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Alternative measures of the Federal Reserve banks' cost of equity capital

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  • Michelle L. Barnes
  • Jose A. Lopez

Abstract

The Monetary Control Act of 1980 requires the Federal Reserve System to provide payment services to depository institutions through the twelve Federal Reserve Banks at prices that fully reflect the costs a private-sector provider would incur, including a cost of equity capital (COE). Although Fama and French (1997) conclude that COE estimates are ?woefully? and ?unavoidably? imprecise, the Reserve Banks require such an estimate every year. We examine several COE estimates based on the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and compare them using econometric and materiality criteria. Our results suggest that the benchmark CAPM applied to a large peer group of competing firms provides a COE estimate that is not clearly improved upon by using a narrow peer group, introducing additional factors into the model, or taking account of additional firm-level data, such as leverage and line-of-business concentration. Thus, a standard implementation of the benchmark CAPM provides a reasonable COE estimate, which is needed to impute costs and set prices for the Reserve Banks? payments business.

Suggested Citation

  • Michelle L. Barnes & Jose A. Lopez, 2005. "Alternative measures of the Federal Reserve banks' cost of equity capital," Public Policy Discussion Paper 05-2, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedbpp:05-2
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    Cited by:

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    2. Grandes, Martin & Panigo, Demian T. & Pasquini, Ricardo A., 2010. "On the estimation of the cost of equity in Latin America," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 373-389, December.
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    4. Phan Huy Hieu Tran & Thu Ha Tran & Ji‐yong Lee, 2023. "How employee share ownership plans impact firms’ market value: A conflict of interest theory approach," Post-Print hal-04678289, HAL.
    5. Pasaribu, Rowland Bismark Fernando, 2010. "Pemilihan Model Asset Pricing [Asset pricing model selection: Indonesian Stock Exchange]," MPRA Paper 36978, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Tomas Adam & Sona Benecka & Ivo Jansky, 2012. "Time-Varying Betas of Banking Sectors," Czech Journal of Economics and Finance (Finance a uver), Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, vol. 62(6), pages 485-504, December.
    7. Chaibi Hasna & Ben Naceur Sami, 2010. "The Best Asset Pricing Model for Estimating Industry Costs of Equity in Tunisia," Review of Middle East Economics and Finance, De Gruyter, vol. 5(3), pages 63-90, February.
    8. Maryam Hasannasab & Dimitris Margaritis & Christos Staikouras, 2019. "The financial crisis and the shadow price of bank capital," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 282(1), pages 131-154, November.
    9. Gehrig, Thomas & Iannino, Maria Chiara, 2021. "Did the Basel Process of capital regulation enhance the resiliency of European banks?," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    10. Layal MansourIshrakieh & Leila Dagher & Sadika El Hariri, 2020. "A financial stress index for a highly dollarized developing country : The case of Lebanon," Central Bank Review, Research and Monetary Policy Department, Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, vol. 20(2), pages 43-52.
    11. Thierno Barry & Laetitia Lepetit & Frank Strobel & Thu Tran, 2018. "Better than independent: the role of minority directors on bank boards," Working Papers hal-01937927, HAL.
    12. Marques Benton & Krista Blair & Marianne Crowe & Scott Schuh, 2007. "The Boston Fed study of consumer behavior and payment choice: a survey of Federal Reserve System employees," Public Policy Discussion Paper 07-1, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    13. Colin T. Bowers & Chris Heaton, 2013. "What does high-dimensional factor analysis tell us about risk factors in the Australian stock market?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(11), pages 1395-1404, April.
    14. Mansour Ishrakieh, Layal & Dagher, Leila & El Hariri, Sadika, 2018. "The Institute of Financial Economics Financial Stress Index (IFEFSI) for Lebanon," MPRA Paper 116054, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Gabriella Chiesa & José Manuel Mansilla-Fernández, 2021. "The dynamic effects of non-performing loans on banks’ cost of capital and lending supply in the Eurozone," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 48(2), pages 397-427, May.
    16. Urbański Stanisław, 2021. "The Cost of Capital for Investment in the Warsaw Stock Exchange Indexes – Versus Djia," Folia Oeconomica Stetinensia, Sciendo, vol. 21(1), pages 122-143, June.
    17. Gehrig, Thomas & Iannino, Maria Chiara, 2021. "Did the Basel Process of capital regulation enhance the resiliency of European banks?," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    18. Han, Yufeng, 2012. "State uncertainty in stock markets: How big is the impact on the cost of equity?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(9), pages 2575-2592.
    19. Michael R King, 2009. "The cost of equity for global banks: a CAPM perspective from 1990 to 2009," BIS Quarterly Review, Bank for International Settlements, September.
    20. Petr Pavlík, 2017. "Financial theory approach to the investigation of the impact of Basel III capital adequacy on commercial banks [Vědecké metody zkoumání dopadu kapitálové regulace obchodních bank]," Český finanční a účetní časopis, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2017(4), pages 41-56.

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    capital asset pricing model; Payment systems;

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