When estimating the cost of equity by use of the CAPM, three potential problems are (1) whether to use long-term or short-term rates for rRF, (2) whether or not the historical beta is the beta that investors use when evaluating the stock, and (3) how to measure the market risk premium, RPM. These problems leave us unsure of the true value of rs.

A. true
B. false

The cost of capital is a little less unique than the cost of debt. Equity is any financing raised through the sale of shares. Different people have different ways of measuring equity.

Some people prefer to simply use the CAPM or some other form of APT, estimating the cost of capital as an amount equivalent to the risk premium on the returns paid by the company to its investors. In this way, the returns generated in excess of the risk-free rate are considered the cost of equity.

This calculation is easy to use, but also takes into account the fluctuations in the value of the shares in the secondary market, which really has no cost to the company. Some people argue their benefits.