Is real estate an important factor in corporate valuation? Evidence from listed retail firms
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine whether there is a systematic real estate risk factor in retail firms' common stock returns and whether this risk is priced in the stock market. In addition, whether the real estate risk sensitivities of retail stocks are linked to each firm's real estate intensity is investigated.Design/methodology/approach With a sample of 556 retail firms from 15 countries and a three index model with a domestic stock market and a retail market factor, as well as a real estate risk factor as the three explanatory variables, the paper appeals to the maximum likelihood methodology of Gibbons which estimates factor sensitivity coefficients and factor risk premia simultaneously using an iterative seemingly unrelated regression (ITSUR) technique, as well as the generalized method of moments (GMM) procedure. In addition, the paper investigates whether the individual retail firms' real estate bs are affected by the firms' CRER levels and other financial characteristics, usin.