Optimal dynamic hedging via copula-threshold-GARCH models

The contribution of this paper is twofold. First, we exploit copula methodology, with two threshold GARCH models as marginals, to construct a bivariate copula-threshold-GARCH model, simultaneously capturing asymmetric nonlinear behaviour in univariate stock returns of spot and futures markets and bivariate dependency, in a flexible manner. Two elliptical copulas (Gaussian and Student's-t) and three Archimedean copulas (Clayton, Gumbel and the Mixture of Clayton and Gumbel) are utilized. Second, we employ the presenting models to investigate the hedging performance for five East Asian spot and futures stock markets: Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan. Compared with conventional hedging strategies, including Engle's dynamic conditional correlation GARCH model, the results show that hedge ratios constructed by a Gaussian or Mixture copula are the best-performed in variance reduction for all markets except Japan and Singapore, and provide close to the best returns on a hedging portfolio over the sample period.     

Testing for expected return and market price of risk in Chinese A and B share markets: A geometric Brownian motion and multivariate GARCH model approach

There exist dual listed stocks which are issued by the same company in some stock markets. Although these stocks bare the same firm-specific risks and enjoy identical dividends and voting policies, they are priced differently. Some previous studies show this seeming deviation from the law of one price can be solved by allowing different expected returns and market prices of risk for investors holding heterogeneous beliefs. This paper provides empirical evidence for that argument by testing the expected return and market price of risk between Chinese A and B shares listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets. Models with dynamic of Geometric Brownian Motion are adopted. Multivariate GARCH models are also introduced to capture the feature of time-varying volatility in stock returns. The results suggest that the different pricing can be explained by the difference in expected returns between A and B shares. However, the difference between market price of risk is insignificant for both markets if GARCH models are adopted.     

A double-threshold GARCH model of stock market and currency shocks on stock returns

International integration of financial markets provides a channel for currency movements to affect stock prices. This paper applies a four-regime double-threshold GARCH (DTGARCH) model of stock market returns to investigate empirically the effects of daily currency movements on five stock market returns, namely in Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Japan and the USA. The asymmetric reactions of the mean and volatility stock returns in five markets to stock market and foreign exchange news are investigated using linear and nonlinear models. We discuss a four-regime DTGARCH model, which allows for asymmetry in both the conditional mean and conditional variance simultaneously by using two threshold variables to analyze stock market reactions to different types of information (that is, positive and negative news) that are generated from stock and foreign exchange markets. By applying the four-regime DTGARCH model, this paper finds that the interactions between the information of stock and foreign exchange markets lead to asymmetric reactions of stock returns and their associated variability. The empirical results show that international fund managers who invest in newly emerging stock markets need to evaluate the value and stability of domestic currencies as part of their stock market investment decisions.     

The impact of structural breaks on the integration of the ASEAN-5 stock markets

This paper examines the ASEAN-5 countries and explores the impact of structural breaks on the level of financial integration in that region. An extended cointegration procedure allowing for three types of structural break, is employed and compared with the standard Johansen procedure, for daily and weekly returns. The empirical results suggest a higher level of integration within the ASEAN-5 markets than previously found, suggesting that financial risk reduction benefits from diversifying investments across the region are less than previously thought. Further, Singapore and Thailand are the main long-term drivers in the region; Malaysia and Indonesia are more short-term drivers. Structural breaks are found to correspond with the Asian financial crisis in 1997/98 and a possible Y2K effect in late 1999. Results are verified using another structural break model and method, where break dates are treated as known.     

Could the jump diffusion technique enhance the effectiveness of futures hedging models?: A reality test

A multivariate Markov-switching ARCH (MVSWARCH) model in which variance/correlations for futures and spot returns is controlled by a state-varying mechanism is introduced and used to design a state-varying stock index futures hedge ratio. Additionally, a conventional random-variance framework, the MVGARCH (multivariate GARCH) model with a time-varying technique is employed and subjected to a benchmark model. The feasibility of these proposed models is examined using two types of spot positions selected from the U.K. stock markets: (1) the FTSE-100 market index, representing a well-diversified market portfolio, and (2) ten sub-stock indices defined by the Data Stream database, representing the sub-set of the market portfolio. The empirical results are consistent with the following notions. First, when futures and spot returns are simultaneously (individually) based on low or high volatility states, the corresponding correlation measure between futures and spot returns is higher (lower). Second, consistent with prior studies, the in-sample hedging effectiveness tests demonstrated the superior performance of the stat-varying hedge ratio generated by the MVSWARCH model in all cases. However, our empirical results further indicate that the out-of-sample performance of the MVSWARCH-based hedge ratio is statistically marginal when investors hold a well-diversified market portfolio as their spot position and tranquil periods are experienced.     

Forecasting conditional correlations in stock,bond and foreign exchange markets

The paper forecasts conditional correlations between three classes of international financial assets, namely stock, bond and foreign exchange. Two countries are considered, namely Australia and New Zealand. Forecasting will be conducted using three multivariate GARCH models, namely the CCC model [T. Bollerslev, Modelling the coherence in short-run nominal exchange rates: a multivariate generalized ARCH model, Rev. Econ. Stat. 72 (1990) 498–505], VARMA-GARCH model [S. Ling, M. McAleer, Asymptotic theory for a vector ARMA-GARCH model, Econometric Theory 19 (2003) 280–310], and VARMA-AGARCH model [M. McAleer, S. Hoti, F. Chan, Structure and asymptotic theory for multivariate asymmetric volatility, Econometric Rev., in press]. A rolling window technique is used to forecast 1-day ahead conditional correlations. To evaluate the impact of model specification on conditional correlations forecasts, this paper calculates and compares the correlations between conditional correlations forecasts resulted from the three models. The paper finds the evidence of volatility spillovers and asymmetric effect of negative and positive shock on the conditional variance in most pairs of series. However, it suggests that incorporating volatility spillovers and asymmetric do not contribute to better conditional correlations forecasts.     

Volatility spillovers, interdependence and comovements: A Markov Switching approach

The transmission mechanisms of volatility between markets can be characterized within a new Markov Switching bivariate model where the state of one variable feeds into the transition probability of the state of the other. A number of model restrictions and hypotheses can be tested to stress the role of one market relative to another (spillover, interdependence, comovement, independence, Granger noncausality). The model is estimated on the weekly high-low range of five Asian markets, assuming a central (but not necessarily dominant) role for Hong Kong. The results show plausible market characterizations over the long run with a spillover from Hong Kong to Korea and Thailand, interdependence with Malaysia and comovement with Singapore.     

Volatility dynamics of the US business cycle: A multivariate asymmetric GARCH approach

Most empirical investigations of the business cycles in the United States have excluded the dimension of asymmetric conditional volatility. This paper analyses the volatility dynamics of the US business cycle by comparing the performance of various multivariate generalised autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) models. In particular, we propose two bivariate GARCH models to examine the evidence of volatility asymmetry and time-varying correlations concurrently, and then apply the proposed models to five sectors of Industrial Production of the United States. Our findings provide strong evidence of asymmetric conditional volatility in all sectors, and some support of time-varying correlations in various sectoral pairs. This has important policy implications for government to consider the effective countercyclical measures during recessions.     

The impact of oil price shocks on stock market activities: Asymmetric effect with quantile regression

This paper examines the impact of changes in real oil prices on the real stock returns of G7 countries. In addition to investigating the asymmetric effect of oil price shocks on stock returns, we also examine the effect of the performances of stock markets themselves, which are relevant to firms’ strategies in the future. Although the responses of stock markets to oil price shocks are diverse among G7 countries, we present the inconsistent reflections of stock markets based on their performances. In many cases, quantile regression estimates are quite different from OLS models. These results carry crucial implications for the linkage between oil and stock markets.     

A risk map of international tourist regions in Spain

This paper presents a different approach to tourism research at the regional level. Financial econometric techniques are applied to international tourist arrivals, as well as their volatilities, in the five main tourist regions in Spain, using monthly international tourist arrivals during 1997–2007. Univariate time series models are estimated for the conditional means of monthly international tourist arrivals and their volatilities. The estimated conditional volatility models are GARCH(1,1), GJR(1,1) and EGARCH(1,1). Both the second moment and log-moment conditions are calculated to provide diagnostic checks of the estimated models. The conditional mean estimates are generally statistically adequate, and the inferences are valid.     

Modelling risk in agricultural finance: Application to the poultry industry in Taiwan

The volatility in agricultural prices, such as for broiler and color broiler chickens in Taiwan, is similar in various aspects to financial volatility as it relates to the risk and returns associated with agricultural production. However, as the characteristics of agricultural markets may be different from financial markets, the results arising from empirical risk analysis need to be investigated. The broiler and color broiler industries are the second and third largest livestock industries in Taiwan. When Taiwan applied to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) in the 1990s, these two industries faced the threat of deregulation of chicken meat imports. However, developments in these two industries have not been the same under deregulation, with the level of competition in the broiler and color broiler industries being markedly different. The purpose of the paper is to model the prices, growth rates and their respective volatilities in weekly broiler and color broiler chicken prices in Taiwan from January 1995 to June 2007. The empirical results show that the time series of broiler and color broiler prices, their logarithms and their growth rates are stationary, and that the estimated symmetric and asymmetric conditional volatility models all fit the data extremely well. The empirical second moment and log-moment conditions also support the statistical adequacy of the estimated volatility models. The empirical results have significant implications for risk management and policy considerations in the agricultural production industry in Taiwan.     

On pseudo maximum likelihood estimation for multivariate time series models with conditional heteroskedasticity

We consider a general multivariate conditional heteroskedastic model under a conditional distribution that is not necessarily normal. This model contains autoregressive conditional heteroskedastic (ARCH) models as a special class. We use the pseudo maximum likelihood estimation method and derive a new estimator of the asymptotic variance matrix for the pseudo maximum likelihood estimator. We also study four special cases in this class, which are conditional heteroskedastic autoregressive moving-average models, regression models with ARCH errors, models with constant conditional correlations, and ARCH in mean models.     

Clarifying the dynamics of the relationship between option and stock markets using the threshold vector error correction model

This work examines how the option and stock markets are related when using the threshold vector error correction model (hereinafter referred to as threshold VECM). Moreover, compared to previous studies in the literature of application of threshold models, this study not only investigates the impacts of price transmission mechanisms on stock return means but also the volatilities of returns. The model is tested using the U.S. S&P 500 stock market. The empirical findings of this investigation are consistent with the following notions. First, the equilibrium re-establishment process depends primarily on the option market and is triggered only when price deviations exceed a critical threshold. Second, arbitrage behaviors between the option and stock markets increase volatility in these two markets and reduce their correlation.     

Convergence and interdependence between ASEAN-5 stock markets

Rapid growth and low correlations between emerging markets in the South-East Asian region can offer higher returns and lower portfolio risk for international investors. This paper examines the linkages between the stock markets of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) five original member countries, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand (hereafter referred to as ASEAN-5) over the period 1990–2008. The primary focus is to consider the correlations and long-run relationships among the ASEAN-5 market indices and whether there are signs of converging or increased cross-market integration after the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Overall, there is some evidence of an increase in the level of integration and interdependence between the ASEAN-5 markets after the financial crisis. In addition, the US market is found to have significant influence on all ASEAN-5 markets.     

A hybrid option pricing model using a neural network for estimating volatility

The Black–Scholes (BS) model is the standard approach used for pricing financial options. However, although being theoretically strong, option prices valued by the model often differ from the prices observed in the financial markets. This paper applies a hybrid neural network which preprocesses financial input data for improving the estimation of option market prices. This model is comprised of two parts. The first part is a neural network developed to estimate volatility. The second part is an additional neural network developed to value the difference between the BS model results and the actual market option prices. The resulting option price is then a summation between the BS model and the network response. The hybrid system with a neural network for estimating volatility provides better performance in terms of pricing accuracy than either the BS model with historical volatility (HV), or the BS model with volatility valued by the neural network.     

GARCH,jumps and permanent and transitory components of volatility: the case of the Taiwan exchange rate

This paper investigates whether there are three distinctive features in financial asset prices, that is, time-varying conditional volatility, jumps and the component factors of volatility. It adopts a component-GARCH-Jump, which can efficiently capture the three features simultaneously. Our results demonstrate that the three features exist in the Taiwan exchange rate. Besides time-varying conditional volatility, our model identifies 172 jumps between 5 January 1988 and 21 March 2003. The empirical evidence shows that the permanent component of the conditional variance is a relatively smooth movement except for a fairly sharp shift which began in 1997. This means that the effect of the Asian crisis shock might very well have exerted not only a transitory jump effect, but also a permanent effect on Taiwan’s exchange rate.     

Intraday dynamic relationships between CSI 300 index futures and spot markets: a high-frequency analysis

Based on intraday 5-min high-frequency dataset, this paper empirically analyzes the intraday dynamic relationships between China’s CSI 300 index futures and spot markets with vector autoregression (VAR) and multivariate GARCH (MGARCH) models. By comparing four VAR–MGARCH models (dynamic conditional correlation, constant conditional correlation, diagonal and BEKK), the VAR–DCC–MGARCH model is found to fit the data the best and be preferred over the other models. The results of this model show that although there are bidirectional price causal relationships between the CSI 300 index futures and spot markets, the index futures return shock affects the spot market more severely than the spot return shock affects the futures market, indicating that the index futures market dominates the price discovery process between the two markets. There are bidirectional volatility spillovers effects between the CSI 300 index futures and spot markets, and the spillovers effects from index futures to spot almost equal to that from index spot to futures. The time-varying conditional correlations between the CSI 300 index futures and spot markets change from 0.4787 to 0.9594 across time, showing there is a strong positive correlation and linkage effect between the two markets. These results indicate that after a period of time of development, the price discovery performance of the CSI 300 index futures market has begun to function well, and the impact of the CSI 300 index futures market on its underlying spot market has strengthened.     

Detecting Business Cycle Asymmetries Using Artificial Neural Networks and Time Series Models

This study examines possible existence of business cycle asymmetries in Canada, France, Japan, UK, and USA real GDP growth rates using neural networks nonlinearity tests and tests based on a number of nonlinear time series models. These tests are constructed using in-sample forecasts from artificial neural networks (ANN) as well as time series models.Our study results based on neural network tests show that there is statistically significant evidence of business cycle asymmetries in these industrialized countries. Similarly, our study results based on a number of time series models also show that business cycle asymmetries do prevail in these countries. So we are not able to evaluate the impact of monetary policy or any other shocks on GDP in these countries based on linear models.     

SEMIFARMA-HYGARCH Modeling of Dow Jones Return Persistence

This paper analyzes the cyclical behavior of Dow Jones by testing the existence of long memory through a new class of semiparametric ARFIMA models with HYGARCH errors (SEMIFARMA-HYGARCH); this class includes nonparametric deterministic trend, stochastic trend, short-range and long-range dependence and long memory heteroscedastic errors. We study the daily returns of the Dow Jones from 1896 to 2006. We estimate several models and we find that the coefficients of the SEMIFARMA-HYGARCH model, including long memory coefficients for the equations of the mean and the conditional variance, are highly significant. The forecasting results show that the informational shocks have permanent effects on volatility and the SEMIFARMA-HYGARCH model has better performance over some other models for long and/or short horizons. The predictions from this model are also better than the predictions of the random walk model; accordingly, the weak efficiency assumption of financial markets seems violated for Dow Jones returns studied over a long period.     

Efficiency of Crude Oil Futures Markets: New Evidence from Multifractal Detrending Moving Average Analysis

In this paper, we examine the weak-form efficient market hypothesis of crude oil futures markets by testing for the random walk behavior of prices. Using a method borrowed from statistical physics, we find that crude oil price display weak persistent behavior for time scales smaller than a year. For time scales larger than a year, strong mean-reversion behaviors can be found. That is, crude oil futures markets are not efficient in the short-term or in the long-term. By quantifying the market inefficiency using a “multifractality degree”, we find that the futures markets are more inefficient in the long-term than in the short-term. Furthermore, we investigate the “stylized fact” of volatility dynamics on market efficiency. The simulating and empirical results indicate that volatility clustering, volatility memory and extreme volatility have adverse effects on market efficiency, especially in the long-term.