Information Flows and Systematic Risk

The arrival of new information is a source of systematic risk for the holder of a financial security. Using several measures of information flows, we show that a stock’s sensitivity to market-wide information flow is associated with a robust cross-sectional return premium that is distinct from other return premia. We find that the amount of information impounded in prices through trading has increased in recent years consistent with declining trading costs and the rise of algorithmic trading. Consequently, the information flows risk premium is increasing through time.