Whence GARCH? A Preference-Based Explanation for Conditional Volatility

McQueen, Grant Richard; Vorkink, Keith

doi:10.2139/ssrn.354020

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Whence GARCH? A Preference-Based Explanation for Conditional Volatility

48 Pages Posted: 13 Dec 2002

See all articles by Grant Richard McQueen

Grant Richard McQueen

Brigham Young University - Department of Business Management

Keith Vorkink

Brigham Young University - J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott School of Management

There are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: December 12, 2003

Abstract

We develop a preference-based equilibrium asset pricing model that explains low frequency conditional volatility. Similar to Barberis, Huang, and Santos (2001), agents in our model care about wealth changes, experience loss aversion, and keep a mental scorecard that affects their level of risk aversion. A new feature of our model is that when perturbed by unexpected returns, investors become temporarily more sensitive to news. Gradually, investors become accustomed to the new level of wealth, restoring prior levels of risk aversion and news sensitivity. The state-dependent sensitivity to news creates the type of volatility clustering found in low frequency stock returns. We find empirical support for our model's predictions that relate the scorecard to conditional volatility and skewness.

JEL Classification: C22, G12

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

McQueen, Grant R. and Vorkink, Keith, Whence GARCH? A Preference-Based Explanation for Conditional Volatility (December 12, 2003). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=354020 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.354020