This paper shows how to decompose weakly stationary time series into the sum, across time scales, of uncorrelated components associated with different degrees of persistence. In particular, we provide an Extended Wold Decomposition based on an isometric scaling operator...

We study a new class of three-factor affine option pricing models with interdependent volatilitydynamics and a stochastic skewness component unrelated to volatility shocks. Theseproperties are useful in order (i) to model a term structure of implied volatility skews moreconsistent with the data...

We revisit the relation between equity returns and financial leverage through the lens of a dynamic trade-off model with costly capital structure rebalancing. The model predicts that expected equity returns depend on whether a firm's leverage is above or below its target leverage. We provide...

This paper shows how to decompose weakly stationary time series into the sum, across time scales, of uncorrelated components associated with different degrees of persistence. In particular, we provide an Extended Wold Decomposition based on an isometric scaling operator that makes averages of...

In a tractable stochastic volatility model, we identify the price of the smile as the price of the unspanned risks traded in SPX option markets. The price of the smile reflects two persistent volatility and skewness risks, which imply a downward sloping term structure of low-frequency variance...

We address potential strengths and weaknesses of alternative protection schemes, which can be adopted as a ‘default option' in a private, third pillar, pension product. In light of the observed behavior of savers adopting the ‘default option' at international level, we perform a comparative...