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What Do The Ibbottson Historical Studies Really Prove About Firm Size, Risk And Return?, Michael Sack Elmaleh
What Do The Ibbottson Historical Studies Really Prove About Firm Size, Risk And Return?, Michael Sack Elmaleh
Michael Sack Elmaleh
I deny that the Ibbottson historical studies prove that small and medium caps outperform large caps because they are more risky. First, I question whether covariance measures are necessarily a good proxy for risk. The higher levels of volatility associated with small and medium cap versus large cap may be a statistical artifact: the greater number of transactions associated with large caps as compared to small caps may account for this difference. Secondly, higher returns on small and medium caps may be a function of less efficient information distribution for these securities as compared to large caps. Finally, can we …