We propose a model of volatility tail behavior, in which the pricing measure dominates the physical measure in both tails of the volatility distribution and, hence, the derived pricing kernel exhibits an increasing and decreasing region in the volatility dimension. The model features investors...

When the pricing kernel is U-shaped, then expected returns of claims with payout on the upside are negative for strikes beyond a threshold, determined by the slope of the U-shaped kernel in its increasing region, and have negative partial derivative with respect to strike in the increasing...

This paper proposes a measure of dissimilarity between stochastic discount factors (SDFs) in different economies. The SDFs are made comparable using the respective bond prices as the numeraire. The measure is dimensionless, synthesizes features of the risk-neutral moments of excess currency...