The Equity Premium: Why is it a Puzzle?

41 Pages Posted: 26 Feb 2003 Last revised: 30 Dec 2022

See all articles by Rajnish Mehra

Rajnish Mehra

Arizona State University (ASU) - W.P Carey School of Business, Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Date Written: February 2003

Abstract

This article takes a critical look at the equity premium puzzle the inability of standard intertemporal economic models to rationalize the statistics that have characterized U.S. financial markets over the past century. A summary of historical returns for the United States and other industrialized countries and an overview of the economic construct itself are provided. The intuition behind the discrepancy between model prediction and empirical data is explained. After detailing the research efforts to enhance the model's ability to replicate the empirical data, I argue that the proposed resolutions fail along crucial dimensions

Suggested Citation

Mehra, Rajnish, The Equity Premium: Why is it a Puzzle? (February 2003). NBER Working Paper No. w9512, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=383441

Rajnish Mehra (Contact Author)

Arizona State University (ASU) - W.P Carey School of Business, Department of Economics ( email )

Tempe, AZ 85287-3806
United States
480 965 6335 (Phone)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

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