Ulrich Hounyo

Validity of Edgeworth expansions for realized volatility estimators

The main contribution of this paper is to establish the formal validity of Edgeworth expansions for realized volatility estimators. First, in the context of no microstructure effects, our results rigorously justify the Edgeworth expansions for realized volatility derived in Goncalves and Meddahi (2009, Econometrica 77, 283–306). Second, we show that the validity of the Edgeworth expansions for realized volatility might not cover the optimal two‐point distribution wild bootstrap proposed by Goncalves and Meddahi. Then, we propose a new optimal nonlattice distribution, which ensures the second‐order correctness of the bootstrap. Third, in the presence of microstructure noise, based on our Edgeworth expansions, we show that the new optimal choice proposed in the absence of noise is still valid in noisy data for the pre‐averaged realized volatility estimator proposed by Podolskij and Vetter (2009, Bernoulli 15, 634–658). Finally, we show how confidence intervals for integrated volatility can be constructed using these Edgeworth expansions for noisy data. Our Monte Carlo simulations show that the intervals based on the Edgeworth corrections have improved the finite sample properties relatively to the conventional intervals based on the normal approximation.

Is the diurnal pattern sufficient to explain intraday variation in volatility? A nonparametric assessment

In this paper, we propose a nonparametric way to test the hypothesis that time-variation in intraday volatility is caused solely by a deterministic and recurrent diurnal pattern. We assume that noisy high-frequency data from a discretely sampled jump-diffusion process are available. The test is then based on asset returns, which are deflated by a model-free jump- and noise-robust estimate of the seasonal component and therefore homoscedastic under the null. The t-statistic (after pre-averaging and jump-truncation) diverges in the presence of stochastic volatility and has a standard normal distribution otherwise. We prove that replacing the true diurnal factor with our estimator does not affect the asymptotic theory. A Monte Carlo simulation also shows this substitution has no discernable impact in finite samples. The test is, however, distorted by small infinite-activity price jumps. To improve inference, we propose a new bootstrap approach, which leads to almost correctly sized tests of the null hypothesis. We apply the developed framework to a large cross-section of equity high-frequency data and find that the diurnal pattern accounts for a rather significant fraction of intraday variation in volatility, but important sources of heteroscedasticity remain present in the data.

The local fractional bootstrap: The local fractional bootstrap

We introduce a bootstrap procedure for high-frequency statistics of Brownian semistationary processes. More specifically, we focus on a hypothesis test on the roughness of sample paths of Brownian semistationary processes, which uses an estimator based on a ratio of realized power variations. Our new resampling method, the local fractional bootstrap, relies on simulating an auxiliary fractional Brownian motion that mimics the fine properties of high frequency differences of the Brownian semistationary process under the null hypothesis. We prove the first order validity of the bootstrap method and in simulations we observe that the bootstrap-based hypothesis test provides considerable finite-sample improvements over an existing test that is based on a central limit theorem. This is important when studying the roughness properties of time series data; we illustrate this by applying the bootstrap method to two empirical data sets: we assess the roughness of a time series of high-frequency asset prices and we test the validity of Kolmogorovs scaling law in atmospheric turbulence data.

Testing for heteroscedasticity in jumpy and noisy high-frequency data: A resampling approach

In this paper, we propose a new way to measure and test the presence of time-varying volatility in a discretely sampled jump-diffusion process that is contaminated by microstructure noise. We use the concept of pre-averaged truncated bipower variation to construct our t-statistic, which diverges in the presence of a heteroscedastic volatility term (and has a standard normal distribution otherwise). The test is inspected in a general Monte Carlo simulation setting, where we note that in finite samples the asymptotic theory is severely distorted by infinite-activity price jumps. To improve inference, we suggest a bootstrap approach to test the null of homoscedasticity. We prove the first-order validity of this procedure, while in simulations the bootstrap leads to almost correctly sized tests. As an illustration, we apply the bootstrapped version of our t-statistic to a large cross-section of equity high-frequency data. We document the importance of jump-robustness, when measuring heteroscedasticity in practice. We also find that a large fraction of variation in intraday volatility is accounted for by seasonality. This suggests that, once we control for jumps and deate asset returns by a non-parametric estimate of the conventional U-shaped diurnality profile, the variance of the rescaled return series is often close to constant within the day.In this paper, we propose a nonparametric way to test the hypothesis that time-variation in intraday volatility is caused solely by a deterministic and recurrent diurnal pattern. We assume that noisy high-frequency data from a discretely sampled jump–diffusion process are available. The test is then based on asset returns, which are deflated by the seasonal component and therefore homoskedastic under the null. To construct our test statistic, we extend the concept of pre-averaged bipower variation to a general Ito semimartingale setting via a truncation device. We prove a central limit theorem for this statistic and construct a positive semi-definite estimator of the asymptotic covariance matrix. The t-statistic (after pre-averaging and jump-truncation) diverges in the presence of stochastic volatility and has a standard normal distribution otherwise. We show that replacing the true diurnal factor with a model-free jump- and noise-robust estimator does not affect the asymptotic theory. A Monte Carlo simulation also shows this substitution has no discernable impact in finite samples. The test is, however, distorted by small infinite-activity price jumps. To improve inference, we propose a new bootstrap approach, which leads to almost correctly sized tests of the null hypothesis. We apply the developed framework to a large cross-section of equity high-frequency data and find that the diurnal pattern accounts for a rather significant fraction of intraday variation in volatility, but important sources of heteroskedasticity remain present in the data.