Many leading asset pricing models predict that the term structures of expected returns and volatilities on dividend strips are strongly upward sloping. Yet the empirical evidence suggests otherwise. This discrepancy can be reconciled if these models replace their exogenously specified dividend...

Many leading asset pricing models are specified so that the term structure of dividend volatility is either flat or upward sloping. Related, these models predict that the term structures of expected returns and volatilities on dividend strips (i.e., claims to dividends paid over a prespecified...

Most affine models of the term structure with stochastic volatility (SV) predict that the variance of the short rate is simultaneously a linear combination of yields and the quadratic variation of the spot rate. However, we find empirically that the A1(3) SV model generates a time series for the...

Reduced-form models of default that attribute a large fraction of credit spreads to compensation for credit-event risk typically preclude the most plausible economic justification for such risk to be priced, namely, a contemporaneous drop in the market portfolio. When this "contagion" channel is...

Most term structure models assume bond markets are complete, that is, that all fixed income derivatives can be perfectly replicated using solely bonds. How ever, we find that, in practice, swap rates have limited explanatory power for returns on at-the-money straddles - portfolios mainly exposed...

Structural models of default calibrated to historical default rates, recovery rates, and Sharpe ratios typically generate Baa-Aaa credit spreads that are significantly below historical values. However, this credit spread puzzle can be resolved if one accounts for the fact that default rates and...

Building on the approach of Duffie and Kan (1996) who use finite maturity yields as the state vector, we propose a new representation of affine models in which the state vector is composed of infinitesimal maturity yields and their quadratic covariations. Because these variables possess...

We investigate a structural model of market and firm-level dynamics in order to jointly price long-dated S&P 500 options and tranche spreads on the five-year CDX index. We demonstrate the importance of calibrating the model to match the entire term structure of CDX index spreads because it...

Empirical tests of reduced form models of default attribute a large fraction of observed credit spreads to compensation for jump-to-default risk. However, these models preclude a "contagion-risk'' channel, where the aggregate corporate bond index reacts adversely to a credit event. In this...

Structural models of default calibrated to historical default rates, recovery rates, and Sharpe ratios typically generate Baa-Aaa credit spreads that are significantly below historical values. However, this credit spread puzzle can be resolved if one accounts for the fact that default rates and...