{"title":"Test Assets and Weak Factors","authors":"STEFANO GIGLIO, DACHENG XIU, DAKE ZHANG","doi":"10.1111/jofi.13415","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"We show that two important issues in empirical asset pricing—the presence of weak factors and the selection of test assets—are deeply connected. Since weak factors are those to which test assets have limited exposure, an appropriate selection of test assets can improve the strength of factors. Building on this insight, we introduce supervised principal component analysis (SPCA), a methodology that iterates supervised selection, principal-component estimation, and factor projection. It enables risk premia estimation and factor model diagnosis even when weak factors are present and not all factors are observed. We establish SPCA's asymptotic properties and showcase its empirical applications.","PeriodicalId":15753,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Finance","volume":"31 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.6000,"publicationDate":"2024-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Finance","FirstCategoryId":"96","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jofi.13415","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"BUSINESS, FINANCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
We show that two important issues in empirical asset pricing—the presence of weak factors and the selection of test assets—are deeply connected. Since weak factors are those to which test assets have limited exposure, an appropriate selection of test assets can improve the strength of factors. Building on this insight, we introduce supervised principal component analysis (SPCA), a methodology that iterates supervised selection, principal-component estimation, and factor projection. It enables risk premia estimation and factor model diagnosis even when weak factors are present and not all factors are observed. We establish SPCA's asymptotic properties and showcase its empirical applications.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Finance is a renowned publication that disseminates cutting-edge research across all major fields of financial inquiry. Widely regarded as the most cited academic journal in finance, each issue reaches over 8,000 academics, finance professionals, libraries, government entities, and financial institutions worldwide. Published bi-monthly, the journal serves as the official publication of The American Finance Association, the premier academic organization dedicated to advancing knowledge and understanding in financial economics. Join us in exploring the forefront of financial research and scholarship.