This study examines whether the implied volatility index can provide further information in forecasting volatility than historical volatility using GARCHfamily models. For this purpose, this researchhas been conducted to forecast volatility in two main markets the United States of America through its wildly used Standard and Poor’s 500 index and its correspondingvolatility index VIX and in Europe through its Euro Stoxx 50 and its correspondingvolatility index VSTOXX. To evaluate the in-sample content of information, the conditional variance equations of GARCH(1,1) and EGARCH (1,1) are supplemented by integrating implied volatility as an explanatory variable. The realized volatility has been generated from daily squared returns and was employed as a proxy for true volatility. To examine the out-of-sample forecast performance, one-day-ahead rolling forecasts have been generated, and Mincer–Zarnowitz regression and encompassing regression has been utilized. The predictive power of implied volatility has been assessed based on Mean Square Error (MSE). Findings suggest that the integration of implied volatility as an exogenous variable in the conditional variance of GARCHmodels enhancesthe fitness of modelsand decreasesvolatility persistency. Furthermore, the significance of the implied volatility coefficient suggests that implied volatility includes pertinent information in illuminating the variation of the conditional variance. Implied volatility is found to be a biased forecast of realized volatility. Empirical findings of encompassingregression testsimply that the implied volatility index does not surpass historical volatility in terms of forecasting future realized volatility.

The epaulets of male Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) are frequently cited as a sexually selected plumage ornament, but a number of laboratory and field studies provide little evidence that they are currently experiencing sexual selection. We used hair dye to dull epaulets of free-living territorial males prior to pair formation to determine if manipulated males experienced disadvantages in comparison with control males. We found no differences between control males and males with dulled epaulets in territorial behavior (territory size, song rate, trespass rate, and loss of territory), paternal care (time spent on territory and in antipredator sentinel behavior, and response to a model crow to simulate the threat of predation), pairing success (number of social mates), apparent reproductive success (numbers of nesting attempts, eggs/nest, nestlings/egg, and fledglings/nestling), or realized reproductive success (numbers of within-pair, extra-pair, and total fledglings as determined by DNA fingerprinting). We then used a meta-analysis of 11 published studies of Red-winged Blackbirds to determine if there is an overall effect of epaulet color or size on male-male competition, female choice, or reproductive success. Our results show that epaulet size has a small positive effect on male reproductive success, but epaulet color has no effect on male-male competition, female choice, and male reproductive success. One explanation for the seeming contradiction between studies that show that epaulets are necessary for territory defense and those that conclude that epaulets are not currently under selection is that epaulets serve as one of several cues of species recognition, especially among males at close range. An alternative explanation proposes counter-balancing intersexual advantages and intrasexual disadvantages of epaulet expression. Additional studies are needed to test these alternatives.

No description available.

<p>Due to the advancements in computing power and the availability of high-frequency data, the analyses of the high frequency stock data and market microstructure has become more and more important in econometrics. In the high frequency data setting, volatility is a very important indicator on the movement of stock prices and measure of risk. It is a key input in pricing of assets, portfolio reallocation, and risk management. In this thesis, we use the Heterogeneous Autoregressive model of realized volatility, combined with Bayesian inference as well as Markov chain Monte Carlo method’s to estimate the innovation density of the daily realized volatility. A Dirichlet process is used as the prior in a countably infinite mixture model. The semi-parametric model provides a robust alternative to the models used in the literature. I find evidence of thick tails in the density of innovations to log-realized volatility.</p> / Master of Science (MSc)

This thesis studies realized volatility (RV), implied volatility (IV) and their applications in stochastic volatility models. The first essay uses both daytime and overnight high-frequency price data for equity index futures to estimate the RV of the S\&P500 and NASDAQ 100 indexes. Empirical results reveal strong inter-correlation between the regular-trading-time and after-hour RVs, as well as a significant predictive power of overnight RV on daytime RV and vice versa. We propose a new day-night realized stochastic volatility (DN-SV-RV) model, where the daytime and overnight returns are jointly modeled with their RVs, and their latent volatilities are correlated. The newly proposed DN-SV-RV model has the best out-of-sample return distribution forecasts among the models considered. The second essay extends the realized stochastic volatility model by jointly estimating return, RV and IV. We examine how RV and IV enhance the estimation of the latent volatility process for both the S\&P500 index and individual stocks. The third essay re-examines asymmetric stochastic volatility (ASV) models with different return-volatility correlation structures given RV and IV. We show by simulation that estimating the ASV models with return series alone may infer erroneous estimations of the correlation coefficients. The incorporation of volatility measures helps identify the true return-volatility correlation within the ASV framework. Empirical evidence on global equity market indices verifies that ASV models with additional volatility measures not only obtain significantly different estimations of the correlations compared to the benchmark ASV models, but also improve out-of-sample return forecasts. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Nous développons dans cette thèse, des méthodes de bootstrap pour les données financières de hautes fréquences. Les deux premiers essais focalisent sur les méthodes de bootstrap appliquées à l’approche de "pré-moyennement" et robustes à la présence d’erreurs de microstructure. Le "pré-moyennement" permet de réduire l’influence de l’effet de microstructure avant d’appliquer la volatilité réalisée. En se basant sur cette ap- proche d’estimation de la volatilité intégrée en présence d’erreurs de microstructure, nous développons plusieurs méthodes de bootstrap qui préservent la structure de dépendance et l’hétérogénéité dans la moyenne des données originelles. Le troisième essai développe une méthode de bootstrap sous l’hypothèse de Gaussianité locale des données financières de hautes fréquences. Le premier chapitre est intitulé: "Bootstrap inference for pre-averaged realized volatility based on non-overlapping returns". Nous proposons dans ce chapitre, des méthodes de bootstrap robustes à la présence d’erreurs de microstructure. Particulièrement nous nous sommes focalisés sur la volatilité réalisée utilisant des rendements "pré-moyennés" proposés par Podolskij et Vetter (2009), où les rendements "pré-moyennés" sont construits sur des blocs de rendements à hautes fréquences consécutifs qui ne se chevauchent pas. Le "pré-moyennement" permet de réduire l’influence de l’effet de microstructure avant d’appliquer la volatilité réalisée. Le non-chevauchement des blocs fait que les rendements "pré-moyennés" sont asymptotiquement indépendants, mais possiblement hétéroscédastiques. Ce qui motive l’application du wild bootstrap dans ce contexte. Nous montrons la validité théorique du bootstrap pour construire des intervalles de type percentile et percentile-t. Les simulations Monte Carlo montrent que le bootstrap peut améliorer les propriétés en échantillon fini de l’estimateur de la volatilité intégrée par rapport aux résultats asymptotiques, pourvu que le choix de la variable externe soit fait de façon appropriée. Nous illustrons ces méthodes en utilisant des données financières réelles. Le deuxième chapitre est intitulé : "Bootstrapping pre-averaged realized volatility under market microstructure noise". Nous développons dans ce chapitre une méthode de bootstrap par bloc basée sur l’approche "pré-moyennement" de Jacod et al. (2009), où les rendements "pré-moyennés" sont construits sur des blocs de rendements à haute fréquences consécutifs qui se chevauchent. Le chevauchement des blocs induit une forte dépendance dans la structure des rendements "pré-moyennés". En effet les rendements "pré-moyennés" sont m-dépendant avec m qui croît à une vitesse plus faible que la taille d’échantillon n. Ceci motive l’application d’un bootstrap par bloc spécifique. Nous montrons que le bloc bootstrap suggéré par Bühlmann et Künsch (1995) n’est valide que lorsque la volatilité est constante. Ceci est dû à l’hétérogénéité dans la moyenne des rendements "pré-moyennés" au carré lorsque la volatilité est stochastique. Nous proposons donc une nouvelle procédure de bootstrap qui combine le wild bootstrap et le bootstrap par bloc, de telle sorte que la dépendance sérielle des rendements "pré-moyennés" est préservée à l’intérieur des blocs et la condition d’homogénéité nécessaire pour la validité du bootstrap est respectée. Sous des conditions de taille de bloc, nous montrons que cette méthode est convergente. Les simulations Monte Carlo montrent que le bootstrap améliore les propriétés en échantillon fini de l’estimateur de la volatilité intégrée par rapport aux résultats asymptotiques. Nous illustrons cette méthode en utilisant des données financières réelles. Le troisième chapitre est intitulé: "Bootstrapping realized covolatility measures under local Gaussianity assumption". Dans ce chapitre nous montrons, comment et dans quelle mesure on peut approximer les distributions des estimateurs de mesures de co-volatilité sous l’hypothèse de Gaussianité locale des rendements. En particulier nous proposons une nouvelle méthode de bootstrap sous ces hypothèses. Nous nous sommes focalisés sur la volatilité réalisée et sur le beta réalisé. Nous montrons que la nouvelle méthode de bootstrap appliquée au beta réalisé était capable de répliquer les cummulants au deuxième ordre, tandis qu’il procurait une amélioration au troisième degré lorsqu’elle est appliquée à la volatilité réalisée. Ces résultats améliorent donc les résultats existants dans cette littérature, notamment ceux de Gonçalves et Meddahi (2009) et de Dovonon, Gonçalves et Meddahi (2013). Les simulations Monte Carlo montrent que le bootstrap améliore les propriétés en échantillon fini de l’estimateur de la volatilité intégrée par rapport aux résultats asymptotiques et les résultats de bootstrap existants. Nous illustrons cette méthode en utilisant des données financières réelles. / We develop in this thesis bootstrap methods for high frequency financial data. The first two chapters focalise on bootstrap methods for the "pre-averaging" approach, which is robust to the presence of market microstructure effects. The main idea underlying this approach is that we can reduce the impact of the noise by pre-averaging high frequency returns that are possibly contaminated with market microstructure noise before applying a realized volatility-like statistic. Based on this approach, we develop several bootstrap methods, which preserve the dependence structure and the heterogeneity in the mean of the original data. The third chapter shows how and to what extent the local Gaussian- ity assumption can be explored to generate a bootstrap approximation for covolatility measures. The first chapter is entitled "Bootstrap inference for pre-averaged realized volatility based on non-overlapping returns". The main contribution of this chapter is to propose bootstrap methods for realized volatility-like estimators defined on pre-averaged returns. In particular, we focus on the pre-averaged realized volatility estimator proposed by Podolskij and Vetter (2009). This statistic can be written (up to a bias correction term) as the (scaled) sum of squared pre-averaged returns, where the pre-averaging is done over all possible non-overlapping blocks of consecutive observations. Pre-averaging reduces the influence of the noise and allows for realized volatility estimation on the pre-averaged returns. The non-overlapping nature of the pre-averaged returns implies that these are asymptotically independent, but possibly heteroskedastic. This motivates the application of the wild bootstrap in this context. We provide a proof of the first order asymptotic validity of this method for percentile and percentile-t intervals. Our Monte Carlo simulations show that the wild bootstrap can improve the finite sample properties of the existing first order asymptotic theory provided we choose the external random variable appropriately. The second chapter is entitled "Bootstrapping pre-averaged realized volatility under market microstructure noise ". In this chapter we propose a bootstrap method for inference on integrated volatility based on the pre-averaging approach of Jacod et al. (2009), where the pre-averaging is done over all possible overlapping blocks of consecutive observations. The overlapping nature of the pre-averaged returns implies that these are m-dependent with m growing slowly with the sample size n. This motivates the application of a blockwise bootstrap method. We show that the “blocks of blocks” bootstrap method suggested by Politis and Romano (1992) (and further studied by Bühlmann and Künsch (1995)) is valid only when volatility is constant. The failure of the blocks of blocks bootstrap is due to the heterogeneity of the squared pre-averaged returns when volatility is stochastic. To preserve both the dependence and the heterogeneity of squared pre-averaged returns, we propose a novel procedure that combines the wild bootstrap with the blocks of blocks bootstrap. We provide a proof of the first order asymptotic validity of this method for percentile intervals. Our Monte Carlo simulations show that the wild blocks of blocks bootstrap improves the finite sample properties of the existing first order asymptotic theory. The third chapter is entitled "Bootstrapping realized volatility and realized beta under a local Gaussianity assumption". The financial econometric of high frequency data litera- ture often assumed a local constancy of volatility and the Gaussianity properties of high frequency returns in order to carry out inference. In this chapter, we show how and to what extent the local Gaussianity assumption can be explored to generate a bootstrap approximation. We show the first-order asymptotic validity of the new wild bootstrap method, which uses the conditional local normality properties of financial high frequency returns. In addition to that we use Edgeworth expansions and Monte Carlo simulations to compare the accuracy of the bootstrap with other existing approaches. It is shown that at second order, the new wild bootstrap matches the cumulants of realized betas-based t-statistics, whereas it provides a third-order asymptotic refinement for realized volatility. Monte Carlo simulations suggest that our new wild bootstrap methods improve upon the first-order asymptotic theory in finite samples and outperform the existing bootstrap methods for realized covolatility measures. We use empirical work to illustrate its uses in practice.

The objective of the thesis is to examine interdependencies among the stock markets of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Germany in the period 2008-2010. Two main methods are applied in the analysis. The first method is based on the use of high-frequency data and consists in the computation of realized correlations, which are then modeled using the heterogeneous autoregressive (HAR) model. In addition, we employ realized bipower correlations, which should be robust to the presence of jumps in prices. The second method involves modeling of correlations by means of the Dynamic Conditional Correlation GARCH (DCC-GARCH) model, which is applied to daily data. The results indicate that when high-frequency data are used, the correlations are biased towards zero (the so-called "Epps effect"). We also find quite significant differences between the dynamics of the correlations from the DCC-GARCH models and those of the realized correlations. Finally, we show that accuracy of the forecasts of correlations can be improved by combining results obtained from different models (HAR models for realized correlations, HAR models for realized bipower correlations, DCC-GARCH models).

Diese Dissertation behandelt die ökonometrische Analyse von hochfrequenten Finanzmarktdaten. Kapitel 1 stellt einen neuen Ansatz zur Modellierung von seriell abhängigen positiven Variablen, die einen nichttrivialen Anteil an Nullwerten aufweisen, vor. Letzteres ist ein weitverbreitetes Phänomen in hochfrequenten Finanzmarktzeitreihen. Eingeführt wird eine flexible Punktmassenmischverteilung, ein maßgeschneiderter semiparametrischer Spezifikationstest sowie eine neue Art von multiplikativem Fehlermodell (MEM). Kapitel 2 beschäftigt sich mit dem Umstand, dass feste symmetrische Kerndichteschätzer eine geringe Präzision aufweisen, falls eine positive Zufallsvariable mit erheblicher Wahrscheinlichkeitsmasse nahe Null gegeben ist. Wir legen dar, dass Gammakernschätzer überlegen sind, wobei ihre relative Präzision von der genauen Form der Dichte sowie des Kerns abhängt. Wir führen einen verbesserten Gammakernschätzer sowie eine datengetriebene Methodik für die Wahl des geeigneten Typs von Gammakern ein. Kapitel 3 wendet sich der Frage nach dem Nutzen von Hochfrequenzdaten für hochdimensionale Portfolioallokationsanwendungen zu. Wir betrachten das Problem der Konstruktion von globalen Minimum-Varianz-Portfolios auf der Grundlage der Konstituenten des S&P 500. Wir zeigen auf, dass Prognosen, welche auf Hochfrequenzdaten basieren, im Vergleich zu Methoden, die tägliche Renditen verwenden, eine signifikant geringere Portfoliovolatilität implizieren. Letzteres geht mit spürbaren Nutzengewinnen aus der Sicht eines Investors mit hoher Risikoaversion einher. / In three essays, this thesis deals with the econometric analysis of financial market data sampled at intraday frequencies. Chapter 1 presents a novel approach to model serially dependent positive-valued variables realizing a nontrivial proportion of zero outcomes. This is a typical phenomenon in financial high-frequency time series. We introduce a flexible point-mass mixture distribution, a tailor-made semiparametric specification test and a new type of multiplicative error model (MEM). Chapter 2 addresses the problem that fixed symmetric kernel density estimators exhibit low precision for positive-valued variables with a large probability mass near zero, which is common in high-frequency data. We show that gamma kernel estimators are superior, while their relative performance depends on the specific density and kernel shape. We suggest a refined gamma kernel and a data-driven method for choosing the appropriate type of gamma kernel estimator. Chapter 3 turns to the debate about the merits of high-frequency data in large-scale portfolio allocation. We consider the problem of constructing global minimum variance portfolios based on the constituents of the S&P 500. We show that forecasts based on high-frequency data can yield a significantly lower portfolio volatility than approaches using daily returns, implying noticeable utility gains for a risk-averse investor.

Submitted by Sara Ribeiro (sara.ribeiro@ucb.br) on 2018-06-18T18:53:22Z No. of bitstreams: 1 RafaeldeMoraisVargasDissertacao2018.pdf: 2179808 bytes, checksum: e2993cd35f13b4bd6411d626aefa0043 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Sara Ribeiro (sara.ribeiro@ucb.br) on 2018-06-18T18:54:14Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 RafaeldeMoraisVargasDissertacao2018.pdf: 2179808 bytes, checksum: e2993cd35f13b4bd6411d626aefa0043 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-06-18T18:54:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 RafaeldeMoraisVargasDissertacao2018.pdf: 2179808 bytes, checksum: e2993cd35f13b4bd6411d626aefa0043 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-02-27 / Given the importance of market risk measures, such as value at risk (VaR), in this paper, we compare traditionally accepted volatility forecast models, in particular, the GARCH family models, with more recent models such as HAR-RV and GAS in terms of the accuracy of their VaR forecasts. For this purpose, we use intraday prices, at the 5-minute frequency, of the S&P 500 index and the General Electric stocks, for the period from January 4, 2010 to December 30, 2013. Based on the tick loss function and the Diebold-Mariano test, we did not find difference in the predictive performance of the HAR-RV and GAS models in comparison with the Exponential GARCH (EGARCH) model, considering daily VaR forecasts at the 1% and 5% significance levels for the return series of the S&P 500 index. Regarding the return series of General Electric, the 1% VaR forecasts obtained from the HAR-RV models, assuming a t-Student distribution for the daily returns, are more accurate than the forecasts of the EGARCH model. In the case of the 5% VaR forecasts, all variations of the HAR-RV model perform better than the EGARCH. Our empirical study provides evidence of the good performance of HAR-RV models in forecasting value at risk. / Dada a importância de medidas de risco de mercado, como o valor em risco (VaR), nesse trabalho, comparamos modelos de previsão de volatilidade tradicionalmente mais aceitos, em particular, os modelos da família GARCH, com modelos mais recentes, como o HAR-RV e o GAS, em termos da acurácia de suas previsões de VaR. Para isso, usamos preços intradiários, na frequência de 5 minutos, do índice S&P 500 e das ações da General Electric, para o período de 4 de janeiro de 2010 a 30 de dezembro de 2013. Com base na função perda tick e no teste de Diebold-Mariano, não encontramos diferença no desempenho preditivo dos modelos HAR-RV e GAS em relação ao modelo Exponential GARCH (EGARCH), considerando as previsões de VaR diário a 1% e 5% de significância para a série de retornos do índice S&P 500. Já com relação à série de retornos da General Electric, as previsões de VaR a 1% obtidas a partir dos modelos HAR-RV, assumindo uma distribuição t-Student para os retornos diários, mostram-se mais acuradas do que as previsões do modelo EGARCH. No caso das previsões de VaR a 5%, todas as variações do modelo HAR-RV apresentam desempenho superior ao EGARCH. Nosso estudo empírico traz evidências do bom desempenho dos modelos HAR-RV na previsão de valor em risco.

<p>This doctoral thesis is comprised of four papers that all relate to the subject of Time Series Analysis.</p><p>The first paper of the thesis considers point estimation in a nonnegative, hence non-Gaussian, AR(1) model. The parameter estimation is carried out using a type of extreme value estimators (EVEs). A novel estimation method based on the EVEs is presented. The theoretical analysis is complemented with Monte Carlo simulation results and the paper is concluded by an empirical example.</p><p>The second paper extends the model of the first paper of the thesis and considers semiparametric, robust point estimation in a nonlinear nonnegative autoregression. The nonnegative AR(1) model of the first paper is extended in three important ways: First, we allow the errors to be serially correlated. Second, we allow for heteroskedasticity of unknown form. Third, we allow for a multi-variable mapping of previous observations. Once more, the EVEs used for parameter estimation are shown to be strongly consistent under very general conditions. The theoretical analysis is complemented with extensive Monte Carlo simulation studies that illustrate the asymptotic theory and indicate reasonable small sample properties of the proposed estimators.</p><p>In the third paper we construct a simple nonnegative time series model for realized volatility, use the results of the second paper to estimate the proposed model on S&P 500 monthly realized volatilities, and then use the estimated model to make one-month-ahead forecasts. The out-of-sample performance of the proposed model is evaluated against a number of standard models. Various tests and accuracy measures are utilized to evaluate the forecast performances. It is found that forecasts from the nonnegative model perform exceptionally well under the mean absolute error and the mean absolute percentage error forecast accuracy measures.</p><p>In the fourth and last paper of the thesis we construct a multivariate extension of the popular Diebold-Mariano test. Under the null hypothesis of equal predictive accuracy of three or more forecasting models, the proposed test statistic has an asymptotic Chi-squared distribution. To explore whether the behavior of the test in moderate-sized samples can be improved, we also provide a finite-sample correction. A small-scale Monte Carlo study indicates that the proposed test has reasonable size properties in large samples and that it benefits noticeably from the finite-sample correction, even in quite large samples. The paper is concluded by an empirical example that illustrates the practical use of the two tests.</p>