An EGARCH‐M model, in which the logarithm of scale is driven by the score of the conditional distribution, is shown to be theoretically tractable as well as practically useful. A two‐component extension makes it possible to distinguish between the short‐ and long‐run effects of returns on volatility, and the resulting short‐ and long‐run volatility components are then allowed to have different effects on returns, with the long‐run component yielding the equity risk premium. The EGARCH formulation allows for more flexibility in the asymmetry of the volatility response (leverage) than standard GARCH models and suggests that, for weekly observations on two major stock market indices, the short‐term response is close to being anti‐symmetric.

Exponential generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity models in which the dynamics of the logarithm of scale are driven by the conditional score are known to exhibit attractive theoretical properties for the t distribution and general error distribution. A model based on the generalized t includes both as special cases. We derive the information matrix for the generalized t and show that, when parameterized with the inverse of the tail index, it remains positive definite in the limit as the distribution goes to a general error distribution. We generalize further by allowing the distribution of the observations to be skewed and asymmetric. Our method for introducing asymmetry ensures that the information matrix reverts to the usual case under symmetry. We are able to derive analytic expressions for the conditional moments of our exponential generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity model as well as the information matrix of the dynamic parameters. The practical value of the model is illustrated with commodity and stock return data. Overall, the approach offers a unified, flexible, robust, and effective treatment of volatility

A time-series model in which the signal is buried in noise that is non-Gaussian may throw up observations that, when judged by the Gaussian yardstick, are outliers. We describe an observation-driven model, based on an exponential generalized beta distribution of the second kind (EGB2), in which the signal is a linear function of past values of the score of the conditional distribution. This specification produces a model that is not only easy to implement but which also facilitates the development of a comprehensive and relatively straightforward theory for the asymptotic distribution of the maximum-likelihood (ML) estimator. Score-driven models of this kind can also be based on conditional t distributions, but whereas these models carry out what, in the robustness literature, is called a soft form of trimming, the EGB2 distribution leads to a soft form of Winsorizing. An exponential general autoregressive conditional heteroscedastic (EGARCH) model based on the EGB2 distribution is also developed. This model complements the score-driven EGARCH model with a conditional t distribution. Finally, dynamic location and scale models are combined and applied to data on the UK rate of inflation.