We analyze the impact of time series dependence in market microstructure noise on the properties of estimators of the integrated volatility of an asset price based on data sampled at frequencies high enough for that noise to be a dominant consideration. We show that combining two time scales for that purpose will work even when the noise exhibits time series dependence, analyze in that context a refinement of this approach based on multiple time scales, and compare empirically our different estimators to the standard realized volatility.

Observed asset prices are known to deviate from their efficient values due to market microstructure frictions. This paper studies the effects of market microstructure noise on nonparametric estimates of the efficient price integrated variance. Specifically, we consider both asymptotic and finite sample effects of general market microstructure noise on realized variance estimates. The finite sample results culminate in a variance/bias trade-off that serves as a basis for an optimal sampling theory. Our theory also considers the effects of pre-filtering the data and proposes a novel bias-correction. We show that this theory is easily implementable in practise requiring only the calculation of sample moments of the observable high-frequency return data.

Summary. Consider a semimartingale of the form Yt = Y0 + ∫ t 0 asds + ∫ t σs − dWs, 0 where a is a locally bounded predictable process and σ (the “volatility”) is an adapted right–continuous process with left limits and W is a Brownian motion. We consider the realised bipower variation process V (Y; r, s) n t = n r+s

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We consider kernel-based estimators of integrated variances in the presence of independent market microstructure effects. We derive the bias and variance properties for all regular kernelbased estimators and derive a lower bound for their asymptotic variance. Further we show that the subsample-based estimator is closely related to a Bartlett-type kernel estimator. The small difference between the two estimators due to end effects, turns out to be key for the consistency of the subsampling estimator. This observation leads us to a modified class of kernel-based estimators, which are also consistent. We study the efficiency of our new kernel-based procedure. We show that optimal modified kernel-based estimator converges to the integrated variance at rate m 1/4, where m is the number of intraday returns.

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The econometric literature of high frequency data often relies on moment estimators which are derived from assuming local constancy of volatility and related quantities. We here study this local-constancy approximation as a general approach to estimation in such data. We show that the technique yields asymptotic properties (consistency, normality) that are correct subject to an ex post adjustment involving asymptotic likelihood ratios. These adjustments are given. Several examples of estimation are provided: powers of volatility, leverage effect, integrated betas, bipower, and covariance under asynchronous observation. The first order approximations in this study can be over the period of one observation, or over blocks of successive observations. The advantage of blocking is a gain in transparency in defining and analyzing estimators. The theory relies heavily on the interplay between stable convergence and measure change, and on asymptotic expansions for martingales.

We propose bootstrap methods for a general class of nonlinear transformations of realized volatility which includes the raw version of realized volatility and its logarithmic transformation as special cases. We consider the i.i.d. bootstrap and the wild bootstrap (WB) and prove their first-order asymptotic validity under general assumptions on the log-price process that allow for drift and leverage effects. We derive Edgeworth expansions in a simpler model that rules out these effects. The i.i.d. bootstrap provides a second-order asymptotic refinement when volatility is constant, but not otherwise. The WB yields a second-order asymptotic refinement under stochastic volatility provided we choose the external random variable used to construct the WB data appropriately. None of these methods provide third-order asymptotic refinements. Both methods improve upon the first-order asymptotic theory in finite samples.

This paper shows that the asymptotic normal approximation is often insufficiently accurate for volatility estimators based on high frequency data. To remedy this, we derive Edgeworth expansions for such estimators. The expansions are developed in the framework of small-noise asymptotics. The results have application to Cornish-Fisher inversion and help setting intervals more accurately than those relying on normal distribution.

For financial assets whose best quotes almost always change by jumping by one price tick (e.g. a penny), this paper proposes an estimator of Quadratic Variation which controls for microstructure effects. It compares the number of alternations, where quotes jump back to their previous price, to the number of other jumps. If quotes are found to exhibit “uncorrelated alternation”, the estimator is consistent in a limit theory where jumps are very frequent and small. This condition is checked across a range of markets, which is enlarged by suitably rounding prices. The estimator helps to forecast volatility. A multivariate extension and feasible asymptotic theory are developed.