Asymmetric Shocks In Oil Price: An Exponential Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity Approach

This study empirically examined the asymmetric oil price shocks in Nigeria from 1981q1-2019q4 using the Exponential Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (EGARCH) model. The EGARCH model was employed to investigate the asymmetric oil price shocks by obtaining the conditional variance from the estimated results. Empirical results revealed a weak indication for leverage effect and a strong indication for asymmetric effect. The positive egarch (L2) coefficient means that unanticipated increases in the price crude Oil are more profitable than unanticipated decreases in the price of crude Oil. Also, the results revealed strong asymmetry of oil price shocks in Nigeria. In specific terms, the positive asymmetric coefficient (1.8276) means an observed tendency of the crude oil price shock to be higher by approximately 1.83 per cent in declining oil prices in the crude oil market than in rising prices in the oil markets. Based on the above, the study recommended appropriate export diversification policies to reduce the dependency on crude oil exports as the major export (revenue) in the economy. This will offset crude oil price shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic shock on Oil price, especially from an unanticipated decrease in crude oil prices in the international market. Key Words: Oil price, Oil Price Shocks, Asymmetry, EGARCH, Nigeria