MYOPIC LOSS AVERSION AND THE EQUITY PREMIUM PUZZLE

The equity premium puzzle refers to the empirical fact that stocks hav e outperformed bonds over the last century by a surprisingly large mar gin. We offer a new explanation based on two behavioral concepts. Firs t, investors are assumed to be ''loss averse,'' meaning that they are distinctly more sensitive to losses than to gains. Second, even long-t erm investors are assumed to evaluate their portfolios frequently. We dub this combination ''myopic loss aversion.'' Using simulations, we f ind that the size of the equity premium is consistent with the previou sly estimated parameters of prospect theory if investors evaluate thei r portfolios annually.