Hedging nontradable risks with transaction costs and price impact

A risk‐averse agent hedges her exposure to a nontradable risk factor U using a correlated traded asset S and accounts for the impact of her trades on both factors. The effect of the agent's trades on U is referred to as cross‐impact. By solving the agent's stochastic control problem, we obtain a closed‐form expression for the optimal strategy when the agent holds a linear position in U. When the exposure to the nontradable risk factor is nonlinear, we provide an approximation to the optimal strategy in closed‐form, and prove that the value function is correctly approximated by this strategy when cross‐impact and risk‐aversion are small. We further prove that when is nonlinear, the approximate optimal strategy can be written in terms of the optimal strategy for a linear exposure with the size of the position changing dynamically according to the exposure's “Delta” under a particular probability measure.     

Pricing and issuance dependencies in structured financial product portfolios

We exploit a unique sample of structured financial products (SFPs) to analyze pricing and issuance dependencies among different types of such market-linked investment vehicles. Our study provides evidence of cross-pricing between products with complementary payoff profiles. Such dependencies may be explained by issuers’ efforts to generate order flow for products that supplement their current SFP risk exposure. Additionally, we observe issuance patterns in line with the argument that issuers exploit the complementarity payout profiles when bringing SFPs to market. Our study emphasizes cross-pricing from a perspective not previously considered in the literature.     

Fair bilateral pricing under funding costs and exogenous collateralization

Bielecki and Rutkowski introduced and studied a generic nonlinear market model, which includes several risky assets, multiple funding accounts, and margin accounts. In this paper, we examine the pricing and hedging of contract from the perspective of both the hedger and the counterparty with arbitrary initial endowments. We derive inequalities for unilateral prices and we study the range of fair bilateral prices. We also examine the positive homogeneity and monotonicity of unilateral prices with respect to the initial endowments. Our study hinges on results from Nie and Rutkowski for backward stochastic differential equations (BSDEs) driven by continuous martingales, but we also derive the pricing partial differential equations (PDEs) for path‐independent contingent claims of a European style in a Markovian framework.     

A Note on Hedging in ARCH and Stochastic Volatility Option Pricing Models

Recently, Duan (1995) proposed a GARCH option pricing formula and a corresponding hedging formula. In a similar ARCH-type model for the underlying asset, Kallsen and Taqqu (1994) arrived at a hedging formula different from Duan's although they concur on the pricing formula. In this note, we explain this difference by pointing out that the formula developed by Kallsen and Taqqu corresponds to the usual concept of hedging in the context of ARCH-type models. We argue, however, that Duan's formula has some appeal and we propose a stochastic volatility model that ensures its validity. We conclude by a comparison of ARCH-type and stochastic volatility option pricing models.     

On the Existence of Linear Equilibria in Models of Market Making

We derive necessary and sufficient conditions for a linear equilibrium in three types of competitive market making models: Kyle type models (when market makers only observe aggregate net order flow), Glosten–Milgrom and Easley–O'Hara type models (when market makers observe and trade one order at a time), and call markets models (individual order models when market makers observe a number of orders before pricing and executing any of them). We study two cases: when privately informed (strategic) traders are symmetrically informed and when they have differential information. We derive necessary and sufficient conditions on the distributions of the random variables for a linear equilibrium. We also explore those features of the equilibrium that depend on linearity as opposed to the particular distributional assumptions and we provide a large number of examples of linear equilibria for each of the models.     

死亡率免疫理论及其在长寿风险对冲中的应用

基于死亡率免疫理论探讨保险公司长寿风险的自然对冲问题,研究年龄、性别与保险期限等因素与保单久期和凸性之间的关系,发现保险公司欲达到长寿风险的完全对冲,其寿险业务和年金业务必须达到的最小ρ比例应该等于年金和寿险保单的久期之比,表明保险公司可以通过选择调整寿险和年金业务的比例来对冲长寿风险的影响。     

Asymmetric cultural discounting and pattern of trade in cultural products: Empirical evidence in motion pictures

We extend the seminal home market effect model of Helpman and Krugman (Market structure and foreign trade, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1985) by incorporating asymmetric cultural discounting. In addition to the home market effect, our model predicts that a country subject to a relatively lower cultural discount factor becomes a net exporter as trade liberalisation accelerates. Using international box office revenues in the motion picture industry and developing a measure of asymmetric cultural discount based on tourist‐arrival statistics, we find empirical support for this hypothesis. Our model provides an explanation for the continued cultural dominance of smaller English‐speaking countries in larger non‐English‐speaking countries, which cannot be explained by the home market effect alone.     

证券市场交易机制的国际发展趋势研究

证券市场的两种主要交易机制是竞价方式和做市商制度.文章在综合分析国际上有代表性的相关研究文献后,发现在交易机制与股票买卖价差的关系方面,采用竞价方式的股票其买卖价差较小,采用做市商机制的股票其买卖价差较大;在股票交易成本方面,采用竞价交易机制的股票交易成本较低,而做市商机制的股票交易成本较高.从国际上证券交易机制的发展趋势看,以一种方式为主,多种方式为辅的"混合交易"机制是最有优势的机制,是证券交易机制的未来发展模式.     

Women in top management and agency costs

This study investigates gender diversity among the top managers of Fortune 500 firms and its effect on agency costs. The study finds that firms with a greater percentage of female officers present lower agency costs but that the negative relation is not robust when considering the endogeneity of diversity. The study also finds that external governance influences the relationship. Although increasing diversity does not reduce agency costs for all firms, the evidence shows that diversity is significantly negatively related to agency costs in firms in less competitive markets. The results suggest that increasing diversity in management can have beneficial effects for firms where strong external governance is absent.     

隐性交易成本与资产定价——基于上证180指数成份股票交易数据的实证研究

文章利用上证180指数成份股票的高频数据计算隐性交易成本,探讨其与资产定价的关系。发现:(1)隐性交易成本与换手率、规模和收益率都存在着明显的线性负相关关系。在股票收益率下降时期,隐性交易成本通过流动性深度成本间接影响股票收益率。(2)较之隐性交易成本,规模因素与换手率因素对收益率的影响有着更好的测度性。很可能是因为这两个因素与流动性深度成本也有着显著相关性。(3)隐性交易成本与规模因素整体上呈线性负相关关系,分段上的关系则很可能是凹函数与凸函数的组合。     

Moral imagination or heuristic toolbox? Events and the risk assessment of structured financial products in the financial bubble

The paper uses the example of the failure of bankers and financial managers to understand the risks of dealing in structured financial products, before the financial collapse, to investigate how people respond to crises. It focuses on whether crises cause people to challenge their habitual frames by the application of moral imagination. It is proposed that the structure of financial products and their markets triggered the use of heuristics that contributed to the underestimation of risks. It is further proposed that such framing heuristics are highly specialised to specific contexts and are part of a wider set of heuristics that people carry in their cognitive ‘adaptive toolboxes’. Consequently, it is argued, when a crisis occurs, the heuristics are not challenged, but are simply put away, and other more appropriate heuristics are put to use until a sense of normality returns, and the use of the old heuristics is resumed.     

Trading protocols and price discovery: Implicit transaction costs in Indian single stock futures

We show how trading protocols impede the price discovery process in single stock futures as implicit trade costs outweigh explicit costs. Despite the trade volume dominance, trade costs advantage and leverage efficiency in futures markets, single stock futures account for only 35% of the price discovery vis-á-vis the spot market. Futures market's informational efficiency is adversely affected by market frictions in the form of marketwide position limits, minimum contract values, and margin requirements.     

Firms’ export decisions—fixed trade costs and the size of the export market

This article presents a model of international trade under monopolistic competition. In the increasing returns sector firms face fixed, in addition to variable, trade costs, and both exporters and non-exporters may coexist. Exporters benefit from access to large foreign markets, thus a small country has a higher share of exporting firms than a large one. In contrast to standard models, the increasing returns sector will be more open in a small country than in a large one, and a small country may be a net exporter of such commodities, despite the disadvantage of a smaller home market.     

信用、信息和交易——当今信用缺失的原因、后果及其治理

本文认为,信用是市场交易的基本要素,是社会经济运行的润滑剂,信用缺失对经济增长和社会发展影响极大。导致信用缺失的原因很多,而信息不对称就是一个难以完全消除的原因。信息不对称所导致的严重后果之一就是加大了实际交易费用,甚至使交易者因惧怕高额交易费用而放弃交易,导致社会福利无从增加。文章提出,为降低信息不对称程度、完善信用市场,必须进行信用主体、社会和政府三方面的信用建设,促进信用主体采取相应的自助与自救措施矫正信息不对称程度,取得互利的信任;加强社会信用信息系统建设,尤其是信息中介机构建设;充分发挥政府在信用建设中的作用,以政府为主导,在各有关部门的积极参与下,促进信用信息系统建设。     

中国民航业金融衍生工具现状及其发展

随着20世纪70年代布雷顿森林体系的瓦解,“双挂钩”的国际货币体系成为历史,金融衍生工具应运而生。为了降低经济活动的不确定性和风险,金融衍生工具在国际民航行业迅速发展。相比而言,国内民航企业对金融衍生工具认识范围不全面、风险管控不到位、操作程序不规范、内部审批不严格,致使金融衍生品在中国民航业的交易规模极为有限,且无法充分发挥套期保值作用。本文就金融衍生工具在国内民航业的现状、存在的问题进行分析,并提出相应的缓解措施,以促进形成具有中国特色和符合中国国情的航空金融衍生品市场。     

Comparison of selective hedging and options strategies in cattle feedlot risk management

A cattle feedlot marketing simulation model was developed and used to evaluate the performance of various feedlot marketing strategies. The marketing analysis included corn, feeder cattle, and fed cattle integrated marketing alternatives. A variety of strategies were compared including hedging and put option purchasing as signaled via profit margins or price forecasts. The results indicate that cattle feeders could have historically increased profitability and decreased the variability of profits through selective marketing by using either profit margins or price forecasts to signal market positions as compared to cash marketing strategies. In addition, several strategies were found that stochastically dominated cash marketing.     

Hospitalisation costs and duration of elderly motorcyclists’ non-fatality crashes in Taiwan

This paper investigates the relationship between medical treatment costs and the length of hospital stays resulting from motorcycle crashes involving the elderly. The World Health Organization defines ‘elderly’ as people more than 65 years old. The sample for this study consisted of data for the year 2007 collected by the Bureau of National Health Insurance, Taiwan. We develop models for predicting medical costs and the length of hospital stays based on diagnosis, hospital and user types. The seemingly unrelated regression equation (SURE) model was applied first to investigate the relationship between medical costs and the length of hospital stays. The SURE model shows that the type of injury (e.g. head injury) is statistically significant and has positive effects on medical costs for motorcycle crashes involving the elderly in Taiwan. Due to the statistical insignificance of the dependency between medical costs and length of hospital stays, two separate simple linear regression models were subsequently estimated. For motorcycle crashes, patients over 80 years old had the highest medical costs. The findings reinforce the need for transportation authorities to focus on preventing certain types of injuries that are particularly serious and costly for the elderly in Taiwan.     

论“市场欺诈理论”与证券内幕交易民事责任因果关系的确立及借鉴

目前内幕交易民事责任因果关系问题是我国立法中的一个空白点。理论界对此问题做过大量探讨,但涉及内幕交易因果关系的理论基础和发展趋势及我国应采用的基本观点还缺乏必要的认识,为此从我国相关立法实践出发,借鉴"市场欺诈理论"和西方国家立法、司法实践,对完善我国证券内幕交易民事责任的因果关系问题提出建设性意见。     

Real-time price discovery in global stock, bond and foreign exchange markets

Using a unique high-frequency futures dataset, we characterize the response of U.S., German and British stock, bond and foreign exchange markets to real-time U.S. macroeconomic news. We find that news produces conditional mean jumps; hence high-frequency stock, bond and exchange rate dynamics are linked to fundamentals. Equity markets, moreover, react differently to news depending on the stage of the business cycle, which explains the low correlation between stock and bond returns when averaged over the cycle. Hence our results qualify earlier work suggesting that bond markets react most strongly to macroeconomic news; in particular, when conditioning on the state of the economy, the equity and foreign exchange markets appear equally responsive. Finally, we also document important contemporaneous links across all markets and countries, even after controlling for the effects of macroeconomic news.