Frequency-Dependent Higher Moment Risks

Abstract

Based on intraday data for a large cross-section of individual stocks and exchange traded funds, we show that short-term as well as long-term fluctuations of realized market and average idiosyncratic higher moments risks are priced in the cross-section of asset returns. Specifically, we find that market and average idiosyncratic volatility and kurtosis are significantly priced by investors mainly in the long-run even if controlled by market moments and other factors, while skewness is mostly short-run phenomenon. A conditional pricing model capturing the time-variation of moments confirms downward-sloping term structure of skewness risk and upward-sloping term structure of kurtosis risk, moreover the term structures connected to market skewness risk and average idiosyncratic skewness risk exhibit different dymanics.

Keywords: Higher Moments, frequency, Spectral Analysis, Cross-sectional

JEL Classification: C14, C22, G11, G12