Managing Employee Stock Option Expense: A Fair Value Approach

Owing to special characteristics, classic option pricing models are not well suited to the valuation of employee stock options (ESOs). This paper attempts to conduct a more general fair value estimation based on attaching performance targets to option vesting. Considering a setting that includes factors such as options that may be exercised early at employee discretion, employee exit rates and firm default risk, this paper presents a sensitivity analysis and empirical tests of option value. The results highlight the importance of considering the characteristics of ESOs in the design of performance‐vested option plans so as to provide the most attractive incentives for employees.     

If at First You Don't Succeed: The Effect of the Option to Resolicit on Corporate Takeovers

This article models, and experimentally simulates, the free-riderproblem in a takeover when the raider has the option to "resolicit,"that is, to make a new offer after an offer has been rejected.In theory, the option to resolicit, by lowering offer credibility,increases the dissipative losses associated with free riding.The outcomes of our experiment support this prediction and producelosses from free riding even higher than theoretically predicted.These dissipation losses reduce raider gains to less than 3%of synergy value of the acquisition     

Option pricing with quadratic volatility: a revisit

This paper considers the pricing of European options on assets that follow a stochastic differential equation with a quadratic volatility term. We correct several errors in the existing literature, extend the pricing formulas to arbitrary root configurations, and list alternative representations of option pricing formulas to improve computational performance. Our exposition is based entirely on probabilistic arguments, adding a fresh perspective and new intuition to the existing PDE-dominated literature on the subject. Our main tools are martingale methods and shifts of probability measures; the fact that the underlying process is typically a strict local martingale is carefully considered throughout the paper.     

Option pricing under non-normality: a comparative analysis

This paper carries out a comparative analysis of the calibration and performance of a variety of options pricing models. These include Black and Scholes (J Polit Econ 81:637–659, 1973), the Gram–Charlier (GC) approach of Backus et al. (1997), the stochastic volatility (HS) model of Heston (Rev Financ Stud 6:327–343, 1993), the closed-form GARCH process of Heston and Nandi (Rev Financ Stud 13:585–625, 2000) and a variety of Lévy processes including the Variance Gamma (VG), Normal Inverse Gaussian (NIG), and, CGMY and Kou (Manag Sci 48:1086–1101, 2002) jump-diffusion models. Unlike most studies of option pricing, we compare these models using a common point-in-time data which reflects the perspective of a new investor who wishes to choose between models using only the most minimal recent data set. For each of these models, we also examine the accuracy of delta and delta-gamma approximations to the valuation of both individual options and an illustrative option portfolio.     

On the Upper Bound of a Call Option

Using only a weak set of assumptions, Merton (1973) shows that the upper bound of a European or American call option on a non-dividend paying stock is the underlying stock price: a result which is often extended to options on dividend paying stocks. In this short technical piece we show that the underlying stock price is in fact not the least upper bound of either a European or an American call option on a stock that pays one or more known dividends prior to maturity. Based on Merton's (1973) original framework, new upper bounds are established which depend on the size(s) of the dividend(s) compared to the size of the strike. JEL Classification: G12, G13     

Locked Up by a Lockup: Valuing Liquidity as a Real Option

Hedge funds often impose lockups and notice periods to limit the ability of investors to withdraw capital. We model the investor's decision to withdraw capital as a real option and treat lockups and notice periods as exercise restrictions. Our methodology incorporates time-varying probabilities of hedge fund failure and optimal early exercise. We estimate a two-year lockup with a three-month notice period costs approximately 1% of the initial investment for an investor with constant relative risk aversion utility and risk aversion of three. The cost of illiquidity can easily exceed 10% if the hedge fund manager can arbitrarily suspend withdrawals.     

Minimizing the Risk of a Financial Product Using a Put Option

In this article, we elaborate a method for determining the optimal strike price for a put option, used to hedge a position in a financial product such as a basket of shares and a bond. This strike price is optimal in the sense that it minimizes, for a given budget, a class of risk measures satisfying certain properties. Formulas are derived for one single underlying as well as for a weighted sum of underlyings. For the latter we will consider two cases depending on the dependence structure of the components in this weighted sum. Applications and numerical results are presented.     

造假丑闻：期权乃万恶之源

2002年，对于美国人来讲，是苦难的一年，恐怖事件，造假丑闻让美国已经衰落的经济再次遭受沉重打击。对于以安然丑闻为导火索的上市公司造假问题，许多人都是在指责会计师事务所．证券分析师，而其实，也许其中有更深层次的原因，比如期权。请看下面的分析，或许能对我国的金融体系设计有所启示。     

Managing toxic chemicals in Australia: a regional analysis of the risk society

The paper takes examples from two decades of toxic risk management in Australia in order to examine the challenges that the conditions of the ‘risk society’ pose for the chemicals industry in this country. These issues for corporate governance are set against a shift in political discourse in the direction of the limiting of the state, co‐governance between state and industry, and new community involvements and responsibilities. The paper describes new social movements and alliances influencing corporate structures and processes for decision making in Australia. The case examples lead to conclusions concerning the fundamental innovations in the organizational design of regulatory bodies and corporations that are required if progress is to be made towards sustainability and the re‐establishment of public trust. The findings of this paper are symptomatic of the more general challenges that the ‘risk society’ poses for the mainstream political programmes and their frameworks for regulation, for corporate architecture and for the relationships between governments, corporations and the community.     

Valuing the Option to Purchase an Asset at a Proportional Discount

I analyze the value of a nonstandard call option that allows the holder to purchase an underlying asset at a discount proportional to the asset's market price. Several applications for this type of option exist, including its use in employee compensation contracts. I derive the value of this option for a dividend-paying asset and for an option whose exercise price reflects a time-varying discount factor. The derived value incorporates the optimal time at which the option should be exercised. One application of this option relates to a residential real estate program in China.     

Option clauses and the stability of a laisser faire monetary system

This article examines the potential of option clauses to stabilize a banking system with multiple banks of issue and convertible banknotes. It suggests that under laisser faire, banks will introduce option clauses and the public will be willing to accept them even when fully convertible notes are also available. This will be in the interest of both parties since option clauses protect banks against a liquidity crisis. The article then examines the historical experience of option clauses in Scotland in 1730–1765 and finds it to be broadly consistent with our prior expectations.     

Managing authenticity: the paradox of great leadership

Leaders and followers both associate authenticity with sincerity, honesty, and integrity. It's the real thing--the attribute that uniquely defines great managers. But while the expression of a genuine self is necessary for great leadership, the concept of authenticity is often misunderstood, not least by leaders themselves. They often assume that authenticity is an innate quality--that a person is either genuine or not. In fact, the authors say, authenticity is largely defined by what other people see in you and, as such, can to a great extent be controlled by you. In this article, the authors explore the qualities of authentic leadership. To illustrate their points, they recount the experiences of some of the authentic leaders they have known and studied, including the BBC's Greg Dyke, Nestlé's Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, and Marks & Spencer's Jean Tomlin. Establishing your authenticity as a leader is a two-part challenge. You have to consistently match your words and deeds; otherwise, followers will never accept you as authentic. But it is not enough just to practice what you preach. To get people to follow you, you also have to get them to relate to you. This means presenting different faces to different audiences--a requirement that many people find hard to square with authenticity. But authenticity is not the product of manipulation. It accurately reflects aspects of the leader's inner self, so it can't be an act. Authentic leaders seem to know which personality traits they should reveal to whom, and when. Highly attuned to their environments, authentic leaders rely on an intuition born of formative, sometimes harsh experiences to understand the expectations and concerns of the people they seek to influence. They retain their distinctiveness as individuals, yet they know how to win acceptance in strong corporate and social cultures and how to use elements of those cultures as a basis for radical change.     

Option pricing in a lognormal securities market with discrete trading: A comment

In a recent paper Lee et al. derive a pricing formula which is significantly different from that of Black and Scholes. Their derivation is inconsistent due to their failure to recognize that the rate of return of an option written on an asset whose rate of return is lognormally distributed will not be lognormally distributed.     

Option pricing and hedging in different cyclical structures: a two-dimensional Markov-modulated model

The critical role of interest rate risk and associated regime-switching risk in pricing and hedging options is examined using a closed-form valuation model. Equity call options are valued under the proposed 2-dimensional Markov-modulated model in which asset prices and interest rates exhibit Markov regime-switching features. In addition, the relationship between cyclical structures and option prices are analyzed using a time-varying transition probability matrix. The proposed model can enhance the forecast transition probabilities in an out-sample period. The cycle-stylized effect of an economy exhibits different impacts on option prices and hedging strategies in a short- and a long-cycle economy. Our closed-form formula based on more realistic specifications with respect to business-cyclical structures in various financial markets is more appropriate for pricing and hedging options.     

Managing the technical resource capability of cybercrime investigation: a UK law enforcement perspective

This article discusses the challenges faced by law enforcement agencies when investigating cybercrime. The article presents the technical investigation roles necessary for cybercrime policing in a resource capability matrix. Adopting a standard resource capability framework across the wider law enforcement community will assist in the development of common policies and procedures, and will maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of cybercrime investigation in a shrinking global economy.     

Managing a sphere of influence: WFSF and its institutional members

The World Futures Studies Federation has nearly seventy Institutional Members from around the world. Combined, Institutional Members' day-to-day endeavors span an assortment of professional, academic, governmental and research areas. The activity and visibility of the Institutional Members was informally monitored during a nine-month period in 2002-2003 which resulted in a strong impression that, despite abundant access to Institutional Members, the WFSF is underutilizing its sphere of influence. The WFSF should initiate a strategy of outreach to Institutional Members that maximizes relationships and is mutually beneficial for everyone involved in the organization. The basis of this outreach should be focused on fulfilling WFSF's stated mission to promote Futures Studies and awareness for the future. WFSF is also strongly committed to promoting democracy, which must also underlie any effort in this context. In addition to the internal state of affairs there needs to be consideration of trends and current conditions outside the field of Futures Studies. By examining four scenarios this essay suggests ways in which WFSF can anticipate the future and increase its impact.