Let Q be the set of equivalent martingale measures for a given process S, and let X be a process which is a local supermartingale with respect to any measure in Q. The optional decomposition theorem for X states that there exists a predictable integrand ф such that the difference X−ф•S is...

In a complete financial market every contingent claim can be hedged perfectly. In an incomplete market it is possible to stay on the safe side by superhedging. But such strategies may require a large amount of initial capital. Here we study the question what an investor can do who is unwilling...

In this survey, we show that various stochastic optimization problems arising in option theory, in dynamical allocation problems, and in the microeconomic theory of intertemporal consumption choice can all be reduced to the same problem of representing a given stochastic process in terms of...

An investor faced with a contingent claim may eliminate risk by (super-)hedging in a financial market. As this is often quite expensive, we study partial hedges, which require less capital and reduce the risk. In a previous paper we determined quantile hedges which succeed with maximal...

Problems arising in Finance have become a significant source of new developments in Stochastic Analysis. We discuss some recent case studies, in particular some decomposition and representation theorems which are motivated by problems of hedging derivatives and of intertemporal consumption choice.

Consider a d-dimensional Brownian motion X (Xl, ... ,Xd ) and a function F which belongs locally to the Sobolev space W 1,2. We prove an extension of Ito's formula where the usual second order terms are replaced by the quadratic covariations [fk(X), Xkj involving the weak first partial...

We show the existence, for any k E N, of processes which have the same k-marginals as Brownian motion, although they are not Brownian motions. For k = 4, this proves a conjecture of Stoyanov. The law P' of such a weak Brownian motion of order k can be constructed to be equivalent to Wiener...

We study the long run behaviour of interactive Markov chains on infinite product spaces. In view of microstructure models of financial markets, the interaction has both a local and a global component. The convergence of such Markov chains is analyzed on the microscopic level and on the...

Motivated by the Kyle-Back model of 'insider trading', we consider certain classes of linear transformations of two independent Brownian motions and study their canonical decomposition as semimartingales in their own filtration. In particular we characterize those transformations which generate...

Motivated by a hedging problem in mathematical finance, El Karoui and Quenez [7] and Kramkov [14] have developed optional versions of the Doob-Meyer decomposition which hold simultaneously for all equivalent martingale measures. We investigate the general structure of such optional...