High-Dimensional Conditional Covariance Matrices Estimation Using a Factor-GARCH Model

Abstract

Estimation of a conditional covariance matrix is an interesting and important research topic in statistics and econometrics. However, modelling ultra-high dimensional dynamic (conditional) covariance structures is known to suffer from the curse of dimensionality or the problem of singularity. To partially solve this problem, this paper establishes a model by combining the ideas of a factor model and a symmetric GARCH model to describe the dynamics of a high-dimensional conditional covariance matrix. Quasi maximum likelihood estimation (QMLE) and least square estimation (LSE) methods are used to estimate the parameters in the model, and the plug-in method is introduced to obtain the estimation of conditional covariance matrix. Asymptotic properties are established for the proposed method, and simulation studies are given to demonstrate its performance. A financial application is presented to support the methodology.

Keywords

• factor model
• high-dimensional conditional covariance matrix
• GARCH model