Can Operating Leverage Be the Cause of the Value Premium?
研究发现账面市值比与经营杠杆正相关，经营杠杆与股票收益及系统风险正相关，支持基于风险的价值溢价解释，且系统风险的演变而非财务困境是主要决定因素。
Recent theoretical models (Carlson, Fisher, and Giammarino, 2004) predict an association between the book‐to‐market equity ratio (BE/ME) and operating leverage in the cross‐section. Consistent with these models, we find a positive association between BE/ME and the degree of operating leverage (DOL), between DOL and stock returns, and between DOL and systematic risk. Overall, our findings provide support for a risk‐based explanation for the value premium that is consistent with existing theoretical models. The evolution of systematic risk associated with firm‐level investment activity, rather than financial distress, seems to be the main determinant of the value premium.