Bayesian Testing for Leverage Effect in Stochastic Volatility Models

Stochastic volatility models have been widely appreciated to model the time-varying volatility in empirical finance. In practice, whether or not there is leverage effect in asset time series is one of important stylized facts. In this paper, in the context of the stochastic volatility models, the main purpose is to develop a Bayesian approach for testing the leverage effect. The performance of the developed procedure is illustrated by the simulation studies and two empirical examples.