On large deviation probabilities for self-normalized sums of random variables

Abstract: We reduced the large deviation problem for a self-normalized random walk to one for an auxiliary usual bivariate random walk. This enabled us to prove the classical theorem for self-normalized walks by Q.-M. Shao (1997) under slightly more general conditions and, moreover, to provide a graphical interpretation for the emerging limit in terms of the rate function for the bivariate problem. Furthermore, using this approach, we obtained exact (rather than just logarithmic) large deviation asymptotics for the probabilities of interest. Extensions to more general self-normalizing setups including the multivariate case were discussed.