Volatility analysis based on GARCH-type models: Evidence from the Chinese stock market

Volatility is integral for the financial market. As an emerging market, the Chinese stock market is acutely volatile. In this study, the data of the Shanghai Composite Index and Shenzhen Component Index returns were selected to conduct an empirical analysis based on the generalised autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH)-type model. We established the autoregressive moving average (ARMA)-GARCH model with t-distribution for the sample series to compare model effects under different distributions and orders. In contrast, we proposed threshold-GARCH (TGARCH) and exponential-GARCH (EGARCH) models to capture the features of the index. Additionally, the error degree and prediction results of different models were evaluated in terms of mean squared error (MSE), mean absolute error (MAE) and root-mean-squared error (RMSE). The results denote that the ARMA (4,4)-GARCH (1,1) model under Student’s t-distribution outperforms other models when forecasting the Shanghai Composite Index return series. For the return series of the Shenzhen Component Index, ARMA(1,1)-TGARCH(1,1) display the best forecasting performance among all models. This study could provide an effective information reference for the macro decision-making of the government, the operation of listed companies and investors’ investment decision-making.