IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/econom/v238y2024i1s0304407623002907.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Asset pricing with neural networks: Significance tests

Author

Listed:
  • Fallahgoul, Hasan
  • Franstianto, Vincentius
  • Lin, Xin

Abstract

This study proposes a novel hypothesis test for evaluating the statistical significance of input variables in multi-layer perceptron (MLP) regression models. Theoretical foundations are established through consistency results and estimation rate analysis using the sieves method. To validate the test’s performance in complex and realistic settings, an extensive Monte Carlo simulation is conducted. Results of the simulation reveal that the test has a high power and low rate of false positives, making it a powerful tool for detecting true effects in data. The test is further applied to identify the most influential predictors of equity risk premiums, with results indicating that only a small number of characteristics have statistical significance and all macroeconomic predictors are insignificant at the 1% level. These findings are consistent across a variety of neural network architectures.

Suggested Citation

  • Fallahgoul, Hasan & Franstianto, Vincentius & Lin, Xin, 2024. "Asset pricing with neural networks: Significance tests," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 238(1).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:econom:v:238:y:2024:i:1:s0304407623002907
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeconom.2023.105574
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304407623002907
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jeconom.2023.105574?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kelly, Bryan T. & Pruitt, Seth & Su, Yinan, 2019. "Characteristics are covariances: A unified model of risk and return," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(3), pages 501-524.
    2. Ivo Welch & Amit Goyal, 2008. "A Comprehensive Look at The Empirical Performance of Equity Premium Prediction," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 21(4), pages 1455-1508, July.
    3. Daniele Bianchi & Matthias Büchner & Tobias Hoogteijling & Andrea Tamoni, 2021. "Corrigendum: Bond Risk Premiums with Machine Learning [Bond risk premiums with machine learning]," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(2), pages 1090-1103.
    4. Shihao Gu & Bryan Kelly & Dacheng Xiu, 2020. "Empirical Asset Pricing via Machine Learning," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 33(5), pages 2223-2273.
    5. Guanhao Feng & Stefano Giglio & Dacheng Xiu, 2020. "Taming the Factor Zoo: A Test of New Factors," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 75(3), pages 1327-1370, June.
    6. Michael W. McCracken & Serena Ng, 2016. "FRED-MD: A Monthly Database for Macroeconomic Research," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(4), pages 574-589, October.
    7. Richard Nickl & Benedikt M. Pötscher, 2007. "Bracketing Metric Entropy Rates and Empirical Central Limit Theorems for Function Classes of Besov- and Sobolev-Type," Journal of Theoretical Probability, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 177-199, June.
    8. Max H. Farrell & Tengyuan Liang & Sanjog Misra, 2021. "Deep Neural Networks for Estimation and Inference," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 89(1), pages 181-213, January.
    9. John Y. Campbell, 2000. "Asset Pricing at the Millennium," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(4), pages 1515-1567, August.
    10. John H. Cochrane, 2011. "Presidential Address: Discount Rates," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(4), pages 1047-1108, August.
    11. Joachim Freyberger & Andreas Neuhierl & Michael Weber & Andrew KarolyiEditor, 2020. "Dissecting Characteristics Nonparametrically," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(5), pages 2326-2377.
    12. Daniele Bianchi & Matthias Büchner & Andrea Tamoni, 2021. "Bond Risk Premiums with Machine Learning [Quadratic term structure models: Theory and evidence]," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(2), pages 1046-1089.
    13. Shihao Gu & Bryan Kelly & Dacheng Xiu, 2020. "Empirical Asset Pricing via Machine Learning," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(5), pages 2223-2273.
    14. Xiaohong Chen & Xiaotong Shen, 1998. "Sieve Extremum Estimates for Weakly Dependent Data," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 66(2), pages 289-314, March.
    15. Jeremiah Green & John R. M. Hand & X. Frank Zhang, 2017. "The Characteristics that Provide Independent Information about Average U.S. Monthly Stock Returns," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 30(12), pages 4389-4436.
    16. Amit Goyal, 2012. "Empirical cross-sectional asset pricing: a survey," Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, Springer;Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, vol. 26(1), pages 3-38, March.
    17. R. David Mclean & Jeffrey Pontiff, 2016. "Does Academic Research Destroy Stock Return Predictability?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 71(1), pages 5-32, February.
    18. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 2015. "A five-factor asset pricing model," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(1), pages 1-22.
    19. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 1993. "Common risk factors in the returns on stocks and bonds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 3-56, February.
    20. Fama, Eugene F, 1970. "Efficient Capital Markets: A Review of Theory and Empirical Work," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 25(2), pages 383-417, May.
    21. Sebastian Bach & Alexander Binder & Grégoire Montavon & Frederick Klauschen & Klaus-Robert Müller & Wojciech Samek, 2015. "On Pixel-Wise Explanations for Non-Linear Classifier Decisions by Layer-Wise Relevance Propagation," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(7), pages 1-46, July.
    22. Eugene F. Fama & Kenneth R. French, 2004. "The Capital Asset Pricing Model: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 18(3), pages 25-46, Summer.
    23. Hou, Kewei & Xue, Chen & Zhang, Lu, 2017. "Replicating Anomalies," Working Paper Series 2017-10, Ohio State University, Charles A. Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cakici, Nusret & Fieberg, Christian & Metko, Daniel & Zaremba, Adam, 2023. "Machine learning goes global: Cross-sectional return predictability in international stock markets," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    2. Söhnke M. Bartram & Harald Lohre & Peter F. Pope & Ananthalakshmi Ranganathan, 2021. "Navigating the factor zoo around the world: an institutional investor perspective," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 91(5), pages 655-703, July.
    3. Doron Avramov & Si Cheng & Lior Metzker, 2023. "Machine Learning vs. Economic Restrictions: Evidence from Stock Return Predictability," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(5), pages 2587-2619, May.
    4. Rubesam, Alexandre, 2022. "Machine learning portfolios with equal risk contributions: Evidence from the Brazilian market," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(PB).
    5. Bui, Dien Giau & Kong, De-Rong & Lin, Chih-Yung & Lin, Tse-Chun, 2023. "Momentum in machine learning: Evidence from the Taiwan stock market," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    6. De Nard, Gianluca & Zhao, Zhao, 2023. "Using, taming or avoiding the factor zoo? A double-shrinkage estimator for covariance matrices," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 23-35.
    7. van Binsbergen, Jules H. & Boons, Martijn & Opp, Christian C. & Tamoni, Andrea, 2023. "Dynamic asset (mis)pricing: Build-up versus resolution anomalies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(2), pages 406-431.
    8. Christian Fieberg & Daniel Metko & Thorsten Poddig & Thomas Loy, 2023. "Machine learning techniques for cross-sectional equity returns’ prediction," OR Spectrum: Quantitative Approaches in Management, Springer;Gesellschaft für Operations Research e.V., vol. 45(1), pages 289-323, March.
    9. Clarke, Charles, 2022. "The level, slope, and curve factor model for stocks," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(1), pages 159-187.
    10. DeMiguel, Victor & Gil-Bazo, Javier & Nogales, Francisco J. & Santos, André A.P., 2023. "Machine learning and fund characteristics help to select mutual funds with positive alpha," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(3).
    11. Ni, Xuanming & Zheng, Tiantian & Zhao, Huimin & Zhu, Shushang, 2023. "High-dimensional portfolio optimization based on tree-structured factor model," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    12. Pedro M. Mirete-Ferrer & Alberto Garcia-Garcia & Juan Samuel Baixauli-Soler & Maria A. Prats, 2022. "A Review on Machine Learning for Asset Management," Risks, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-46, April.
    13. Ma, Tian & Leong, Wen Jun & Jiang, Fuwei, 2023. "A latent factor model for the Chinese stock market," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    14. De Nard, Gianluca & Zhao, Zhao, 2022. "A large-dimensional test for cross-sectional anomalies:Efficient sorting revisited," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 654-676.
    15. Victor DeMiguel & Javier Gil-Bazo & Francisco J. Nogales & André A. P. Santos, 2021. "Can Machine Learning Help to Select Portfolios of Mutual Funds?," Working Papers 1245, Barcelona School of Economics.
    16. Hanauer, Matthias X. & Kalsbach, Tobias, 2023. "Machine learning and the cross-section of emerging market stock returns," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    17. Wolfgang Drobetz & Tizian Otto, 2021. "Empirical asset pricing via machine learning: evidence from the European stock market," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(7), pages 507-538, December.
    18. Kaniel, Ron & Lin, Zihan & Pelger, Markus & Van Nieuwerburgh, Stijn, 2023. "Machine-learning the skill of mutual fund managers," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(1), pages 94-138.
    19. Huei-Wen Teng & Yu-Hsien Li, 2023. "Can deep neural networks outperform Fama-MacBeth regression and other supervised learning approaches in stock returns prediction with asset-pricing factors?," Digital Finance, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 149-182, March.
    20. Siddhartha Chib & Simon C. Smith, 2024. "Factor Selection and Structural Breaks," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2024-037, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Asset Pricing; Risk Premium; Neural Networks; Variable Significance Test;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C1 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General
    • C5 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:econom:v:238:y:2024:i:1:s0304407623002907. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jeconom .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.