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Capital Share Risk in U.S. Asset Pricing

Author

Listed:
  • MARTIN LETTAU
  • SYDNEY C. LUDVIGSON
  • SAI MA

Abstract

A single macroeconomic factor based on growth in the capital share of aggregate income exhibits significant explanatory power for expected returns across a range of equity characteristic portfolios and nonequity asset classes, with risk price estimates that are of the same sign and similar in magnitude. Positive exposure to capital share risk earns a positive risk premium, commensurate with recent asset pricing models in which redistributive shocks shift the share of income between the wealthy, who finance consumption primarily out of asset ownership, and workers, who finance consumption primarily out of wages and salaries.

Suggested Citation

  • Martin Lettau & Sydney C. Ludvigson & Sai Ma, 2019. "Capital Share Risk in U.S. Asset Pricing," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 74(4), pages 1753-1792, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:jfinan:v:74:y:2019:i:4:p:1753-1792
    DOI: 10.1111/jofi.12772
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    Cited by:

    1. Andrei S. Gonçalves, 2021. "Reinvestment Risk and the Equity Term Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 76(5), pages 2153-2197, October.
    2. Bandi, Federico M. & Chaudhuri, Shomesh E. & Lo, Andrew W. & Tamoni, Andrea, 2021. "Spectral factor models," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(1), pages 214-238.
    3. Elkamhi, Redouane & Jo, Chanik, 2023. "Asset holders’ consumption risk and tests of conditional CCAPM," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(3), pages 220-244.
    4. Miescu, Mirela & Rossi, Raffaele, 2021. "COVID-19-induced shocks and uncertainty," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    5. Redouane Elkamhi & Chanik Jo & Yoshio Nozawa, 2024. "A One-Factor Model of Corporate Bond Premia," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 70(3), pages 1875-1900, March.
    6. Bengtsson, Erik, 2023. "The politics of profits: Profit squeeze and political-economic change in Sweden, 1975–1985," Lund Papers in Economic History 250, Lund University, Department of Economic History.
    7. Bandi, Federico M. & Tamoni, Andrea, 2023. "Business-cycle consumption risk and asset prices," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 237(2).
    8. Shaun Bond & Hui Guo & Changyu Yang, 2025. "Systematic Mispricing: Evidence from Real Estate Markets," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 71(3), pages 420-452, October.
    9. Kleibergen, Frank & Zhan, Zhaoguo, 2025. "Risk premia from the cross-section of individual assets," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 252(PA).
    10. Czellar, Veronika & Garcia, René & Le Grand, François, 2025. "Uncovering asset market participation from household consumption and income," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 248(C).
    11. Gaudio, Francesco Saverio, 2025. "Stock market participation and macro-financial trends," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    12. Byrne, Joseph P & Ibrahim, Boulis Maher & Zong, Xiaoyu, 2020. "Asset Prices and Capital Share Risks: Theory and Evidence," MPRA Paper 101781, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Frank Kleibergen & Zhaoguo Zhan, 2025. "Double robust inference for continuous updating GMM," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 16(1), pages 295-327, January.
    14. Frank Kleibergen & Zhaoguo Zhan, 2022. "Misspecification and Weak Identification in Asset Pricing," Papers 2206.13600, arXiv.org.
    15. Ray Ball & Gil Sadka & Ayung Tseng, 2022. "Correction to: using accounting earnings and aggregate economic indicators to estimate firm-level systematic risk," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 647-648, June.
    16. Zaremba, Adam & Bianchi, Robert J. & Mikutowski, Mateusz, 2021. "Long-run reversal in commodity returns: Insights from seven centuries of evidence," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    17. Zaremba, Adam & Kizys, Renatas & Raza, Muhammad Wajid, 2020. "The long-run reversal in the long run: Insights from two centuries of international equity returns," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 177-199.
    18. Lee, Kiryoung & Kim, Minki & Lam, Sing-Sen, 2024. "Chinese consumption shocks and U.S. equity returns," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 96(PA).
    19. Daniel L. Greenwald & Martin Lettau & Sydney C. Ludvigson, 2019. "How the Wealth Was Won: Factor Shares as Market Fundamentals," NBER Working Papers 25769, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Mauro Costantini & Ricardo M. Sousa, 2020. "Consumption, asset wealth, equity premium, term spread, and flight to quality," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 26(3), pages 778-807, June.
    21. Cheng, Hang & Guo, Hui & Shi, Yongdong, 2024. "Multifactor conditional equity premium model: Evidence from China's stock market," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    22. Chen, Zilin & Da, Zhi & Huang, Dashan & Wang, Liyao, 2023. "Presidential economic approval rating and the cross-section of stock returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(1), pages 106-131.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • E25 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Aggregate Factor Income Distribution

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