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Leverage and asymmetric volatility: The firm-level evidence

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  • Ericsson, Jan
  • Huang, Xiao
  • Mazzotta, Stefano

Abstract

The relative statistical and economic significance of the leverage and feedback effects on firm-level equity volatility remain an open issue. We use a dynamic panel vector autoregression framework to investigate both effects simultaneously for all firms in CRSP and COMPUSTAT from 1971 to 2013. Crucially, we allow financial leverage, volatility and risk premia to influence each other over time. We find a much larger leverage effect than reported in Christie (1982). Importantly, we find that a change in leverage has a prolonged effect on volatility. The cumulative leverage effect is up to five times larger in twelve quarters than a static model would predict for one quarter.

Suggested Citation

  • Ericsson, Jan & Huang, Xiao & Mazzotta, Stefano, 2016. "Leverage and asymmetric volatility: The firm-level evidence," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(PA), pages 1-21.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:empfin:v:38:y:2016:i:pa:p:1-21
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jempfin.2016.02.008
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    Cited by:

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    2. Dzieliński, Michał & Rieger, Marc Oliver & Talpsepp, Tõnn, 2018. "Asymmetric attention and volatility asymmetry," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 59-67.
    3. Ahmed, Mohamed S. & Alhadab, Mohammad, 2020. "Momentum, asymmetric volatility and idiosyncratic risk-momentum relation: Does technology-sector matter?," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 355-371.
    4. Liu Yang & Qing Zhou & Min Zhu, 2021. "De‐risking through equity holdings: Bank and insurer behavior under capital requirements," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(9-10), pages 1889-1917, October.
    5. Chang, Xin & Cheng, Louis T.W. & Kwok, Wing Chun & Wong, George, 2024. "Stock price crash risk and firms’ operating leverage," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    6. Nitu Sharma & S. Dharmaraja & Viswanathan Arunachalam, 2021. "A Time Series Framework for Pricing Guaranteed Lifelong Withdrawal Benefit," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 58(4), pages 1225-1261, December.
    7. Philippe Masset & Martin Wallmeier, 2010. "A High†Frequency Investigation of the Interaction between Volatility and DAX Returns," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 16(3), pages 327-344, June.
    8. Horpestad, Jone B. & Lyócsa, Štefan & Molnár, Peter & Olsen, Torbjørn B., 2019. "Asymmetric volatility in equity markets around the world," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 540-554.
    9. Muhammad Surajo Sanusi, 2017. "Investigating the sources of Black’s leverage effect in oil and gas stocks," Cogent Economics & Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(1), pages 1318812-131, January.
    10. Saif Siddiqui & Preeti Roy, 2019. "Asymmetric relationship between implied volatility, index returns and trading volume: an application of quantile regression model," DECISION: Official Journal of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Springer;Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, vol. 46(3), pages 239-252, September.
    11. Kalu O. Emenike & Omweno N. Enock, 2020. "How Does News Affect Stock Return Volatility in a Frontier Market?," Management and Labour Studies, XLRI Jamshedpur, School of Business Management & Human Resources, vol. 45(4), pages 433-443, November.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Financial leverage; Stock volatility; Panel data; Vector autoregression;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C33 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models

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