Pricing and Hedging of Multi Type Contracts under Multidimensional Risks in Incomplete Markets Modeled by General Itô SDE Systems

The HARA and CARA theory of pricing, and the theory of partial, yet the most conservative hedging, of a single (liquid) tradable derivative contract under multidimensionality of risks in incomplete markets, including markets with non-hedgable interest rate risks, was developed by the author in a recent paper. In the present paper this theory is extended to the general case of simultaneous pricing and hedging of multiple (types of) such contracts. The results are based on the generalization of the “fundamental matrix of derivatives pricing and hedging” to include multiple contracts. Some applications are discussed as well.     

Which form of hedging matters — Operational or financial? Evidence from the US oil and gas sector

We examine the extent and impact of operational and financial hedging on commodity price risk in US oil and gas companies. We find significant exposure to underlying commodity movements. Using a combination of hand collected and publicly available data we examine the impact of hedging strategies. We find no evidence that operational hedging, defined here as multinationality, is effective. In contrast, we find that financial hedging is significant and impactful. Sub-period analysis shows that the effectiveness of financial hedging diminishes when commodity price volatility is high.     

Dynamic Hedging Effectiveness in South Korean Index Futures and the Impact of the Asian Financial Crisis

This paper focuses on the impact of the 1997 Asian financial market crisis upon hedging effectiveness within the KOSPI 200 stock index and index futures markets. The paper utilizes the inter-temporal relationship between the two markets to examine the characteristics of several minimum variance hedge ratios. It also examines the performances of alternative hedging strategies for dynamic portfolio management in the presence of cointegrated time-varying risks. The results show a decline in the persistence of conditional volatility within market prices after the crisis. This decline leads to the relative performance of utilizing constant hedge ratios to increase, though not significantly so to guarantee a superior performance over more sophisticated time-varying hedge ratio strategies.     

No-arbitrage criteria for financial markets with transaction costs and incomplete information

This note deals with criteria of absence of arbitrage opportunities for an investor acting in a market with frictions and having a limited access to the information flow. We develop a mathematical scheme covering major models of financial markets with transaction costs and prove several results including a criterion for the robust no-arbitrage property and a hedging theorem.      

Housing policy and the progressivity of income taxation

Most countries have tax provisions and subsidies to promote homeownership. These provisions generate an asymmetry in the tax treatment of owner- and rental-occupied housing, which affects the incentives to supply tenant-occupied housing. This paper analyzes the quantitative importance of the interaction of these provisions with the progressivity of income taxation in the context of an overlapping generations model with housing and rental markets. The model replicates the key facts observed in the economy, as well as distributional patterns of ownership, house size, and landlord behavior. The model suggests that the progressivity of income taxation can amplify or mitigate the effects of the asymmetries with important implications for housing tenure, housing consumption, portfolio reallocations, and welfare that differ from those reported in the literature.     

Multiperiod hedging in the presence of stochastic volatility

In this paper, we characterize the multiperiod minimum-risk hedge strategy within the stochastic volatility (SV) framework and compare it to other hedge strategies on the basis of hedging performance. Using crude oil markets as an example, we demonstrate that the SV model is appropriate in depicting price behaviour. However, ex ante and ex post comparisons indicate that the SV strategy is inferior to conventional hedging strategies. There is also evidence that the Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (GARCH) strategy may be better than the SV strategy, at least in terms of variance reduction.     

基于沪铜期货的套期保值比率与效率比较的实证分析

本文以沪铜期货的多头套期保值为研究对象,分别利用OLS模型、ECM模型和GARCH模型对一月期铜和三月期铜的套期保值比例及保值效果进行了分析,发现OLS模型对一月期铜的套期保值效果要优于其他模型的保值效果,而ECM模型和GARCH模型在三月期铜的套期保值方面显示的效果更好。这说明在一般情况下,具有动态特征的计量模型适合于较长的期货合约,其套期保值效果更好。     

An International Asset Pricing Model with Time-Varying Hedging Risk

This paper employs a two-factor international equilibrium asset pricing model to examine the pricing relationships among the world's five largest equity markets. In addition to the traditional market factor premium, a hedging factor premium is included as the second factor to explain the relationship between risks and returns in the international stock markets. Moreover, a GARCH parameterization is adopted to characterize the general dynamics of the conditional second moments. The results suggest that the additional hedging risk premium is needed to explain rates of return on international equities. Furthermore, the restriction that the coefficient on the hedge-portfolio covariance is one smaller than the coefficient on the market-portfolio covariance can not be rejected. This suggests that the intertemporal asset pricing model proposed by Campbell (1993) can be used to explain the returns on the five largest stock market indices.     

Mark-to-market accounting and liquidity pricing

When liquidity plays an important role as in financial crises, asset prices may reflect the amount of liquidity available rather than the asset's future earning power. Using market prices to assess financial institutions’ solvency in such circumstances is not desirable. We show that a shock in the insurance sector can cause the current market value of banks’ assets to fall below their liabilities so they are insolvent. In contrast, if values based on historic cost are used, banks can continue and meet all their future liabilities. We discuss the implications for the debate on mark-to-market versus historic cost accounting.     

Multiperiod Strip Hedging of Forward Commitments

This paper empirically compares two multiperiod hedging strategies—a strip hedge and a stack-and-roll hedge—to hedge a forward commitment. The multiperiod strip hedge is found to outperform the stack-and-roll hedge when forward prices are subject to multiple sources of price uncertainty and to perform no better when only one source of uncertainty is present. Moreover, the relative superiority of the strip hedge increases with the presence of multiple sources of uncertainty. Last, the strip hedge is found to be more costly to trade than the stack-and-roll hedge; however, its cost varies directly with its superiority at reducing risk.     

Evaluating the Forecast Accuracy of Emerging Market Stock Returns

This paper analyzes the forecast performance of emerging market stock returns using standard autoregressive moving average (ARMA) and more elaborated autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (ARCH) models. Our results indicate that the ARMA and ARCH specifications generally outperform random walk models. Models that allow for asymmetric shocks to volatility are better for in-sample estimation (threshold autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity for daily returns and exponential generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity for longer periods), and ARMA models are better for out-of-sample forecasts. The results are valid using both U. S. dollar and domestic currencies. Overall, the forecast errors of each Latin American market can be explained by the forecasts of other Latin American markets and Asian markets. The forecast errors of each Asian market can be explained by the forecasts of other Asian markets, but not by Latin American markets. Our predictability results are economically significant and may be useful for portfolio managers to enter or leave the market.