The generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (GARCH) processes are frequently used to investigate and model financial returns. They are routinely estimated by computationally complex off-line estimation methods, for example, by the conditional maximum likelihood procedure.
However, in many empirical applications (especially in the context of high-frequency financial data), it seems necessary to apply numerically more effective techniques to calibrate and monitor such models. The aims of this contribution are: (i)to review the previously introduced recursive estimation algorithms and to derive self-weighted alternatives applying general recursive identification instruments, and (ii)to examine these methods by means of simulations and an empirical application.