We consider two sequences of Markov chains inducing equivalent measures on the discrete path space. We establish conditions under which these two measures converge weakly to measures induced on the Wiener space by weak solutions of two SDEs, which are unique in the sense of probability law. We...

We review the relations between adjoints of stochastic control problems with the derivative of the value function, and the latter with the value function of a stopping problem. These results are applied to the pricing of contingent claims.

The Black-Scholesmodelis basedona one-parameter pricingkernel with constantelasticity. Theoretical and empirical results suggest declining elasticity and, hence, a pricing kernel withat leasttwo parameters.We price European-style optionson assets whose probability distributions have two unknown...

It is well known that backward stochastic differential equations (BSDEs) stem from the study on the Pontryagin type maximum principle for optional stochastic control. A solution of a BSDE hits a given terminal value (which is a random variable) by virtue of an additional martingale term and an...

A nonlinear Black-Scholes equation which models transaction costs arising in the hedging of portfolios is discretized semi-implicitly using high order compact finite difference schemes. In particular, the compact schemes of Rigal are generalized. The numerical results are compared to standard...

In both complete and incomplete markets we consider the problem of fulfilling a financial obligation xc as well as possible at time T if the initial capital is not sufficient to hedge xc. This introduces a new risk into the market and our main aim is to minimize this shortfall risk by making use...

An important determinant of option prices is the elasticity of the pricing kernel used to price all claims in the economy. In this paper, we first show that for a given forward price of the underlying asset, option prices are higher when the elasticity of the pricing kernel is declining than...

A high-order compact finite difference scheme for a fully nonlinear parabolic differential equation is analyzed. The equation arises in the modeling of option prices in financial markets with transaction costs. It is shown that the finite difference solution converges locally uniformly to the...

We document widespread violations of stochastic dominance in the one-month S&P 500 index options market over the period 1986-2002. These violations imply that a trader can improve her expected utility by engaging in a zero-net-cost trade. We allow the market to be incomplete and also imperfect...

In some recent papers, such as Elliott & van der Hoek, Hu & Öksendal, a fractional Black-Scholes model have been proposed as an improvement of the classical Black-Scholes model. Common to these fractional Black-Scholes models, is that the driving Brownian motion is replaced by a fractional...