Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0 Series: Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers Creation-Date: 2019-07-31 Number: 19-051/IV Author-Name: Anne Opschoor Author-Workplace-Name: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Author-Name: André Lucas Author-Workplace-Name: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Title: Time-varying tail behavior for realized kernels Abstract: We propose a new score-driven model to capture the time-varying volatility and tail behavior of realized kernels. We assume realized kernels follow an F distribution with two time-varying degrees-of-freedom parameters, accounting for the Vol-of-Vol and the tail shape of the realized kernel distribution. The resulting score-driven dynamics imply that the influence of large (outlying) realized kernels on future volatilities and tail-shapes is mitigated. We apply our model to 30 stocks from the S&P 500 index over the period 2001-2014. The results show that tail shapes vary over time, even after correcting for the time-varying mean and Vol-of-Vol of the realized kernels. The model outperforms a number of recent competitors, both in-sample and out-of-sample. In particular, accounting for time-varying tail shapes matters for both density forecasts and forecasts of volatility risk quantiles. Classification-JEL: C32, C58 Keywords: realized kernel, heavy tails, F distribution, time-varying shape-parameter, Vol-of-Vol, score-driven dynamics File-URL: https://papers.tinbergen.nl/19051.pdf File-Format: application/pdf File-Size: 985131 bytes Handle: RePEc:tin:wpaper:20190051