Approximate indifference pricing in exponential Lévy models

Financial markets based on Lévy processes are typically incomplete and option prices depend on risk attitudes of individual agents. In this context, the notion of utility indifference price has gained popularity in the academic circles. Although theoretically very appealing, this pricing method remains difficult to apply in practice, due to the high computational cost of solving the non-linear partial integro-differential equation associated to the indifference price. In this work, we develop closed-form approximations to exponential utility indifference prices in exponential Lévy models. To this end, we first establish a new non-asymptotic approximation of the indifference price which extends earlier results on small risk aversion asymptotics of this quantity. Next, we use this formula to derive a closed-form approximation of the indifference price by treating the Lévy model as a perturbation of the Black–Scholes model. This extends the methodology introduced in a recent paper for smooth linear functionals of Lévy processes (?erný et al. 2013) to non-linear and non-smooth functionals. Our formula represents the indifference price as the linear combination of the Black–Scholes price and correction terms which depend on the variance, skewness and kurtosis of the underlying Lévy process, and the derivatives of the Black–Scholes price. As a by-product, we obtain a simple approximation for the spread between the buyer’s and the seller’s indifference price. This formula allows to quantify, in a model-independent fashion, how sensitive a given product is to jump risk when jump size is small.     

疫情环境下价格导向的防护物资最优生产分配机制研究

新型冠状病毒疫情导致防护物资匮乏,增加了医护人员受感染的风险.现构建了防护物资最优生产-分配-定价模型,并在此基础上提出了广义影子价格的概念,以此作为防护物资定价的参考和依据,通过价格引导生产型企业合理扩大生产规模,以解决当前防护物资短缺的困难.广义影子价格反映了企业产能提升成本等因素,相比传统影子价格更适用于为防护物资统一定价.另外,利用广义影子价格与拉格朗日乘子集合之间的联系,提出了一个线性规划模型用以计算广义影子价格.数值仿真结果说明了广义影子价格在防护物资定价上的适用性.     

A new look at some basic concepts in arbitrage pricing theory

The notion of No Free Lunch with Vanishing Risk (or NFLVR in short) w.r.t. admissible strategies depends on the choice of numeraire. Yan introduced the notion of allowable strategy and showed that condition of NFLVR w.r.t. allowable strategies is independent of the choice of numeraire and is equivalent to the existence of an equivalent martingale measure for the deflated price process. In this paper we establish a version of the Kramkov's optional decomposition theorem in the setting of equivalent martingale measures. Based on this theorem, we have a new look at some basic concepts in arbitrage pricing theory: superhedging, fair price, attainable contingent claims, complete markets and etc.     

American Options Exercise Boundary When the Volatility Changes Randomly

The American put option exercise boundary has been studied extensively as a function of time and the underlying asset price. In this paper we analyze its dependence on the volatility, since the Black and Scholes model is used in practice via the (varying) implied volatility parameter. We consider a stochastic volatility model for the underlying asset price. We provide an extension of the regularity results of the American put option price function and we prove that the optimal exercise boundary is a decreasing function of the current volatility process realization. Accepted 13 January 1998     

Semi-radial technical efficiency measurement

Semi-radial efficiency measurement combines technical efficiency, as captured by the classical Farrell measure, with an economically meaningful mix efficiency component. The semi-radial evaluation we propose proceeds in two steps. First, we build on the price interpretation of the generally accepted Koopmans efficiency notion to characterize appropriate benchmarks. Next, we present both a quantity-based distance measure and its dual (price-based) equivalent to evaluate the mix efficiency factor. The type of measures we propose may, e.g., be used to provide a price rationale for the Zieschang technical efficiency evaluation procedure.     

Asymptotic asset pricing and bubbles

We define the concept of asymptotic superreplication, and prove a duality principle of asset pricing for sequences of financial markets (e.g., weakly converging financial markets and large financial markets) based on contiguous sequences of equivalent local martingale measures. This provides a pricing mechanism to calculate the fundamental value of a financial asset in the asymptotic market. We introduce the notion of asymptotic bubbles by showing that this fundamental value can be strictly lower than the current price of the asset. In the case of weakly converging markets, we show that this fundamental value is equal to an expectation of the terminal value of the asset in the weak-limit market. From a practical perspective, we relate the asymptotic superreplication price to a limit of quantile-hedging prices. This shows that even when a price process is a true martingale, it can have properties similar to a bubble, up to a set of small probability. For practical applications, we give examples of weakly converging discrete-time models (e.g. some GARCH models) and large financial models that present bubbles.     

Mixed oligopoly with consistent conjectures

In this paper, we consider a model of mixed oligopoly with conjectural variations equilibrium (CVE). The agents’ conjectures concern the price variations depending upon their production output’s increase or decrease. We establish existence and uniqueness results for the conjectural variations equilibrium (called an exterior equilibrium) for any set of feasible conjectures. To introduce the notion of an interior equilibrium, we develop a consistency criterion for the conjectures (referred to as influence coefficients) and prove the existence theorem for the interior equilibrium (understood as a CVE with consistent conjectures). To prepare the base for the extension of our results to the case of non-differentiable demand functions, we also investigate the behavior of the consistent conjectures in dependence upon a parameter representing the demand function’s derivative with respect to the market price.     

A note on Boiteux’ surplus function and dual Pareto efficiency

The purpose of this note is to study first a notion of a surplus function that originates in the work of [Boiteux, M., 1951. Le Revenu Distribuable et les Pertes Économiques. Econometrica 112–133] and to rely upon this notion to study dual Pareto efficiency in an exchange economy. This function, which we call the Boiteux’ surplus function, measures how many units of income an individual must be given to move from a reference utility level, to another utility level. We prove several properties of the Boiteux’ surplus function, and study in particular its links with the expenditure and the indirect utility functions. With regard to dual Pareto efficiency and the Boiteux’ surplus function our results are as follows. A feasible reference price–income pair is dual Pareto efficient if and only if it zero-maximizes the sum of individual Boiteux’ surplus functions among all feasible price–income pairs. We use these results to give a new proof (for the case of an exchange economy with positive prices) of the characterization by Luenberger of dual Pareto optima.     

A utility maximization approach to hedging in incomplete markets

In this paper we introduce the notion of portfolio optimization by maximizing expected local utility. This concept is related to maximization of expected utility of consumption but, contrary to this common approach, the discounted financial gains are consumed immediately. In a general continuous-time market optimal portfolios are obtained by pointwise solution of equations involving the semimartingale characteristics of the underlying securities price process. The new concept is applied to hedging problems in frictionless, incomplete markets.     

Modeling investment behavior under price cap regulation

Motivated by the frequently observed criticism of the regulatory practice arising from companies in the industries concerned, we investigate the impact of regulation on investment behavior. Therefore, we model the investment timing and volume of a firm acting in a regulated market. When capping prices, the regulatory authority imposes a price ceiling on market prices. Accordingly, we use a real option approach where the price cap that limits possible future firm values enters the firm’s portfolio in form of a short call option position. By comparing this framework to a competitive benchmark model, we derive an optimal price setting rule for regulators. Moreover, it can be shown how deviations from this optimum affect the investment behavior of firms.      

A unisex stochastic mortality model to comply with EU Gender Directive

EU Gender Directive ruled out discrimination against gender in charging premium for insurance products. This prohibition prevents the use of the standard actuarial fairness principle to price life insurance products. According to current actuarial practice, unisex premiums are calculated with a simple weighting rule of the gender-specific life tables. This procedure is likely to violate portfolio fairness principles. Up to our knowledge, in the actuarial literature there is no unisex mortality model that respects the unisex fairness principle. This paper is the first attempt to fill this gap. First, we recall the notion of unisex fairness principle and the corresponding unisex fair premium. Then, we provide a unisex stochastic mortality model for the mortality intensity that is underlying the pricing of a life portfolio of females and males belonging to the same cohort. Finally, we calibrate the unisex mortality model using the unisex fairness principle. We find that the weighting coefficient between the males’ and females’ own mortalities depends mainly on the quote of portfolio relative to each gender, on the age, and on the type of insurance products. The knowledge of a proper unisex mortality model could help life insurance companies to better understanding the nature of the risk of a mixed portfolio.     

An economic order quantity model with a known price increase and partial backordering

A constant unit purchase cost is one of the main assumptions in the classic Economic Order Quantity model. In practice, suppliers sometimes face a known price increase. In this paper, we develop EOQ models with a known price increase and partial backordering under two different assumptions about when the increase will occur. We prove the concavity of the extra profit functions for both scenarios if a special order is placed just before the price increases. A solution method is proposed and numerical examples are presented.     

Efficiency fairness tradeoff in battery sharing

The increasing presence of decentralized renewable generation in the power grid has motivated consumers to install batteries to save excess energy for future use. The high price of energy storage calls for a shared storage system, but careful battery management is required so that the battery is operated in a manner that is fair to all and as efficiently as possible. In this paper, we study the tradeoffs between efficiency and fairness in operating a shared battery. We develop a framework based on constrained Markov decision processes to study both regimes, namely, optimizing efficiency under a hard fairness constraint and optimizing fairness under hard efficiency constraint. Our results show that there are fundamental limits to efficiency under fairness and vice-versa, and, in general, the two cannot be achieved simultaneously. We characterize these fundamental limits via absolute bounds on these quantities, and via the notion of price of fairness that we introduce in this paper.     

Demand functions and reflexivity

In the theory of ordered spaces and in microeconomic theory two important notions, the notion of the base for a cone which is defined by a continuous linear functional and the notion of the budget set are equivalent. In economic theory the maximization of the preference relation of a consumer on any budget set defines the demand correspondence which at any price vector indicates the preferred vectors of goods and this is one of the fundamental notions of this theory. Contrary to the finite-dimensional economies, in the infinite-dimensional ones, the existence of the demand correspondence is not ensured. In this article we show that in reflexive spaces (and in some other classes of Banach spaces), there are only two classes of closed cones, i.e. cones whose any budget set is bounded and cones whose any budget set is unbounded. Based on this dichotomy result, we prove that in the first category of these cones the demand correspondence exists and that it is upper hemicontinuous. We prove also a characterization of reflexive spaces based on the existence of the demand correspondences.     

Bounding Contingent Claim Prices via Hedging Strategy with Coherent Risk Measures

We generalize the notion of arbitrage based on the coherent risk measure, and investigate a mathematical optimization approach for tightening the lower and upper bounds of the price of contingent claims in incomplete markets. Due to the dual representation of coherent risk measures, the lower and upper bounds of price are located by solving a pair of semi-infinite linear optimization problems, which further reduce to linear optimization when conditional value-at-risk (CVaR) is used as risk measure. We also show that the hedging portfolio problem is viewed as a robust optimization problem. Tuning the parameter of the risk measure, we demonstrate by numerical examples that the two bounds approach to each other and converge to a price that is fair in the sense that seller and buyer face the same amount of risk.     

An economic order quantity model with partial backordering and a special sale price

A constant unit purchase cost is one of the main assumptions in the classic economic order quantity model. In practice, suppliers sometimes offer special sale prices to stimulate sales or decrease inventories of certain items. In this paper we develop an EOQ model with a special sale price and partial backordering. We prove the convexity of the cost-reduction function if a special order is placed at the special sale price. A solution method is proposed and numerical examples are presented.     

基于CARR模型的交易量与股价波动性动态关系的研究

股市交易量与股价变化的关系就一直是学术界与实务界所共同关心的主题。基于Chou(2005)提出的CARR模型对两者的动态关系问题进行了研究。首先分析了作为量价关系理论基础的混合分布假说理论在CARR模型中的适川性,进而基于混合分布假说理论对我国上证综合指数、深证成份指数以及随机抽取的十只个股进行了量价关系的实证检验。研究发现:混合分布假说理论同样适用于CARR模型,这证实了股价波动性的CARR效应的存在。实证的结果也证实了CARR模型无论是对于股票指数还是单只股票交易量都具有了良好的解释作用。因此,CARR模型与GARCH模型相比,在交易量与股价波动关系动态关系的研究领域可以得到更为稳健的结果。     

ENERGY‐USE CHOICES AND ALLOWANCE TRADING UNDER THE PERSONAL CARBON TRADING SCHEME

Carbon emissions caused by the household sector have become a major contributor to total emissions. Personal carbon trading (PCT), although untested in practice, could potentially be a powerful tool to induce change in consumer behavior. In this paper, we present an optimization model to determine the energy use choices and allowance trading, and a market equilibrium model to obtain the total supply and demand functions of allowances and then to derive the equilibrium allowance price. It is shown that the level of allocated allowance, energy price, emission rate, and transaction costs could influence the equilibrium allowance price and traded volume. Furthermore, the allowance price is affected negatively and slightly by changes in energy prices, so the total energy price variations will be lessened relatively in the PCT scheme. To further demonstrate these relationships, numerical simulations are conducted. On the basis of the simulation results, the implications of this study are discussed and suggestions for future study are provided.     

Efficient portfolios in financial markets with proportional transaction costs

In this article, we characterize efficient portfolios, i.e. portfolios which are optimal for at least one rational agent, in a very general multi-currency financial market model with proportional transaction costs. In our setting, transaction costs may be random, time-dependent, have jumps and the preferences of the agents are modeled by multivariate expected utility functions. We provide a complete characterization of efficient portfolios, generalizing earlier results of Dybvig (Rev Financ Stud 1:67–88, 1988) and Jouini and Kallal (J Econ Theory 66: 178–197, 1995). We basically show that a portfolio is efficient if and only if it is cyclically anticomonotonic with respect to at least one consistent price system that prices it. Finally, we introduce the notion of utility price of a given contingent claim as the minimal amount of a given initial portfolio allowing any agent to reach the claim by trading, and give a dual representation of it as the largest proportion of the market price necessary for all agents to reach the same expected utility level.     

复合泊松过程和Meixner过程驱动下的期权定价

本文讨论了股票价格对数过程由复合泊松过程、Meixner过程驱动下的欧式看涨期权的定价问题.利用Esscher变换和风险中性Esscher测度得到了两类过程驱动下的期权定价公式,为实践者提供了理论上的参考价格.