The implied cost of capital: A new approach
We use earnings forecasts from a cross-sectional model to proxy for cash flow
expectations and estimate the implied cost of capital (ICC) for a large sample of firms
over 1968–2008. The earnings forecasts generated by the cross-sectional model are
superior to analysts’ forecasts in terms of coverage, forecast bias, and earnings response
coefficient. Moreover, the model-based ICC is a more reliable proxy for expected returns
than the ICC based on analysts’ forecasts. We present evidence on the cross-sectional
relation between firm-level characteristics and ex ante expected returns using the
model-based ICC.