Cointegration and Sampling Frequency

This paper analyses the effects of sampling frequency on the properties of spectral regression estimators of cointegrating parameters. Large sample asymptotic properties are derived under three scenarios concerning the span of data and sampling frequency, each scenario depending on whether span or frequency (or both) tends to infinity. The limiting distributions are shown to be different in each case. Furthermore, the asymptotic efficiency of the estimators obtained with a fixed sampling frequency is compared with that obtained with a continuous record of data, and it is shown that the only inefficiencies arise with respect to stock variables. Some simulation results and an empirical illustration are also provided.