A study of political uncertainty as a systematic risk factor

This paper analyses whether economic policy uncertainty acts as a systematic risk factor in 49 industry portfolios which include all U.S. firms listed on NYSE, AMEX, and NASDAQ. Empirically, the paper shows that the economic policy uncertainty, EPU, does not conduct statistically significant risk premium in the sample period from the beginning of January 1985 until the end of July 2017. This evidence is partly contradictory to the aggregate market level documentation of the EPU risk premium. In addition to examining the EPU risk premium, this research conducts portfolio analysis based on different industries’ sensitivities towards the EPU. Results from empirical tests also show that industry portfolios with similar sensitivities towards the EPU have integrative characteristics