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This paper assesses the international effi ciency of the European football betting market by examining the forecastability of match outcomes on the basis of the information contained in different sets of online and fi xed odds quoted by six major bookmakers. The paper also investigates the profi tability of strategies based on: combined betting, simple heuristic rules, regression models and prediction encompassing. The empirical results show that combined betting across different bookmakers can lead to limited but highly profi table arbitrage opportunities. Simple trading rules and betting strategies based on forecast encompassing are found capable of also producing signifi cant positive returns. Despite the deregulation, globalization and increased competition in the betting industry over recent years, the predictabilities and profi ts reported in this paper are not fully consistent with weak-form market effi ciency.

This paper assesses the international effi ciency of the European football betting market by examining the forecastability of match outcomes on the basis of the information contained in different sets of online and fi xed odds quoted by six major bookmakers. The paper also investigates the profi tability of strategies based on: combined betting, simple heuristic rules, regression models and prediction encompassing. The empirical results show that combined betting across different bookmakers can lead to limited but highly profi table arbitrage opportunities. Simple trading rules and betting strategies based on forecast encompassing are found capable of also producing signifi cant positive returns. Despite the deregulation, globalization and increased competition in the betting industry over recent years, the predictabilities and profi ts reported in this paper are not fully consistent with weak-form market effi ciency.

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Recent theoretical work suggests that signs of asset returns are predictable given that their volatilities are. This paper investigates this conjecture using information demand, approximated by the daily internet search volume index (SVI) from Google. Our results reveal that incorporating the SVI variable in various GARCH family models significantly improves volatility forecasts. Moreover, we demonstrate that the sign of stock returns is predictable contrary to the levels, where predictability has proven elusive in the US context. Finally, we provide novel evidence on the economic value of sign predictability and show that investors can form profitable investment strategies using the SVI.

Recent theoretical work suggests that signs of asset returns are predictable given that their volatilities are. This paper investigates this conjecture using information demand, approximated by the daily internet search volume index (SVI) from Google. Our results reveal that incorporating the SVI variable in various GARCH family models significantly improves volatility forecasts. Moreover, we demonstrate that the sign of stock returns is predictable contrary to the levels, where predictability has proven elusive in the US context. Finally, we provide novel evidence on the economic value of sign predictability and show that investors can form profitable investment strategies using the SVI.

Nutzungsbedingungenthe Asian Handicap appears to be a significant predictor of both home and away team scores. The modeling results show that while the SVM is only marginally superior on the basis of statistical criteria, it manages to produce out-of-sample forecasts with much higher economic significance.