Volatility Threshold Dynamic Conditional Correlations: An International Analysis

We extend the Dynamic Conditional Correlation multivariate GARCH specification to investigate the dynamic contemporaneous relationship between correlations and variances of the underlying assets. We present a generalization of the DCC model where the dynamic behavior depends on the assets variances through a threshold structure. Our purpose is to analyze the behavior of correlations in periods of high volatility. The application of the proposed specification to a sample of markets heterogeneous in the levels of their development allows the identification of market pairs whose correlations show low sensitivity to high underlying volatility.