We develop a new approach to approximating asset prices in the context of continuous-time models. For any pricing model that lacks a closed-form solution, we provide a closed-form approximate solution, which relies on the expansion of the intractable model around an “auxiliary” one. We...

This paper develops a new systematic approach to implement approximate solutions to asset pricing models within multi-factor diffusion environments. For any model lacking a closed-form solution, we provide a solution obtained by expanding the analytically intractable model around a known...

This paper develops restrictions that arbitrage-constrained bond prices impose on the short-term rate process in order to be consistent with given dynamic properties of the term-structure of interest rates. The central focus is the relationship between bond prices and the short-term rate...

This paper uses Garch models to estimate the objective and risk-neutral density functions of financial asset prices and, by comparing their shapes, recover detailed information on economic agents' attitudes toward risk. It differs from recent papers investigating analogous issues because it uses...

While CBOE’s VIX index is widely acknowledged as a broad-based investor “fear gauge” for its strong inverse relationship with major equity indexes, one cannot necessarily expect it to translate to the level of future turbulence or investor risk-aversion in fixed-income markets. Indeed,...

This paper introduces a no-arbitrage framework to assess how macroeconomic factors help explain the risk-premium agents require to bear the risk of fluctuations in stock market volatility. We develop a model in which stock volatility and volatility risk-premia are stochastic and derive...

Credit volatility correlates quite modestly with equity volatility. Currently, only backward-looking indexes for credit volatility exist. We derive model-free indexes of expected CDS index spread volatility that rely on CDS index option prices, which re ect the fair value of dedicated credit...

While CBOE's VIX index is widely acknowledged as a broad-based investor “fear gauge” for its strong inverse relationship with major equity indexes, one cannot necessarily expect it to translate to the level of future turbulence or investor risk aversion in fixed-income markets. Indeed,...