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Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis Vol. 37 No. 1 2002

Average Rate Claims with Emphasis on Catastrophe Loss Options

Gurdip Bakshi; Dilip B. Madan

University of Maryland, College Park

Abstract

This article studies the valuation of options written on the average level of a Markov process. The general properties of such options are examined. We propose a closed-form characterization in which the option payoff is contingent on cumulative catastrophe losses. In our framework, the loss rate is a mean-reverting Markov process, with no continuous martingale component. The model supposes that high loss levels have lower arrival rates. We analytically derive the cumulative loss process and its characteristic function. The resulting option model is promising.

DOI
10.2307/3594996
Volume
37
Issue
1
Pages
93
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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