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Review of Financial Studies Vol. 3 No. 2 1990

Expectations and Volatility of Consumption and Asset Returns

Shmuel Kandel1,2; Robert F. Stambaugh3

1 Tel Aviv University · 2 University of Chicago · 3 University of Pennsylvania

open access

Abstract

We find that conditional means and variances of consumption growth vary through time, and this variation appears to be associated with the business cycle. A pricing model with fluctuating means and variances of consumption growth provides implications about conditional moments of returns for both short and long investment horizons, and these implications are explored empirically. The U-shaped pattern of first-order autocorrelations of returns, as well as business cycle patterns in the price of risk, appears to be consistent with the model, but our exploration suggests that other implications about conditional return moments are at odds with the data.

DOI
10.1093/rfs/3.2.207
Volume
3
Issue
2
Pages
207-232
Language
en
Sources
openalex crossref

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