Discretely sampled variance and volatility swaps trade actively in OTC markets. To price these swaps, the continuously sampled approximation is often used to simplify the computations. The purpose of this paper is to study the conditions under which this approximation is valid. Our first set of...

We give a complete characterization of affine term structure models based on a general nonnegative Markov short rate process. This applies to the classical CIR model but includes as well short rate processes with jumps. We provide a link to the theory of branching processes and show how...

We propose and examine a simple model for credit migration and spread curves of a single firm both under real-world and risk-neutral measures. This model is a hybrid of a structural and a reduced-form model. Default is triggered either by successive downgradings of the firm or an unpredictable...