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Instead of heuristical heterogeneity assumption in the current heterogeneous agent models (HAMs), we derive the trading heterogeneity by introducing information uncertainty about the fundamental value to a HAM. Conditional on their private information about the fundamental value, agents choose different trading strategies when optimizing their expected utilities. This provides a micro-foundation to heterogeneity and switching behavior of agents. We show that the HAM with trading heterogeneity originating from the incomplete information performs equally well, if not better than existing HAMs, in generating bubbles, crashes, and mean-reverting prices. The simulated time series matches with the S&P 500 in terms of power law distribution in returns, volatility clustering and long memory in volatility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper verifies the endogenous mechanism and economic intuition on volatility clustering using the coexistence of two locally stable attractors proposed by Gaunersdorfer et al. (2008) . By considering a simple asset pricing model with two types of boundedly rational traders, fundamentalists and trend followers, and noise traders, we provide theoretical conditions on the coexistence of a locally stable steady state and a locally stable invariant circle of the underlying nonlinear deterministic financial market model and show numerically that the interaction of the coexistence of the deterministic dynamics and noise processes can endogenously generate volatility clustering and long range dependence in volatility observed in financial markets. Economically, volatility clustering occurs when neither the fundamental nor trend following traders dominate the market and when traders switch more often between the two strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Financial markets are typically characterized by high (low) price level and low (high) volatility during boom (bust) periods, suggesting that price and volatility tend to move together with different market conditions/states. By proposing a simple heterogeneous agent model of fundamentalists and chartists with Markov chain regime-dependent expectations and applying the S&P 500 data from January 2000 to June 2010, we show that the estimation of the model matches well with the boom and bust periods in the US stock market. In addition, we find evidence of time-varying behavioural heterogeneity within-group and that the model exhibits good forecasting accuracy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]