Numerous studies find S-shaped pricing kernels, which is conflicting with standard theory. In contrast to that, based on a novel GARCH model with structural breaks, I show that the pricing kernel is consistently U-shaped. The results are robust to variations in the methodology and hold for...

Short sell bans are often imposed during a financial crisis as a desperate measure to stabilize financial markets. Yet, the impact of short sell bans on option pricing and hedging is not well quantitatively studied until very recently when Guo and Zhu (2017) and He and Zhu (2018) formulated a...

This paper describes a method for computing risk-neutral density functions based on the option-implied volatility smile. Its aim is to reduce complexity and provide cookbook-style guidance through the estimation process. The technique is robust and avoids violations of option no-arbitrage...

This paper introduces an option pricing algorithm based on non-orthogonal series expansion methods. More precisely, Gabor frame decomposition is used to split the risk neutral option pricing formula into the sum of two inner products that can be evaluated efficiently by means of Parseval's...

In this paper we present drawbacks of the Black-Scholes option pricing theory. Shorter version of this paper were announced in [8]. Black-Scholes option theory represents unified construction of no arbitrage pricing. It is common to think that in the theory Black-Scholes price represents the...

In some papers we remarked that derivation of the Black Scholes Equation (BSE) contains mathematical ambiguities. In particular, there are two problems which can be raised by accepting Black Scholes (BS) pricing concept. One is technical derivation of the BSE and the other the pricing definition...

The paper reviews the option pricing model constructs of Bachelier and Black-Scholes Merton, concluding the latter model approximates the former. The paper demonstrates that certain critiques of the Bachelier model outlined in the 1960s and 1970s are not sound; and Bachelier's model can be...

The Black-Scholes framework implies a constant volatility across term and strike, and a lognormal distribution for underlying asset prices. However, it is known that empirical data violates this assumption. In this report we describe, motivate and apply a model-independent,...

The purpose of this paper is to develop a new non-parametric method to price options based on normalized Multipoint Padé Approximants. Following the seminal paper of Padé (1892), we propose to approximate the risk-neutral distribution by a rational function of polynomials that can accommodate...

In an equilibrium framework the dynamics of the aggregate dividend are taken as given and the volatility of the wealth portfolio is determined by the prices of risk in the model. Since option prices depend strongly on volatility they are very informative about these risk prices. We use this...