EconBase
← All papers

Inference from high-frequency data: A subsampling approach

Kim Christensen, Mark Podolskij, Nopporn Thamrongrat, Bezirgen Veliyev

arXiv 23 Jan 2026 · Econometrics

arXiv:2601.16668 · PDF · Extracted main text

Abstract

In this paper, we show how to estimate the asymptotic (conditional) covariance matrix, which appears in central limit theorems in high-frequency estimation of asset return volatility. We provide a recipe for the estimation of this matrix by subsampling; an approach that computes rescaled copies of the original statistic based on local stretches of high-frequency data, and then it studies the sampling variation of these. We show that our estimator is consistent both in frictionless markets and models with additive microstructure noise. We derive a rate of convergence for it and are also able to determine an optimal rate for its tuning parameters (e.g., the number of subsamples). Subsampling does not require an extra set of estimators to do inference, which renders it trivial to implement. As a variance-covariance matrix estimator, it has the attractive feature that it is positive semi-definite by construction. Moreover, the subsampler is to some extent automatic, as it does not exploit explicit knowledge about the structure of the asymptotic covariance. It therefore tends to adapt to the problem at hand and be robust against misspecification of the noise process. As such, this paper facilitates assessment of the sampling errors inherent in high-frequency estimation of volatility. We highlight the finite sample properties of the subsampler in a Monte Carlo study, while some initial empirical work demonstrates its use to draw feasible inference about volatility in financial markets.

Citation extraction

70
references
148
in-text mentions
70
distinct cited
10
self-citations
19,982
main-text words

appendix boundary found by appendix_command · 65% of the source is main text. Read the extracted text to check this.

Most heavily cited references

The works this paper leans on most, across its whole bibliography — not restricted to papers in our corpus. Ranked by composite intensity, which combines how often a work is mentioned, how many sections mention it, and how much of that falls in the main text rather than the appendix.

ReferenceIntensityMentionsSectionsMain text
1I. Kalnina (2011) Subsampling high frequency data1.00073100%
2O. E. Barndorff-Nielsen and P. R. Hansen and A. Lunde and N. Shephard (2008) Designing realized kernels to measure the ex post variation of equity prices in the presence of noise0.92843100%
3M. Podolskij and M. Vetter (2009) Bipower-type estimation in a noisy diffusion setting self0.91822577%
4P. A. Mykland and L. Zhang (2017) Assessment of uncertainty in high frequency data: The observed asymptotic variance0.87492100%
5J. Jacod and P. E. Protter (2012) Discretization of Processes0.8434375%
6J. Jacod and Y. Li and P. A. Mykland and M. Podolskij and M. Vetter (2009) Microstructure noise in the continuous case: The pre-averaging approach self0.84333100%
7L. Zhang and P. A. Mykland and Y. Aït-Sahalia (2005) A tale of two time scales: determining integrated volatility with noisy high-frequency data0.84333100%
8P. R. Hansen and A. Lunde (2006) Realized variance and market microstructure noise0.81142100%
9N. Hautsch and M. Podolskij (2013) Pre-averaging based estimation of quadratic variation in the presence of noise and jumps: Theory, implementation, and empirical… self0.81142100%
10Y. Aït-Sahalia and P. A. Mykland and L. Zhang (2011) Ultra high frequency volatility estimation with dependent microstructure noise0.73732100%

Showing the top 10 of 70 scored citations.

Cited by, within the corpus

arXiv econ.EM papers that cite this one, ranked by how heavily they lean on it.

Citing paperIntensityMentionsSections
1High-dimensional estimation of quadratic variation based on penalized realized variance0.73732
2Warp Speed Price Moves: Jumps after Earnings Announcements0.65974
3Is the diurnal pattern sufficient to explain intraday variation in volatility? A nonparametric assessment0.64422
4An unbounded intensity model for point processes0.40511
5Autoencoder Enhanced Realised GARCH on Volatility Forecasting0.40511