Substantial progress has been made in developing more realistic option pricing models. Empirically, however, it is not known whether and by how much each generalization improves option pricing and hedging. The authors fill this gap by first deriving an option model that allows volatility,...

This article studies the equilibrium valuation of foreign exchange contingent claims. Within a continuous-time Lucas (1982) two-country model, exchange rates, interest rates, and, in particular, factor risk prices are all endogenously and jointly determined. This guarantees the internal...

This article tests for differences in execution costs among specialist firms for New York Stock Exchange listed securities. Execution cost differences provide a measure of the relative performance of specialist firms. The authors find a substantial difference in effective spreads and order...

This paper studies Nasdaq market makers' activities during the one and one-half hour preopening period. Price discovery during the preopening is conducted via price signaling as opposed to the auction used to open the NYSE or the continuous market used during trading. In the absence of trades,...