We develop a new efficient and analytically tractable method for estimation of parametric volatility models that is robust to price-level jumps and generally has good finite sample properties. The method entails first integrating intra-day data into the Realized Laplace Transform of volatility,...

We develop a nonparametric estimator of the stochastic volatility density of a discretely-observed Ito semimartingale in the setting of an increasing time span and finer mesh of the observation grid. There are two steps. The first is aggregating the high-frequency increments into the realized...

The paper examines volatility activity and its asymmetry and undertakes further specification analysis of volatility models based on it. We develop new nonparametric statistics using high frequency option-based VIX data to test for asymmetry in volatility jumps. We also develop methods to...

Stock market volatility clusters in time, appears fractionally integrated, carries a risk premium, and exhibits asymmetric leverage e®ects relative to returns. At the same time, the volatility risk premium, de¯ned by the di®erence between the risk-neutral and objective expectations of the...

We introduce a new measure constructed from high-frequency financial data which we call the Realized Laplace Transform of volatility. The statistic provides a nonparametric estimate for the empirical Laplace transform of the latent stochastic volatility process over a given interval of time....

The paper examines volatility activity and its asymmetry and undertakes further specification analysis of volatility models based on it. We develop new nonparametric statistics using high-frequency option-based VIX data to test for asymmetry in volatility jumps. We also develop methods for...

We analyze the high-frequency dynamics of S&P 500 equity-index option prices by constructing an assortment of implied volatility measures. This allows us to infer the underlying fine structure behind the innovations in the latent state variables driving the movements of the volatility surface....

We derive a nonparametric test for constant (continuous) beta over a fixed interval of time. Continuous beta is defined as the ratio of the continuous covariation between an asset and observable risk factor (e.g., the market return) and the continuous variation of the latter. Our test is based...

This dissertation consists of three related chapters that study financial market volatility,jumps and the economic factors behind them. Each of the chapters analyzes adifferent aspect of this problem.The first chapter examines tests for jumps based on recent asymptotic results.Monte Carlo...

This paper develops a method to select the threshold in threshold-based jump detection methods. The method is motivated by an analysis of threshold-based jump detection methods in the context of jump-diffusion models. We show that over the range of sampling frequencies a researcher is most...