Inference on the intraday spot volatility from high-frequency order prices with irregular microstructure noise

Abstract: We consider estimation of the spot volatility in a stochastic boundary model with one-sided microstructure noise for high-frequency limit order prices. Based on discrete, noisy observations of an It^o semimartingale with jumps and general stochastic volatility, we present a simple and explicit estimator using local order statistics. We establish consistency and stable central limit theorems as asymptotic properties. The asymptotic analysis builds upon an expansion of tail probabilities for the order statistics based on a generalized arcsine law. In order to use the involved distribution of local order statistics for a bias correction, an efficient numerical algorithm is developed. We demonstrate the finite-sample performance of the estimation in a Monte Carlo simulation.