Value‐at‐Risk under Measurement Error

Abstract

We propose a method for estimating Value‐at‐Risk that corrects for the effect of measurement errors in stock prices. We show that the presence of measurement errors might pose serious problems for estimating risk measures. In particular, when stock prices are contaminated, existing estimators of Value‐at‐Risk are inconsistent and might lead to an underestimation of risk, which can result in extreme leverage ratios within the held portfolios. Using a Fourier transform and a deconvolution kernel estimator of the probability distribution function of actual latent prices, we derive a robust estimator of Value‐at‐Risk in the presence of measurement errors. Monte Carlo simulations and real data analysis illustrate satisfactory performance of the proposed method.