The effect of model and parameter misspecification on the effectiveness of Gaussian hedging strategies for derivative financial instruments is analyzed, showing that Gaussian hedges in the `natural'' hedging instruments are particularly robust. This is true for all models that imply...

A term structure model with lognormal type volatility structure is proposed. The Heath, Jarrow and Morton (HJM) framework, coupled with the theory of stochastic evolution equations in infinite dimensions, is used to show that the resulting rates are well defined (they do not explode) and remain...

The market model of interest rates specifies simple forward or Libor rates as lognormaly distributed, their stochastic dynamics has a linear volatility function. This model is extended to quadratic volatility which is the product of a quadratic polynomial and a level-independent covariance...

It is well-known that Gaussian hedging strategies are robust in the sense that they always lead to a cost process of bounded variation and that a superhedge is possible if upper bounds on the volatility of the relevant processes are available, cf. El Karoui, Jeanblanc-Picque and Shreve (1998)...

The valuation of corporate debt is an important issue in asset pricing. While there has been an enormous amount of theoretical modeling of corporate bond prices, there has been relatively little empirical testing of these models 1.(...)

Variable rate savings accounts have two main features. The interest rate paid on the account is variable and deposits can be invested and withdrawn at any time. However, customer behaviour is not fully rational and withdrawals of balances are often performed with a delay.(...)

This paper addresses the question of the British state of convergence towards the Euro area, compared to the USA. Economically, the analysis is based on dependences in the money and capital markets, namely the uncovered interest parity (UIP) and the expectation hypothesis of the term structure...

Central bankers’ conventional wisdom suggests that nominal interest rates should be raised to implement a lower inflation target. In contrast, I show that the standard New Keynesian monetary model predicts that nominal interest rates should bedecreased to attain this goal. Real interest rates,...

We explore the determinants of yield differentials between long-term sovereigen bonds in Europa area. There is a common trend in yield differentials, which is correlated with the measure of tghe international risk factor. In contrast, liquidity differentials display sizeable hetrogeneity and no...

Stylized facts on output and interest rates in the U.S. have so far proved hard to match with business cycle models. But these findings do not acknowledge that the economy might well be driven by different shocks, and by each in different ways. I estimate covariances of output, nominal and real...