Macroeconomic Determinants of Stock Market Betas

Abstract This paper proposes the mixed frequency conditional beta. We employ the MIDAS framework to estimate market betas as a weighted average of a high and low frequency components. Then, we analyze the macroeconomic determinants of stock market betas and the counter- or pro-cyclicality of betas across well-known portfolio sorts. The surplus consumption ratio with time-varying risk aversion and the default premium are the aggregate variables with the higher statistical impact on stock market betas across alternative portfolios. We show the implications of the mixed frequency betas for the term structure of holding-period expected excess returns, and for alternative investment strategies.