In this paper, we suggest an efficient method of approximating a general, multivariate lognormal distribution by a multivariate binomial process. There are two features of such multivariate distributions that are of interest. First, the state variables may have volatilities that change over...

The value and hedge ratio of an American-style option are shown to be closely approximated by a simple quadratic formula. The technique requires the estimation of the values and hedge ratios of just two options: a European option and a twice-exercisable option. These can be computed...

In general, the risk of a financial instrument on a future valuation date depends on several stochastic variables. In the case of a currency swap, its value on a future date can be modelled as a function of five stochastic variables. These represent the factors that determine the term structure...

The valuation of American-style bond options involves two important aspects that need to be modeled carefully. First, stochastic interest rates influence the volatility of the price of the bond, the underlying asset, in a complex fashion as the bond approaches maturity, and hence, the...

In general, the risk of a financial instrument on a future valuation date depends on several stochastic variables. In the case of a currency swap, its value on a future date, can be modelled as a function of five stochastic variables. These represent the factors that determine the term structure...

This paper assumes that the underlying asset prices are lognormally distributed, and derives necessary and sufficient conditions for the valuation of options using a Blackâ€Scholes type methodology. It is shown that the price of a futuresâ€style, markedâ€toâ€market option is given by...

In this paper, we derive an equilibrium in which some investors buy call/put options on the market portfolio while others sell them. Also, some investors supply and others demand forward contracts. Since investors are assumed to have similar risk-averse preferences, the demand for these...

The choice of an agent between risky and riskless assets is complicated by the existence of idiosyncratic risk. In this paper the agent chooses state-dependent shares of aggregate marketable income (a sharing rule) to provide a partial hedge against the idiosyncratic risk. The agent's Utility...

We present a necessary and sufficient condition on an agent's utility function for a simple mean preserving spread in an independent background risk to increase the agent's risk aversion (incremental risk vulnerability). Gollier and Pratt (1996) have shown that declining and convex risk aversion...

We consider the demand for state-contingent claims, in the presence of an independent zero-mean, non-hedgeable background risk. An agent is defined to be generalized risk averse if he/she chooses a demand function for contingent claims with a smaller slope everywhere, given a simple increase in...