Empirical tests on the asset pricing model with liquidity risk: An unobserved components approach

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to test empirically the conditional liquidity-adjusted capital asset pricing model (L-CAPM) developed by Acharya and Pedersen (2005). Accordingly, we propose to estimate the L-CAPM using unobserved components methodology, which allows us to take into account the main stylized facts characterizing liquidity. Based on a sample of firms listed on the NASDAQ, our empirical analysis reveals several findings. Firstly, we show that liquidity is time-varying and exhibits strong seasonality. Secondly, we highlight the impact of the liquidity level premium on asset prices. Thirdly, we show that the most important liquidity risk is related to the covariance between portfolio illiquidity and market returns. Fourthly, we observe a negative relationship between portfolio returns and market illiquidity. Fifthly, we find that liquidity risk and illiquidity level are not always positively correlated.