VALUING COMPANIES WITH EQUITY BETA

The purpose of this paper is to compare the effects of using different methodologies to empirically estimated equity betas in business valuation. In particular, the effects of using returns calculated at different frequencies, i.e., daily, weekly and monthly, and more or less econometrically reliable cutoffs are compared. In addition, the temporal stability of the estimates is examined by reporting the results obtained at the sectoral level. The aim is to provide useful guidance for practitioners, avoiding the uncritical application of methodologies developed with reference to financial contexts that are quite different from the Italian scenario.