Traditional tests of the CAPM following the Fama / MacBeth (1973) procedure are tests of the joint hypotheses that there is a relationship between beta and realized return and that the market risk premium is positive. The conditional test procedure developed by Pettengill / Sundaram / Mathur (1995) allows to independently test the hypothesis of a relation between beta and realized returns. Monte Carlo simulations show that the conditional test reliably identifies this relation. In an empirical examination for the German stock market we find a significant relation between beta and return. Previous studies failed to identify this relationship probably because the average market risk premium in the sample period was close to zero. Our results provide a justification for the use of betas estimated from historical return data by portfolio managers.
JEL classification: G12Keywords. Capital Asset Pricing Model, Market risk premium, Beta and return * We thank A. Craig MacKinlay, Jan P. Krahnen and seminar participants at the University of Frankfurt for valuable comments. a Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt/Main, Lehrstuhl für Kreditwirtschaft und Finanzierung, Mertonstr. 17-21 (PF 88),
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