Die Dis cus si on Pape rs die nen einer mög lichst schnel len Ver brei tung von neue ren For schungs arbei ten des ZEW. Die Bei trä ge lie gen in allei ni ger Ver ant wor tung der Auto ren und stel len nicht not wen di ger wei se die Mei nung des ZEW dar. Dis cus si on Papers are inten ded to make results of ZEW research prompt ly avai la ble to other eco no mists in order to encou ra ge dis cus si on and sug gesti ons for revi si ons. The aut hors are sole ly respon si ble for the con tents

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... ch do not neces sa ri ly repre sent the opi ni on of the ZEW. Abstract This paper presents an empirical evaluation of recently proposed asset pricing models which extend the standard preference specification by a reference level of consumption. We motivate an alternative model that accounts for the return on human capital as a determinant of the reference level. Our analysis is based on a broad cross-section of test assets which provides a level playing field for a comparison to established benchmark models. The human capital extended reference level model does a good job in explaining size and value premia. Estimated on Fama and French's size and book-to-market sorted portfolios it outperforms Lettau and Ludvigson's scaled CCAPM and delivers average pricing errors comparable to the Fama-French three-factor model. JEL Classification: G12