This paper explains the losses (or errors) associated with pricing an American option in a multi-factor setting when using the true model but a suboptimal exercise strategy as a barrier option (a calibrated misspecified model, e.g., Black-Scholes). Pricing American options in a multi-factor...

Least-squares methods enable us to price Bermudan-style options by Monte Carlo simulation. They are based on estimating the option continuation value by least squares. We show that the Bermudan price is maximized when this continuation value is estimated near the exercise boundary, which is...

We study a rich dynamic-leverage model that includes (debt-issuance covenants, a debt floor/ceiling, and specially) a fixed cost. When firms face financial but also operational leverage---the fixed cost, the firm's financial policies strongly interact---bringing forward the default time but...

The value of American options depends on the exercise policy followed by option holders. Market frictions, risk aversion, a misspecified model, or an inaccurate algorithm can result in suboptimal behavior. We study the sensitivity of American options to suboptimal exercise strategies. We show...

When firms roll over bonds of different maturity, their debt-maturity structure can feature both shorter and longer maturity in bad times. We link these debt-maturity patterns to the firms' fundamentals, assuming earnings are deterministically declining but the same firm is subject to a growth...

We introduce a new distance-to-default (DD) measure based on observable covariates, allowing us to bypass any model-based inference (e.g., Merton, 1974), that works well. It is based on the following result: The default event defined by endogenous credit-risk models, a sufficiently low asset...

We estimate inflation risk-neutral densities (RNDs) in the Euro area since 2009. We use Euro inflation swaps and caps/floors options, and introduce a simple and parsimonious approach to jointly estimate the RNDs across horizons. This way, we obtain the implicit RND for forward measures, like the...

In a default corridor [0,B] that the stock price can never enter, a deep out-of-the-money American put replicates a pure credit contract (Carr and Wu, 2011). Assuming discrete (one-period-ahead predictable) cash flows, we show an endogenous credit-risk model generates, along with the default...

Existing evidence indicates that (i) average returns of purchased delta-hedged options are negative, implying options are expensive, and (ii) volatility is the most important extra risk that is factored into option prices. Therefore, a natural extension is to explain the cross-section of average...

Consider a non-spanned security C_T in an incomplete market. We study the risk/return trade-offs generated if this security is sold for an arbitrage-free price 'c0' and then hedged. We consider recursive one-period optimal self-financing hedging strategies, a simple but tractable criterion. For...