This book proposes a new capital asset pricing model dubbed the ZCAPM that outperforms other popular models in empirical tests using US stock returns. The ZCAPM is derived from Fischer Black’s well-known zero-beta CAPM, itself a more general form of the famous capital asset pricing model (CAPM) by 1990 Nobel Laureate William Sharpe and others. It is widely accepted that the CAPM has failed in its theoretical relation between market beta risk and average stock returns, as numerous studies have shown that it does not work in the real world with empirical stock return data. The upshot of the CAPM’s failure is that many new factors have been proposed by researchers. However, the number of factors proposed by authors has steadily increased into the hundreds over the past three decades. This new ZCAPM is a path-breaking asset pricing model that is shown to outperform popular models currently in practice in finance across different test assets and time periods. Since asset pricing is central to the field of finance, it can be broadly employed across many areas, including investment analysis, cost of equity analyses, valuation, corporate decision making, pension portfolio management, etc. The ZCAPM represents a revolution in finance that proves the CAPM as conceived by Sharpe and others is alive and well in a new form, and will certainly be of interest to academics, researchers, students, and professionals of finance, investing, and economics.

The Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and the mean-variance (M-V) rule, which are based on classic expected utility theory, have been heavily criticized theoretically and empirically. The advent of behavioral economics, prospect theory and other psychology-minded approaches in finance challenges the rational investor model from which CAPM and M-V derive. Haim Levy argues that the tension between the classic financial models and behavioral economics approaches is more apparent than real. This book aims to relax the tension between the two paradigms. Specifically, Professor Levy shows that although behavioral economics contradicts aspects of expected utility theory, CAPM and M-V are intact in both expected utility theory and cumulative prospect theory frameworks. There is furthermore no evidence to reject CAPM empirically when ex-ante parameters are employed. Professionals may thus comfortably teach and use CAPM and behavioral economics or cumulative prospect theory as coexisting paradigms.

The problem addressed in this dissertation research was the inability of the single-factor capital asset pricing model (CAPM) to identify relevant risk factors that investors consider in forming their return expectations for investing in individual stocks. Identifying the appropriate risk factors is important for investment decision making and is pertinent to the formation of stocks' prices in the stock market. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine theoretical and empirical validity of the CAPM and to develop and test a multifactor model to address and resolve the empirical shortcomings of the single-factor CAPM. To verify the empirical validity of the standard CAPM and of the multifactor model, five hypotheses were developed and tested against historical monthly data for U.S. public companies. Testing the CAPM hypothesis revealed that the explanatory power of the overall stock market rate of return in explaining individual stock's expected rates of return is very weak, suggesting the existence of other risk factors. Testing of the other hypotheses verified that the implied volatility of the overall market as a systematic risk factor and the companies' size and financial leverage as nonsystematic risk factors are important in determining stock's expected returns and investors should consider these factors in their investment decisions. The findings of this research have important implications for social change. The outcome of this study can change the way individual and institutional investors as well as corporations make investment decisions and thus change the equilibrium prices in the stock market. These changes in turn could lead to significant changes in the resource allocation in the economy, in the economy's production capacity and production composition, and in the employment structure of the society.

This book rehabilitates beta as a definition of systemic risk by using particle physics to evaluate discrete components of financial risk. Much of the frustration with beta stems from the failure to disaggregate its discrete components; conventional beta is often treated as if it were "atomic" in the original Greek sense: uncut and indivisible. By analogy to the Standard Model of particle physics theory's three generations of matter and the three-way interaction of quarks, Chen divides beta as the fundamental unit of systemic financial risk into three matching pairs of "baryonic" components. The resulting econophysics of beta explains no fewer than three of the most significant anomalies and puzzles in mathematical finance. Moreover, the model's three-way analysis of systemic risk connects the mechanics of mathematical finance with phenomena usually attributed to behavioral influences on capital markets. Adding consideration of volatility and correlation, and of the distinct cash flow and discount rate components of systematic risk, harmonizes mathematical finance with labor markets, human capital, and macroeconomics.

The book provides a rigorous introduction to corporate finance and the valuation of equity. The first half of the book covers much of the received theory in these areas such as the relationship between the risk of an equity security and the return one can expect from it, the effects of leverage (that is, the borrowing policies of the firm) on the return one can expect from the firm’s shares and the role that dividends, operating cash flows and accounting earnings play in the valuation of equity. The second half of the book is more advanced and deals with the important role that "real options" (that is, as yet unexploited investment opportunities) play in the valuation of equity.

Providing a balanced and practical approach to capital management and budgeting, this book covers the full spectrum of capital investments, from the basics through the latest innovations. It is aimed at managers who are involved in capital investment decisions: setting company capital investment policy; performing project analyses; and drafting recommendations. Those in top management will benefit from discussions of strong and weak points of various methods and concepts. Included in the arsenal of capital investment tools in this book are concepts of proven usefulness, such as the MAPI method, no longer available in other works on the topic of capital budgeting, and other topics not covered elsewhere, such as abandonment analysis.

In its First Edition, this classic treatise called attention to the duty of reasonable care, the duty of loyalty and the public duty of fiduciaries to the marketplace. Grounded in the idea that prudent investing is to be defined by professional practices accepted as appropriate at the time of investment by the management, thereby permitting such practices to adapt to changing conditions and insights, the field of investment management law and regulation has at its center the goal of a common standard of care for investment.Now in its Second Edition, this definitive guide to investment management law and regulation helps you to profitably adapt to today's new and changing conditions and anticipate tomorrow's regulatory response.Here are just a few of the reasons why Investment Management Law and Regulation will be so valuable to you:Explains and analyzes all the ins and outs of the law, clarifies the complexities, answers your questions, points out pitfalls and helps you avoid themCovers the entire field in one volume, saves you valuable time and effort in finding information and searching through stacks of referencesEnsures compliance with all relevant regulations, makes sure nothing is overlooked, protects you against costly mistakesUpdates you on the latest important changes, tells you what is happening now and what is likely to happen in the future Investment Management Law and Regulation is the only up-to-date volume to offer a comprehensive examination of the field of investment management law, covering everything from financial theory and legal theory to the various aspects of hands-on fund management. It's the only resource of its kind that:Identifies and explains the financial theories that control the development of investment management law across management activitiesGives critical judicial, legislative, and regulatory history that makes recent law and regulation more comprehensibleCovers all areas of regulation governing the activities of investment managers, including marketing, suitability, advisory contacts, fees, exculpation and indemnification, performance, fiduciary obligations, conflicts of interest, best executionProvides the practical tools that help predict more effectively how regulators will respond to new marketplace developments and productsIntegrates investment management law and regulation for all institutional investment managersAnd more Whether you are a manager, broker, banker, or legal counsel, a seasoned professional or just starting out, this treatise will quickly become your most trusted guide through the intricacies of this complex, critical, and closely scrutinized area

A collection of essays dealing with financial markets' imperfections, and the inability of neoclassical economics to deal with such imperfections. This book argues that financial economics, as based on the tenets of neoclassical economics, cannot answer or solve the real-life problems that people face.

This book examines cost-of-capital models and their application in the context of managerial finance. This includes the use of hurdle rates in capital allocation decisions, as well as target returns in performance management. Besides a review of classical finance models such as the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), other contemporary models and techniques to determine the cost-of-capital of business units and private companies are discussed. Based on a mixed methods approach, current cost-of-capital practices and their determinants are empirically analyzed among German companies.