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Estimating the cost of equity for private firms using accounting fundamentals

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  • J. Sarmiento-Sabogal
  • M. Sadeghi

Abstract

Finance literature suggests the use of the Accounting Beta (BACC) as a proxy for the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) market beta to estimate the cost of equity capital when the stock price is not available. Previous researchers have aimed to achieve this objective by determining the correlation between accounting variables and the market beta. However, the magnitude of the resulting error in this correlation has remained unknown. The current study is an attempt to test the performance of the BACC as a proxy measure for the market risk and to examine the extent of the statistical error in the correlation between these two measures. Our findings indicate that BACC overestimates the market beta by between 20% and 50%. Applying some corrective measures, such as operational earnings scaled by equity, may lessen this difference to a range of 22%-25%; however, it does not eliminate the error. Our output also suggests that the BACC might be biased when used to assess the risk of small firms.

Suggested Citation

  • J. Sarmiento-Sabogal & M. Sadeghi, 2015. "Estimating the cost of equity for private firms using accounting fundamentals," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(3), pages 288-301, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:v:47:y:2015:i:3:p:288-301
    DOI: 10.1080/00036846.2014.969826
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    Cited by:

    1. Anna Rutkowska-Ziarko, 2019. "Korelacja pomiędzy rentownością a księgowymi współczynnikami beta dla polskiego sektora budowlanego," Collegium of Economic Analysis Annals, Warsaw School of Economics, Collegium of Economic Analysis, issue 54, pages 371-382.
    2. Julio Sarmiento & Mehdi Sadeghi & Juan S. Sandoval & Edgardo Cayon, 2021. "The application of proxy methods for estimating the cost of equity for unlisted companies: evidence from listed firms," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 1009-1031, October.
    3. Mario Situm, 2021. "Determination of expected cost of equity with the CAPM: Theoretical extension using the law of error propagation," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(1), pages 77-84, January.

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