexible covariance analysis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E01 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - Measurement and Data on National Income and Product Accounts and Wealth; Environmental Accounts
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • E23 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Production
    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates

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