The influence of R&D investment on the use of corporate venture capital: An industry-level analysis

We consider how internal research and development (R&D) influences the use of corporate venture capital (CVC) and how this relationship varies across industries. We find that, in general, R&D investments increase the number of CVC deals in an industry. We also find that R&D investment has a particularly strong influence on the use of CVC in industries that are growing rapidly and changing technologically. Our analysis provides greater clarity on the relationships involving R&D and CVC in the presence of contingencies by integrating insights of absorptive capacity and real options reasoning.     

The smirk in the S&P500 futures options prices: a linearized factor analysis

In the S&P500 futures options, we identify three factors, corresponding to movements in the underlying, parallel movements, and tilting of the cross section of implied volatilities (the “smirk factor”). We relate these factors non-linearly to movements in the option prices. They seem to be diffusive in nature, have significant associated risk premia, and can account for an overwhelming part of the option price movements. We interpret the options smirk, which is the notion that out-of-the-money (OTM) puts seem expensive relative to OTM calls, in terms of the prices of these risk factors. Going short OTM puts and long OTM calls, corresponding to the third factor, makes a profit on average, but this corresponds to its risk premium, and does not represent a market inefficiency. Our smirk factor is useful for hedging option portfolios, but seems unrelated to movements in the underlying, and does not fit into the framework of the jump-diffusion models.      

On the use of options by mutual funds: Do they know what they are doing?

Given recent regulatory inquiries into the derivative-trading practices of mutual funds, we examine their detailed option holdings to assess how mutual funds employ options, what funds use options, and how that affects performance and risk. Mutual funds’ use of options appears consistent with income generation and hedging motives, is systematically related to experience, education, and gender characteristics of portfolio managers, and does not lead to performance benefits, on average. Instead, certain uses of options lead to underperformance. We document no permanent or temporary aggressive risk taking by options users, finding instead that some funds use options to effectively lower risk.     

Investment decisions in finite-lived monopolies

This paper studies the value and optimal timing for investment in finite-lived monopolies, extending the literature on real option games by considering the cases of random and certain-lived monopolies. Under these settings, firms face the risk of demonopolization, that can occur as a random or a certain event. We show that these new settings produce significantly different results when compared to the canonical monopolistic and duopolistic models. In a certain-lived monopoly, the leader invests sooner than in a duopoly if there is a risk of being preempted, and later than in a monopoly if the leader role is pre-assigned. In a random-lived monopoly, entry occurs somewhere between the duopoly and monopoly cases. Higher uncertainty delays investment in all cases.     

Some problems in actuarial finance involving sums of dependent risks

A trend in actuarial finance is to combine technical risk with interest risk. If Y_t , t = 1, 2, denotes the timevalue of money (discount factors at time t ) and X_t the stochastic payments to be made at time t , the random variable of interest is often the scalar product of these two random vectors V = X_t Y_t . The vectors X and Y are supposed to be independent, although in general they have dependent components. The current insurance practice based on the law of large numbers disregards the stochastic financial aspects of insurance. On the other hand, introduction of the variables Y ₁, Y ₂, to describe the financial aspects necessitates estimation or knowledge of their distribution function.
We investigate some statistical models for problems of insurance and finance, including Risk Based Capital/Value at Risk, Asset Liability Management, the distribution of annuities, cash flow evaluations (in the framework of pension funds, embedded value of a portfolio, Asian options) and provisions for claims incurred, but not reported (IBNR).     

Valuation of options on the maximum of two prices with default risk under GARCH models

In this paper, we work under GARCH models to value options on the maximum or the minimum of two prices. In addition, we consider not only two underlying asset prices but also geometric average ones. Further, default risk is also incorporated in a reduced-form model. In the proposed framework, closed-form pricing formulae of options on the maximum with or without default risk are derived and then used to perform numerical examples.     

中韩经济发展阶段及相应贸易战略的比较研究

中韩两国的经济发展历程十分相似,在不同的发展阶段所采取的贸易战略也存在很强的可比性。通过比较研究,发现经济发展过程中值得重视的经验教训,寻求一些对于我国发展有益的启示,对我国当今贸易战略和政策选择有重要意义与作用。     

Put-call parity revisited: intradaily tests in the foreign currency options market

We test exchange-traded (PHLX) German mark options for conformance to put-call parity (PCP). Puts and calls are matched to the nearest minute, and the relative impact of competing spot exchange rate sources (Reuters vs. Telerate) is assessed. We find that PCP usually holds (roughly 96% of put-call pairs), with the exception of a notable incident in the European options pits. In those instances in which PCP is violated, we find sharp intradaily and intraweekly seasonalities for American options, with disproportionate PCP violations occurring during the relatively light trading periods in early evening and on Fridays. We also conclude that the Telerate prices as recorded by the PHLX are not as accurate as the Reuters exchange rates provided by Olsen and Associates, probably because of time lags in the Telerate data.     

REAL OPTIONS AND PATENT DAMAGES: THE LEGAL TREATMENT OF NON-INFRINGING ALTERNATIVES, AND INCENTIVES TO INNOVATE

Abstract.  Patent litigation has become an increasingly important consideration in business strategy. Damage awards in patent litigation are supposed to compensate the patent owner for economic harm created by infringement and are therefore important for protecting returns to innovation. We analyze the effects that a recent court decision in the United States, called Grain Processing , has had on the incentives of potential infringers to infringe and innovators to innovate. We find that Grain Processing has decreased the expected value of damages awards in patent cases by conferring a 'free option' on infringers. Grain Processing also concluded that the patent owner in the case did not suffer lost profits due to the infringement because the infringer would have adopted an (inferior) non-infringing technology had it not infringed. We demonstrate that this conclusion is inconsistent with standard economic models.     

Implied volatilities,stochastic interest rates,and currency futures options valuation: an empirical investigation

Different models of pricing currency call and put options on futures are empirically tested. Option prices are determined using different models and compared to actual market prices. Option prices are determined using historical as well as implied volatility. The different models tested include both constant and stochastic interest rate models. To determine if the model prices are different from the market prices, regression analysis and paired t-tests are performed. To see which model misprices the least, root mean square errors are determined. It is found that better results are obtained when implied volatility is used. Stochastic interest rate models perform better than constant interest rate models.