Explaining the idiosyncratic volatility puzzle using Stochastic Discount Factors *

摘要

I use Stochastic Discount Factors to examine the sources of the idiosyncratic volatility premium. 1 find that non-zero risk aversion and firms' non-systematic coskewness determine the premium on idiosyncratic volatility risk. The firm's non-systematic coskewness measures the comovement of the asset's volatility with the market return. When I control for the non-systematic coskewness factor, I find no significant relation between idiosyncratic volatility and stock expected returns. My results are robust across different sample periods and firm characteristics.