Modelling economic hysteresis losses caused by sunk adjustment costs

Transition from one economic equilibrium to another as a consequence of shocks is often associated with sunk adjustment costs. Firm-specific sunk market entry investments (or sunk market exit costs) in case of a reaction to price shocks are an example. These adjustment costs lead to a dynamic supply pattern similar to hysteresis. In analogy to “hysteresis losses” in ferromagnetism, the authors explicitly model dynamic adjustment losses in the course of market entry and exit cycles. They start from the micro level of a single firm and use explicit aggregation tools from hysteresis theory in mathematics and physics to calculate dynamic losses. The authors show that strong market fluctuations generate disproportionately large hysteresis losses for producers. This could give a reason for the implementation of stabilizing measures and policies to prevent strong (price) variations or, alternatively, to reduce the sunk entry and exit costs.     

A generalized algorithm for duration and convexity of option embedded bonds

This article derives a generalized algorithm for duration and convexity of option embedded bonds that provides a convenient way of estimating the dollar value of 1 basis point change in yield known as DV01, an important metric in the bond market. As delta approaches 1, duration of callable bonds approaches zero once the bond is called. However, when the delta is zero, the short call is worthless and duration of callable will be equal to that of a straight bond. On the other hand, the convexity of a callable bond follows the same behaviour when the delta is 1 as shown in Dunetz and Mahoney (1988) as well as in Mehran and Homaifar’s (1993) derivations. However, in the case when delta is zero, the convexity of a callable bond approaches zero as well, which is in stark contrast to the non-zero convexity derived in Dunetz and Mahoney’s paper. Our generalized algorithm shows that duration and convexity nearly symmetrically underestimate (overestimate) the actual price change by 11/10 basis points for ± 100 basis points change in yield. Furthermore, our algorithm reduces to that of MH for convertible bonds assuming the convertible bond is not callable.     

使用粒子群算法解决期权定价模型参数校准问题——以heston模型为例

期权定价模型的参数校准问题是一个常见的难题,以heston 模型为例,定价时需要估计6 个参数,参数估计问题实质上是高维非线性规划问题,由于估参函数的性质不好,一般的估参方法常常失效。使用粒子群（PSO）智能算法可以改善该模型的参数校准问题,因为粒子群算法具有内在随机性,因此参数估计中的局部极小值问题可以被较好地解决。使用2017 年12 月20 日的香港恒生指数期权作为估计样本,并对2017 年12 月25 日的期权进行样本外预测,数值结果表明使用heston 模型对期权进行定价并配合粒子群算法估计参数具有良好的定价效果。     

中国高层经理股票期权最优激励比例研究

高层经理股票期权机制将经理人员的报酬与公司的市场价值联系在一起,从而达到降低代理成本,增加社会福利的目的。目前国内关于股权激励问题的研究很多,但还存在着一定的争议,特别是关于股权激励的定量分析。本文以经济分析法为基本研究方法,辅以实证研究的方法以高层经理股票期权为内容进行了分析,针对最优期权比例的确立进行研究,通过委托-代理模型分析方法建立最优股权激励模型,并对影响最优股权激励的因素进行讨论,提出建议,以促使股票期权激励制在中国达到应有的实施效果。     

Inferring information from the S&P 500, CBOE VIX,and CBOE SKEW indices

This paper compares the information extracted from the S&P 500, CBOE VIX, and CBOE SKEW indices for the S&P 500 index option pricing. Based on our empirical analysis, VIX is a very informative index for option prices. Whether adding the SKEW or the VIX term structure can improve the option pricing performance depends on the model we choose. Roughly speaking, the VIX term structure is informative for some models, while the SKEW is very noisy and does not contain much important information for option prices. This paper also extends Zhang et al. (2017, J Futures Markets, 37, 211–237) into three typical affine models.     

Bid and ask prices of index put options: Which predicts the underlying stock returns?

In this study, we separately estimate the implied volatility from the bid and ask prices of deep out-of-the-money put options on the S&P500 index. We find that the implied volatility of ask prices has stronger predictive power for stock returns than does the implied volatility of bid prices. We identify two sources of the better performance of the ask price implied volatility: one is its stronger predictive power during economic recessions and in the presence of increasing intermediary capital risk, and the other is its richer information about the future market variance risk premium.     

Semistatic hedging and pricing American floating strike lookback options

We price an American floating strike lookback option under the Black–Scholes model with a hypothetic static hedging portfolio (HSHP) composed of nontradable European options. Our approach is more efficient than the tree methods because recalculating the option prices is much quicker. Applying put–call duality to an HSHP yields a tradable semistatic hedging portfolio (SSHP). Numerical results indicate that an SSHP has better hedging performance than a delta-hedged portfolio. Finally, we investigate the model risk for SSHP under a stochastic volatility assumption and find that the model risk is related to the correlation between asset price and volatility.     

二叉树期权定价模式评估林业碳汇项目的价值

基于黑龙江省林业局和中国林业统计年鉴的数据,运用修正的Faustmann模型和二叉树期权定价方法分析黑龙江省黑河造林林区的碳汇价值及该项目的经济可行性。研究结果表明:经营成本负向影响项目的最终价值;碳汇价格和木材价格正向影响项目的最终价值;初始价值正向影响项目的最终价值;黑龙江省黑河造林林区项目具有较高的经济效益和生态效益。因此,相关部门应建立完善的碳汇交易市场,实施激励措施和制定林地产权制度。     

REAL OPTIONS WITH COMPETITION AND REGIME SWITCHING

In this paper, we examine irreversible investment decisions in duopoly games with a variable economic climate. Integrating timing flexibility, competition, and changes in the economic environment in the form of a cash flow process with regime switching, the problem is formulated as a stopping‐time game under Stackelberg leader‐follower competition, in which both players determine their respective optimal market entry time. By extending the variational inequality approach, we solve for the free boundaries and obtain optimal investment strategies for each player. Despite the lack of regularity in the leader's obstacle and the cash flow regime uncertainty, the regime‐dependent optimal policies for both the leader and the follower are obtained. In addition, we perform comprehensive numerical experiments to demonstrate the properties of solutions and to gain insights into the implications of regime switching.     

A barrier options approach to modeling project failure: The case of hydrogen fuel infrastructure

Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles have the potential to contribute to a sustainable transport system with zero tailpipe emissions. This requires the construction of a network of fuel stations, a long-term, expensive and highly uncertain investment. We contribute to the literature by including a knock-out barrier option in an n-fold compound real option model to take account of immediate project failure in a multi-stage sequential investment project. Our model allows to explicitly incorporate the default possibility of large-scale energy infrastructure projects. In our case study of hydrogen infrastructure development, we find that even for the least conservative valuation method no profitable business case can be made for the development of hydrogen as a sustainable transportation mode. However, we do provide some suggestive scenarios that plausible tax schedules can be designed to overcome the starting problems for hydrogen infrastructure development.