Author : Dan Christina Wang
Publisher :
Page : 101 pages
File Size : 21,70 MB
Release : 2012
Category :
ISBN : 9781267602435
Book Description
The leverage effect has become an extensively studied phenomenon that describes the (usually) negative correlation between stock returns and volatility. All the previous studies have focused on the origin and properties of the leverage effect. Even though most studies of the leverage effect are based on cross-sectional calibration with parametric models, few of them have carefully studied its estimation. However, estimation of the leverage effect is important because sensible inference is possible only when the leverage effect is estimated reliably. In this thesis, we provide the first nonparametric estimation for a class of stochastic measures of the leverage effect. Unlike most previous work conducted over daily or longer return horizons, we study the estimation of the leverage effect with high frequency data. In order to construct estimators with good statistical properties, we introduce a new stochastic leverage effect parameter, which is usually not specified by other studies. The estimators and their statistical properties are provided in cases both with and without microstructure noise, under the stochastic volatility model. In asymptotics, the consistency and limiting distribution of the estimators are derived and corroborated by simulation results. For consistency, a previously unknown bias correction factor is added to the estimators. In finite samples, we provide two modifications of the estimator to improve its performance. In addition, we explore several applications of the estimators. In one application, we apply the estimators in high frequency regression and discover a novel predictor of volatility that depends on an estimator of the leverage effect. A related study reveals that the leverage effect improves estimation of volatility. In another application, we discover the first theoretical connection between skewness and the leverage effect, which yields a new predictor of skewness.