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Quantifying Reflexivity in Financial Markets: Towards a Prediction of Flash Crashes

Author

Listed:
  • Vladimir Filimonov

    (ETH Zürich)

  • Didier Sornette

    (Swiss Finance Institute and ETH Zürich)

Abstract
We introduce a new measure of activity of financial markets that provides a direct access to their level of endogeneity. This measure quantifies how much of price changes are due to endogenous feedback processes, as opposed to exogenous news. For this, we calibrate the self-excited conditional Poisson Hawkes model, which combines in a natural and parsimonious way exogenous influences with self-excited dynamics, to the E-mini S&P 500 futures contracts traded in the Chicago Mercantile Exchange from 1998 to 2010. We find that the level of endogeneity has increased significantly from 1998 to 2010, with only 70% in 1998 to less than 30% since 2007 of the price changes resulting from some revealed exogenous information. Analogous to nuclear plant safety concerned with avoiding “criticality”, our measure provides a direct quantification of the distance of the financial market to a critical state defined precisely as the limit of diverging trading activity in absence of any external driving.

Suggested Citation

  • Vladimir Filimonov & Didier Sornette, 2012. "Quantifying Reflexivity in Financial Markets: Towards a Prediction of Flash Crashes," Swiss Finance Institute Research Paper Series 12-02, Swiss Finance Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:chf:rpseri:rp1202
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    File URL: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1998832
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    complex systems; econophysics; exogenous- versus endogenous; high-frequency trading; criticality; trading activity; volume;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C32 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes; State Space Models
    • C53 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Forecasting and Prediction Models; Simulation Methods
    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G17 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Financial Forecasting and Simulation

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