We characterize the joint dynamics of dividends, expected returns, stochastic volatility, and prices. In particular, with a given dividend process, one of the processes of the expected return, the stock volatility, or the price-dividend ratio fully determines the other two. For example, together...

In this paper we develop approximating formulas for European options prices based on short term asymptotics, i.e. when time-to-maturity tends to zero. The analysis is performed in a general setting where stochastic volatility and jumps drive the dynamics of stock returns. In a numerical study we...

We construct optimal portfolios of mutual funds whose objectives include socially responsible investment (SRI). Comparing portfolios of these funds to those constructed from the broader fund universe reveals the cost of imposing the SRI constraint on investors seeking the highest Sharpe ratio....

Changes in nominal interest rates must be due to either movements in real interest rates or expected inflation, or both. We develop a term structure model with regime switches, time-varying prices of risk and inflation to identify these components of the nominal yield curve. We find that the...

This paper introduces state dependent utility into the standard Mehra and Prescott (1985) economy by allowing the representative agent's coefficient of relative risk aversion to vary with the underlying economy's growth rate. Existence of equilibrium is proved and its asymptotic properties...

We examine the extent to which uncertainty delays investment and the effect of competition on this relationship using a sample of 1,214 condominium developments in Vancouver, Canada built from 1979-1998. We find that increases in both idiosyncratic and systematic risk lead developers to delay...

Over the long-run from 1926 to 2001, the CAPM can account for the spread in the returns of portfolios sorted by book-to-market ratios. In contrast, using data covering the period after 1963, many studies find strong evidence of a book-to-market effect using conventional asymptotic standard...

While many studies document that the market risk premium is predictable and that betas are not constant, the standard dividend discount model ignores these effects. This paper shows how to value cashflows with changing risk-free rates, predictable risk premiums and time-varying betas, by...

Everyone who has studied international equity returns has noticed the episodes of high volatility and unusually high correlations coinciding with a bear market. We develop quantitative models of asset returns that match these patterns in the data and use them in two quantitative asset allocation...

Contagion is usually defined as correlation between markets in excess of what would be implied by economic fundamentals. However, there is considerable disagreement regarding the definitions of the fundamentals, how the fundamentals might differ across countries and the mechanisms that link the...