Good and bad uncertainty: Macroeconomic and financial market implications

Gill Segal, Ivan Shaliastovich and Amir Yaron

Journal of Financial Economics, 2015, vol. 117, issue 2, 369-397

Abstract: Does macroeconomic uncertainty increase or decrease aggregate growth and asset prices? To address this question, we decompose aggregate uncertainty into ‘good’ and ‘bad’ volatility components, associated with positive and negative innovations to macroeconomic growth. We document that in line with our theoretical framework, these two uncertainties have opposite impact on aggregate growth and asset prices. Good uncertainty predicts an increase in future economic activity, such as consumption, output, and investment, and is positively related to valuation ratios, while bad uncertainty forecasts a decline in economic growth and depresses asset prices. Further, the market price of risk and equity beta of good uncertainty are positive, while negative for bad uncertainty. Hence, both uncertainty risks contribute positively to risk premia, and help explain the cross-section of expected returns beyond cash flow risk.

Keywords: Uncertainty; Economic growth; Asset prices; Recursive utility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C58 E20 G12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (244)

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Working Paper: Good and Bad Uncertainty: Macroeconomic and Financial Market Implications (2014)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jfinec:v:117:y:2015:i:2:p:369-397

DOI: 10.1016/j.jfineco.2015.05.004

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