Sorting Out Sorts

Jonathan B. Berk
2000 Journal of Finance  
In this paper we analyze the theoretical implications of sorting data into groups and then running asset pricing tests within each group. We show that the way this procedure is implemented introduces a bias in favor of rejecting the model under consideration. By simply picking enough groups to sort into, the true asset pricing model can be shown to have no explanatory power within each group.
doi:10.1111/0022-1082.00210 fatcat:xxsxejnamjdd5byr7q4jsm23g4