Measurement of factor strength: Theory and practice
提出一种因子强度的估计量，证明其一致性和渐近分布，通过蒙特卡洛实验验证小样本性质，并应用于资产收益因子和宏观经济指标，发现仅市场因子为强因子。
Abstract This paper proposes an estimator of factor strength and establishes its consistency and asymptotic distribution. The estimator is based on the number of statistically significant factor loadings, taking multiple testing into account. Both cases of observed and unobserved factors are considered. The small sample properties of the proposed estimator are investigated using Monte Carlo experiments. It is shown that the proposed estimation and inference procedures perform well and have excellent power properties, especially when the factor strength is sufficiently high. Empirical applications to factor models for asset returns show that out of 146 factors recently considered in the finance literature, only the market factor is truly strong, while all other factors are at best semi‐strong, with their strength varying considerably over time. Similarly, we only find evidence of semi‐strong factors using a large number of US macroeconomic indicators.