We propose new methods for estimating the bid-ask spread from observed transaction prices alone. Our methods are based on the empirical characteristic function instead of the sample autocovariance function like the method of Roll (1984). As in Roll (1984), we have a closed form expression for...

This paper develops methodology for nonparametric estimation of a polarization measure due to Anderson (2004) and Anderson, Ge, and Leo (2006) based on kernel estimation techniques. We give the asymptotic distribution theory of our estimator, which in some cases is nonstandard due to a boundary...

We propose a new method of testing stochastic dominance that improves on existing tests based on the standard bootstrap or subsampling. The method admits prospects involving infinite as well as finite dimensional unknown parameters, so that the variables are allowed to be residuals from...