In this paper we propose a theoretical model of evaluating the economic costs and benefits of physician assisted suicide (euthanasia). The contemplation of euthanasia is modeled akin to the valuation of a real option. Our modeling of the decision shows that euthanasia is optimal when certain...

In this teaching note, I demonstrate how literal application of the Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) could lead to inconsistent performance by using data from the U.S. stock markets. The demonstration shows that it is impossible to construct a forecast of an efficient frontier by static analysis of...

We conduct efficiency test using the conventional method in Chordia, Roll, and Subrahmanyam (2005) and the wavelet analysis. For the FTSE-100 futures data from January 2001 through December 2004, both approaches identify that, conditional on order imbalance, it takes about 10 minutes for the...

Regardless of the distributions of spot and futures returns, the hedge ratio determined by minimizing the portfolio's Aumann and Serrano (2008) index of riskiness is always smaller than the hedge ratio determined by minimizing the portfolio's variance. It is also demonstrated that the Foster and...

This paper analyzes the optimal production and hedging decisions of a competitive firm holding optimism and pessimism under price ambiguity. We show that the separation theorem remains intact as the firm's optimal output level depends neither on the output price distribution nor on the firm's...

We find that passive intensity (PI), measured by the passive-linked share of total stock market trading volume, is strongly related to the overall pattern of stock price movements. A one-standard deviation increase in PI is associated with 8 percent higher price synchronicity. We further...

This paper analyzes the production and hedging decisions of a competitive firm under price uncertainty and time-inconsistent preferences. We show that the firm would over-hedge and the output choice would be affected by the firm's preferences and the price distribution, thereby identifying a...

This paper studies the interplay between firm investment and cash flow hedging decisions when the decision-maker has time-inconsistent preferences. We show that cash flow hedging acts as a double-edged sword. In some cases, cash flow hedging enhances firm value because the firm can thus invest...

People often make important decisions based on information elicited from experts with uncertain preferences. We provide a theoretical rationale for the use of information markets in decision making tasks. Specifically, we show that markets for claims on decision-relevant variables can be...