Why is the coefficient of variation a better risk measure to employ than the standard deviation while evaluating the risk of capital budgeting projects?
The coefficient of variation is a better risk measure than the standard deviation alone since the CV adjusts for the size of the project. The CV computes the standard deviation divided by the mean and thus puts the standard deviation into context. For instance, a standard deviation of .05 may be considered large relative to a mean of .02 although would be considered a small value relative to a mean value of 8.