Volatility and the role of order book structure

There is much literature that deals with modeling and forecasting asset return volatility. However, much of this research does not attempt to explain variations in the level of volatility. Movements in volatility are often linked to trading volume or frequency, as a reflection of underlying information flow. This paper considers whether the state of an open limit order book influences volatility. It is found that market depth and order imbalance do influence volatility, even in the presence of the traditional volume related variables.