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Review of Financial Studies Vol. 30 No. 12 2017

A Simple Estimation of Bid-Ask Spreads from Daily Close, High, and Low Prices

Farshid Abdi; Angelo Ranaldo

University of St.Gallen

open access

Abstract

We propose a new method to estimate the bid-ask spread when quote data are not available. Compared to other low-frequency estimates, this method utilizes a wider information set, namely, readily available close, high, and low prices. In the absence of end-of-day quote data, this method generally provides the highest cross-sectional and average time-series correlations with the TAQ effective spread benchmark. Moreover, it delivers the most accurate estimates for less liquid stocks. Our estimator has many potential applications, including an accurate measurement of transaction cost, systematic liquidity risk, and commonality in liquidity for U.S. stocks dating back almost one century.

DOI
10.1093/rfs/hhx084
Volume
30
Issue
12
Pages
4437-4480
Language
en
Sources
openalex crossref

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