Knowledge that Transforms

We develop lower and upper bounds on the prices of American call and put options written on a dividend-paying asset. We provide two option price approximations, one based on the lower bound (termed LBA) and one based on both bounds (termed LUBA). The LUBA approximation has an average accuracy comparable to a 1,000-step binomial tree with a computation speed comparable to a 50-step binomial tree. We introduce a modification of the binomial method (termed BBSR) that is very simple to implement and performs remarkably well. We also conduct a careful large-scale evaluation of many recent methods for computing American option prices.

Mutual fund attrition can create problems for a researcher because funds that disappear tend to do so due to poor performance. In this article we estimate the size of the bias by tracking all funds that existed at the end of 1976. When a fund merges we calculate the return, taking into account the merger terms. This allows a precise estimate of survivorship bias. In addition, we examine characteristics of both mutual funds that merge and their partner funds. Estimates of survivorship bias over different horizons and using different models to evaluate performance are provided.

This article studies the design and valuation of debt contracts in a general dynamic setting under uncertainty. We incorporate some insights of the recent corporate finance literature into a valuation framework. The basic framework is an extensive form game determined by the terms of a debt contract and applicable bankruptcy laws. Debtholders and equityholders behave noncooperatively. The firm’s reorganization boundary is determined endogenously. Strategic debt service results in significantly higher default premia at even small liquidation costs. Deviations from absolute priority and forced liquidations occur along the equilibrium path. The design tends to stress higher coupons and sinking funds when firms have a higher cash payout ratio.

This article develops a model of the upstairs market where order size, beliefs, and prices are determined endogenously. We test the model’s predictions using unique data for 5,625 equity trades during the period 1985 to 1992 that are known to be upstairs transactions and are identified as either buyer or seller initiated. We find that price movements prior to the trade date are significantly positively related to trade size, consistent with information leakage as the block is “shopped” upstairs. Further, the temporary price impact or liquidity effect is a concave function of order size, which may result from upstairs intermediation.

The dynamic nonmyopic portfolio behavior of an investor who trades a risk-free and risky asset is derived for all HARA utility functions and a stochastic risk premium. Conditions are found for when the investor holds more or less than the myopic amount of the risky asset; hedges against or speculates the risk-premium uncertainty; is long or short on the risky asset; and holds more or less of the risky asset at longer horizons. The analytical solutions derived take multiple mathematical forms and include extreme cases in which investors with long but finite horizons can attain nirvana.

An efficient method is developed for pricing American options on stochastic volatility/jump-diffusion processes under systematic jump and volatility risk. The parameters implicit in deutsche mark (DM) options of the model and various submodels are estimated over the period 1984 to 1991 via nonlinear generalized least squares, and are tested for consistency with $/DM futures prices and the implicit volatility sample path. The stochastic volatility submodel cannot explain the “volatility smile” evidence of implicit excess kurtosis, except under parameters implausible given the time series properties of implicit volatilities. Jump fears can explain the smile, and are consistent with one 8 percent DM appreciation “outlier” observed over the period 1984 to 1991.

[Any admissible portfolio performance measure should satisfy four minimal conditions: it assigns zero performance to each reference portfolio and it is linear, continuous, and nontrivial. Such an admissible measure exists if and only if the securities market obeys the law of one price. A positive admissible measure exists if and only if there is no arbitrage. This article characterizes the (infinite) set of admissible performance measures. It is shown that performance evaluation is generally quite arbitrary. A mutual fund data set is also used to demonstrate how the measurement method developed here can be applied.]

[In this article, we present a new method for pricing and hedging American options along with an efficient implementation procedure. The proposed method is efficient and accurate in computing both option values and various option hedge parameters. We demonstrate the computational accuracy and efficiency of this numerical procedure in relation to other competing approaches. We also suggest how the method can be applied to the case of any American option for which a closed-form solution exists for the corresponding European option.]

[This article studies the design and valuation of debt contracts in a general dynamic setting under uncertainty. We incorporate some insights of the recent corporate finance literature into a valuation framework. The basic framework is an extensive form game determined by the terms of a debt contract and applicable bankruptcy laws. Debtholders and equityholders behave noncooperatively. The firm's reorganization boundary is determined endogenously. Strategic debt service results in significantly higher default premia at even small liquidation costs. Deviations from absolute priority and forced liquidations occur along the equilibrium path. The design tends to stress higher coupons and sinking funds when firms have a higher cash payout ratio.]

[An important element of a firm's disclosure strategy is the timing of its mandatory public announcements. In this article, two aspects of disclosure timing are examined. The first is the intraday timing of earnings announcements. It is demonstrated here that, under reasonable conditions, market prices reflect better the valuation implications of an earnings announcement when it is made during trading hours rather than after the market has closed. This implies that managers should prefer to release earnings with positive (negative) implications for firm value during (after) trading hours. The second issue examined is the sequencing of multiple corporate disclosures. It is shown that if the announcements have positive (negative) implications for firm value, managers should prefer to make them separately (simultaneously), as market prices better reflect the valuation implications of multiple announcements when they are made at different times.]