The literature on multivariate stochastic volatility (MSV) models has developed significantly over the last few years. This paper reviews the substantial literature on specification, estimation, and evaluation of MSV models. A wide range of MSV models is presented according to various categories, namely, (i) asymmetric models, (ii) factor models, (iii) time-varying correlation models, and (iv) alternative MSV specifications, including models based on the matrix exponential transformation, the Cholesky decomposition, and the Wishart autoregressive process. Alternative methods of estimation, including quasi-maximum likelihood, simulated maximum likelihood, and Markov chain Monte Carlo methods, are discussed and compared. Various methods of diagnostic checking and model comparison are also reviewed.Asymmetry, Diagnostic checking, Estimation, Factor models, Leverage, Model comparison, Multivariate stochastic volatility, Thresholds, Time-varying correlations, Transformations,

We provide a detailed summary of the large and vibrant emerging literature that deals with the multivariate modeling of conditional volatility of financial time series within the framework of stochastic volatility. The developments and achievements in this area represent one of the great success stories of financial econometrics. Three broad classes of multivariate stochastic volatility models have emerged: one that is a direct extension of the univariate class of stochastic volatility model, another that is related to the factor models of multivariate analysis and a third that is based on the direct modeling of time-varying correlation matrices via matrix exponential transformations, Wishart processes and other means. We discuss each of the various model formulations, provide connections and differences and show how the models are estimated. Given the interest in this area, further significant developments can be expected, perhaps fostered by the overview and details delineated in this paper, especially in the fitting of high-dimensional models.

In this paper, we propose a long memory asymmetric volatility model, which captures more flexible asymmetric patterns as compared with several existing models. We extend the new specification to realized volatility (RV) by taking account of measurement errors and use the Efficient Importance Sampling technique to estimate the model. We apply the model to the RV of S&P500. Overall, the results of the out-of-sample forecasts show the adequacy of the new asymmetric and long memory volatility model for the period including the global financial crisis.

In the class of stochastic volatility (SV) models, leverage effects are typically specified through the direct correlation between the innovations in both returns and volatility, resulting in the dynamic leverage (DL) model. Recently, two asymmetric SV models based on threshold effects have been proposed in the literature. As such models consider only the sign of the previous return and neglect its magnitude, this paper proposes a dynamic asymmetric leverage (DAL) model that accommodates the direct correlation as well as the sign and magnitude of the threshold effects. A special case of the DAL model with zero direct correlation between the innovations is the asymmetric leverage (AL) model. The dynamic asymmetric leverage models are estimated by the Monte Carlo likelihood (MCL) method. Monte Carlo experiments are presented to examine the finite sample properties of the estimator. For a sample size of T = 2000 with 500 replications, the sample means, standard deviations, and root mean squared errors of the MCL estimators indicate only a small finite sample bias. The empirical estimates for S&P 500 and TOPIX financial returns, and USD/AUD and YEN/USD exchange rates, indicate that the DAL class, including the DL and AL models, is generally superior to threshold SV models with respect to AIC and BIC, with AL typically providing the best fit to the data.