We consider the demand for state contingent claims in the presence of a zero-mean, non-hedgeable background risk. An agent is defined to be generalized risk averse if he/she reacts to an increase in background risk by choosing a demand function for contingent claims with a less steep slope. We...

Many valuation models in financial economics are developed using the pricing kernel approach to adjust for risk through the equivalent martingale representation. Often it is assumed, explicitly or implicitly, that the pricing kernel exhibits constant elasticity with respect to the price of the...

In this paper, we derive an equilibrium in which some investors buy call/put options on the market portfolio while others sell them. Since investors are assumed to have similar risk-averse preferences, the demand for these contracts is not explained by differences in the shape of utility...