Forward Return Expectations
We measure investors’ short- and long-term stock-return expectations using both options and survey data. These expectations at different horizons reveal what investors think their own short-term expectations will be in the future, or forward return expectations. Across data sources, investors’ forward return expectations are countercyclical, especially when measured as forward risk premia. This countercyclical variation is, however, excessive, as changes in forward return expectations are too large relative to subsequent realized short-term expectations. The excess variation in forward return expectations can help account for a meaningful share of the stock-price declines during the global financial crisis and the Covid-19 crisis.
-
-
Copy CitationMihir Gandhi, Niels Joachim Gormsen, and Eben Lazarus, "Forward Return Expectations," NBER Working Paper 31687 (2023), https://doi.org/10.3386/w31687.Download Citation
-
-
Related
More from the NBER
In addition to working papers, the NBER disseminates affiliates’ latest findings through a range of free periodicals—the NBER Reporter, the NBER Digest, the Bulletin on Health, the Bulletin on the Economics of Alzheimer's, and the Bulletin on Entrepreneurship—as well as research spotlights, lectures, and panel videos.
