Is it important to consider the jump component for pricing and hedging short‐term options?

The usefulness of the jump component for pricing and hedging short‐term options is studied for the KOSPI (Korean Composite Stock Price Index) 200 Index options. It is found that jumps have only a marginal effect and stochastic volatility is of the most importance. There is evidence of jumps in the underlying index but no evidence of jumps in the corresponding index options. However, these results may not be valid for individual equity options. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 25:989–1009, 2005