This paper investigates the ability of asset pricing models to explain the cross-section of average stock returns of anomaly portfolios. A large sample of 286 anomaly portfolios are employed. We perform out-of-sample cross-sectional regression tests of both prominent asset pricing models and a relatively new model dubbed the ZCAPM. Empirical tests strongly support the lesser known ZCAPM but not other multifactor models. Further analyses of out-of-sample mispricing errors of the models reveal that the ZCAPM provides much more accurate pricing of anomaly portfolios than other models. We conclude that anomalies are anomalous to popular multifactor models but not the ZCAPM. By implication, the efficient market hypothesis is supported.

The paper investigates the ability of asset pricing models to explain the cross section of average stock returns of anomaly portfolios. A large sample of 286 anomaly portfolios are employed. We perform out-of-sample cross-sectional regression tests of both prominent asset pricing models and a relatively new model dubbed the ZCAPM. Empirical tests strongly support the lesser known ZCAPM but not other multifactor models. Further analyses of out-of-sample mispricing errors of the models reveal that the ZCAPM provides much more accurate pricing of anomaly portfolios than other models. We conclude that anomalies are anomalous to popular multifactor models but not the ZCAPM. By implication, the efficient market hypothesis is supported.