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We perform a comparative analysis of machine learning methods for the canonical problem of empirical asset pricing: measuring asset risk premiums. We demonstrate large economic gains to investors using machine learning forecasts, in some cases doubling the performance of leading regression-based strategies from the literature. We identify the best-performing methods (trees and neural networks) and trace their predictive gains to allowing nonlinear predictor interactions missed by other methods. All methods agree on the same set of dominant predictive signals, a set that includes variations on momentum, liquidity, and volatility.

We propose a model selection method to systematically evaluate the contribution to asset pricing of any new factor, above and beyond what a high-dimensional set of existing factors explains. Our methodology accounts for model selection mistakes that produce a bias due to omitted variables, unlike standard approaches that assume perfect variable selection. We apply our procedure to a set of factors recently discovered in the literature. While most of these new factors are shown to be redundant relative to the existing factors, a few have statistically significant explanatory power beyond the hundreds of factors proposed in the past.

This article proposes a consistent and efficient estimator of the high-frequency covariance (quadratic covariation) of two arbitrary assets, observed asynchronously with market microstructure noise. This estimator is built on the marriage of the quasi-maximum likelihood estimator of the quadratic variation and the proposed generalized synchronization scheme and thus is not influenced by the Epps effect. Moreover, the estimation procedure is free of tuning parameters or bandwidths and is readily implementable. Monte Carlo simulations show the advantage of this estimator by comparing it with a variety of estimators with specific synchronization methods. The empirical studies of six foreign exchange future contracts illustrate the time-varying correlations of the currencies during the 2008 global financial crisis, demonstrating the similarities and differences in their roles as key currencies in the global market.

We conduct inference on volatility with noisy high-frequency data. We assume the observed transaction price follows a continuous-time Itô-semimartingale, contaminated by a discrete-time moving-average noise process associated with the arrival of trades. We estimate volatility, defined as the quadratic variation of the semimartingale, by maximizing the likelihood of a misspecified moving-average model, with its order selected based on an information criterion. Our inference is uniformly valid over a large class of noise processes whose magnitude and dependence structure vary with sample size. We show that the convergence rate of our estimator dominates n ¼ as noise vanishes, and is determined by the selected order of noise dependence when noise is sufficiently small. Our implementation guarantees positive estimates in finite samples.

We propose a semiparametric two-step inference procedure for a finite-dimensional parameter based on moment conditions constructed from high-frequency data. The population moment conditions take the form of temporally integrated functionals of state-variable processes that include the latent stochastic volatility process of an asset. In the first step, we nonparametrically recover the volatility path from high-frequency asset returns. The nonparametric volatility estimator is then used to form sample moment functions in the second-step GMM estimation, which requires the correction of a high-order nonlinearity bias from the first step. We show that the proposed estimator is consistent and asymptotically mixed Gaussian and propose a consistent estimator for the conditional asymptotic variance. We also construct a Bierens-type consistent specification test. These infill asymptotic results are based on a novel empirical-process-type theory for general integrated functionals of noisy semimartingale processes.

Data snooping is a major concern in empirical asset pricing. We develop a new framework to rigorously perform multiple hypothesis testing in linear asset pricing models, while limiting the occurrence of false positive results typically associated with data snooping. By exploiting a variety of machine learning techniques, our multiple-testing procedure is robust to omitted factors and missing data. We also prove its asymptotic validity when the number of tests is large relative to the sample size, as in many finance applications. To improve the finite sample performance, we also provide a wild-bootstrap procedure for inference and prove its validity in this setting. Finally, we illustrate the empirical relevance in the context of hedge fund performance evaluation.

We document a striking block-diagonal pattern in the factor model residual covariances of the S&P 500 Equity Index constituents, after sorting the assets by their assigned Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) codes. Cognizant of this structure, we propose combining a location-based thresholding approach based on sector inclusion with the Fama-French and SDPR sector Exchange Traded Funds (ETF's). We investigate the performance of our estimators in an out-of-sample portfolio allocation study. We find that our simple and positive-definite covariance matrix estimator yields strong empirical results under a variety of factor models and thresholding schemes. Conversely, we find that the Fama-French factor model is only suitable for covariance estimation when used in conjunction with our proposed thresholding technique. Theoretically, we provide justification for the empirical results by jointly analyzing the in-fill and diverging dimension asymptotics.

We develop the necessary methodology to conduct principal component analysis at high frequency. We construct estimators of realized eigenvalues, eigenvectors, and principal components, and provide the asymptotic distribution of these estimators. Empirically, we study the high-frequency covariance structure of the constituents of the S&P 100 Index using as little as one week of high-frequency data at a time, and examines whether it is compatible with the evidence accumulated over decades of lower frequency returns. We find a surprising consistency between the low- and high-frequency structures. During the recent financial crisis, the first principal component becomes increasingly dominant, explaining up to 60% of the variation on its own, while the second principal component drives the common variation of financial sector stocks. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.

We consider two new approaches to nonparametric estimation of the leverage effect. The first approach uses stock prices alone. The second approach uses the data on stock prices as well as a certain volatility instrument, such as the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) volatility index (VIX) or the Black-Scholes implied volatility. The theoretical justification for the instrument-based estimator relies on a certain invariance property, which can be exploited when high-frequency data are available. The price-only estimator is more robust since it is valid under weaker assumptions. However, in the presence of a valid volatility instrument, the price-only estimator is inefficient as the instrument-based estimator has a faster rate of convergence.We consider an empirical application, in which we study the relationship between the leverage effect and the debt-to-equity ratio, credit risk, and illiquidity. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.

We propose semiparametrically efficient estimators for general integrated volatility functionals of multivariate semimartingale processes. A plug-in method that uses nonparametric estimates of spot volatilities is known to induce high-order biases that need to be corrected to obey a central limit theorem. Such bias terms arise from boundary effects, the diffusive and jump movements of stochastic volatility and the sampling error from the nonparametric spot volatility estimation. We propose a novel jackknife method for bias correction. The jackknife estimator is simply formed as a linear combination of a few uncorrected estimators associated with different local window sizes used in the estimation of spot volatility. We show theoretically that our estimator is asymptotically mixed Gaussian, semiparametrically efficient, and more robust to the choice of local windows. To facilitate the practical use, we introduce a simulation-based estimator of the asymptotic variance, so that our inference is derivative-free, and hence is convenient to implement.