Margin Requirements and Equity Option Returns

Distribution Risk and Equity Returns∗

In this paper we entertain the hypothesis that observed variations in income shares are the result of changes in the balance of power between workers and capital owners in labor relations. We show that this view implies that income share variations represent a risk factor of first-order importance for the owners of capital and, consequently, are a crucial determinant of the return to equity. Wh...

Investment Taxes and Equity Returns

This paper investigates whether investors are compensated for the tax burden of equity securities. Effective tax rates on equity securities vary over time due to frequent tax reforms and cross-sectionally due to persistent differences in propensities to pay dividends. The paper finds an economically and statistically significant relationship between risk-adjusted stock returns and effective per...

Equity, Efficiency and Increasing Returns

Margin debt and portfolio margin requirements

This paper investigates the effects of a change in the margin rules of the U.S. stock market. These rules determine how much investors can borrow to leverage their investments. Since the 1929 stock market crash, margin loans have been tightly regulated by the Securities and Exchange Act Regulation T. Between 2005 and 2008, the Securities and Exchange Commission modified these margin rules becau...

Does Risk-Neutral Skewness Predict the CrossSection of Equity Option Portfolio Returns?

We investigate the pricing of risk-neutral skewness in the stock options market by creating skewness assets comprised of two option positions (one long and one short) and a position in the underlying stock. The assets are created such that exposure to changes in the underlying stock price (delta) and exposure to changes in implied volatility (vega) are removed, isolating the effect of skewness....