In this paper we propose the use of $\phi$-divergences as test statistics to verify simple hypotheses about a one-dimensional parametric diffusion process dXt = b(Xt, theta)dt + sigma(Xt, theta) dWt, from discrete observations at times ti = i*Dn, i=0, 1, ..., n, under the asymptotic scheme Dn - 0, n*Dn - +oo and n*Dn^2 - 0. The class of phi-divergences is wide and includes several special members like Kullback-Leibler, Renyi, power and alpha-divergences. We derive the asymptotic distribution of the test statistics based on phi- divergences. The limiting law takes different forms depending on the regularity of phi. These convergence differ from the classical results for independent and identically distributed random variables. Numerical analysis is used to show the small sample properties of the test statistics in terms of estimated level and power of the test.

joint work with A. De Gregorio