We plot aggregated daily stock returns with absolute value less than x against x and show empirically that this produces a typical spoon-shaped pattern which indicates a special type of asymmetry which has not been discussed before. This pattern disappears when individual returns are averaged; it...

We propose a multiplicative dynamic factor structure for the conditional modelling of the variances of an N-dimensional vector of financial returns. We identify common and idiosyncratic conditional volatility factors. The econometric framework is based on an observation-driven time series model...

Today we live in a post-truth and highly digitalized era characterized by a flow of (mis-) information around the world. Identifying the impact of this information on stock markets and forecasting stock returns and volatilities has become a much more difficult task, perhaps almost impossible....

The research work presented below addresses the possible concern of central bank independence through the development and application of econometric models. The complexity of the modelling has allowed a step further in corroborating that financial independence is not only linked to the...

This paper provides new evidence on the stochastic behaviour of the EPU (Economic Policy Uncertainty (EPU) index constructed by Baker et al. (2016) in six of the biggest economies (Canada, France, Japan, US, Ireland, and Sweden) over the period from January 1985 to October 2019. In particular,...

This research study examines the mediating role of cash holdings between the economic policy uncertainty (EPU) and corporate leverage relationship. Using stepwise regression analysis and annual firm-level data of 2,534 U.S. firms listed at NYSE over 1995-2018, we provide novel evidence that cash...

The estimation of the covariances of high-frequency asset prices is problematic because of asynchronous trading and market microstructure noise. In the last years, both parametric and non-parametric methods have been proposed in order to handle these effects. Little attention has instead been...

Estimating the covariance between assets using high frequency data is challenging due to market microstructure effects and asynchronous trading. In this paper we develop a multivariate realised quasi maximum likelihood (QML) approach, carrying out inference as if the observations arise from an...

The analysis of the intraday dynamics of covariances among high-frequency returns is challenging due to asynchronous trading and market microstructure noise. Both effects lead to significant data reduction and may severely affect the estimation of the covariances if traditional methods for...

Our study extends the existing literature by exploring the impact of three major risk and uncertainty indices on the Dow Jones Islamic Market (DJIM) World and the ten major sectoral Islamic equity indices. We also look at whether the sectoral indices differ from the global benchmark index...