In many areas of finance and stochastics, significant advances have been made since this field of research was opened by Black, Scholes and Merton in 1973. This volume contains a collection of original articles by a number of highly distinguished authors, on research topics that are currently in the focus of interest of both academics and practitioners.
This book consists of a series of new, peer-reviewed papers in stochastic processes, analysis, filtering and control, with particular emphasis on mathematical finance, actuarial science and engineering. Paper contributors include colleagues, collaborators and former students of Robert Elliott, many of whom are world-leading experts and have made fundamental and significant contributions to these areas.This book provides new important insights and results by eminent researchers in the considered areas, which will be of interest to researchers and practitioners. The topics considered will be diverse in applications, and will provide contemporary approaches to the problems considered. The areas considered are rapidly evolving. This volume will contribute to their development, and present the current state-of-the-art stochastic processes, analysis, filtering and control.Contributing authors include: H Albrecher, T Bielecki, F Dufour, M Jeanblanc, I Karatzas, H-H Kuo, A Melnikov, E Platen, G Yin, Q Zhang, C Chiarella, W Fleming, D Madan, R Mamon, J Yan, V Krishnamurthy.
Modelling with the Ito integral or stochastic differential equations has become increasingly important in various applied fields, including physics, biology, chemistry and finance. However, stochastic calculus is based on a deep mathematical theory. This book is suitable for the reader without a deep mathematical background. It gives an elementary introduction to that area of probability theory, without burdening the reader with a great deal of measure theory. Applications are taken from stochastic finance. In particular, the Black -- Scholes option pricing formula is derived. The book can serve as a text for a course on stochastic calculus for non-mathematicians or as elementary reading material for anyone who wants to learn about Ito calculus and/or stochastic finance.
This book is an introduction to financial mathematics. It is intended for graduate students in mathematics and for researchers working in academia and industry. The focus on stochastic models in discrete time has two immediate benefits. First, the probabilistic machinery is simpler, and one can discuss right away some of the key problems in the theory of pricing and hedging of financial derivatives. Second, the paradigm of a complete financial market, where all derivatives admit a perfect hedge, becomes the exception rather than the rule. Thus, the need to confront the intrinsic risks arising from market incomleteness appears at a very early stage. The first part of the book contains a study of a simple one-period model, which also serves as a building block for later developments. Topics include the characterization of arbitrage-free markets, preferences on asset profiles, an introduction to equilibrium analysis, and monetary measures of financial risk. In the second part, the idea of dynamic hedging of contingent claims is developed in a multiperiod framework. Topics include martingale measures, pricing formulas for derivatives, American options, superhedging, and hedging strategies with minimal shortfall risk. This fourth, newly revised edition contains more than one hundred exercises. It also includes material on risk measures and the related issue of model uncertainty, in particular a chapter on dynamic risk measures and sections on robust utility maximization and on efficient hedging with convex risk measures. Contents: Part I: Mathematical finance in one period Arbitrage theory Preferences Optimality and equilibrium Monetary measures of risk Part II: Dynamic hedging Dynamic arbitrage theory American contingent claims Superhedging Efficient hedging Hedging under constraints Minimizing the hedging error Dynamic risk measures
Theory and application of a variety of mathematical techniques in economics are presented in this volume. Topics discussed include: martingale methods, stochastic processes, optimal stopping, the modeling of uncertainty using a Wiener process, Itô's Lemma as a tool of stochastic calculus, and basic facts about stochastic differential equations. The notion of stochastic ability and the methods of stochastic control are discussed, and their use in economic theory and finance is illustrated with numerous applications. The applications covered include: futures, pricing, job search, stochastic capital theory, stochastic economic growth, the rational expectations hypothesis, a stochastic macroeconomic model, competitive firm under price uncertainty, the Black-Scholes option pricing theory, optimum consumption and portfolio rules, demand for index bonds, term structure of interest rates, the market risk adjustment in project valuation, demand for cash balances and an asset pricing model.
This classroom-tested text provides a deep understanding of derivative contracts. Unlike much of the existing literature, the book treats price as a number of units of one asset needed for an acquisition of a unit of another asset instead of expressing prices in dollar terms exclusively. This numeraire approach leads to simpler pricing options for complex products, such as barrier, lookback, quanto, and Asian options. With many examples and exercises, the text relies on intuition and basic principles, rather than technical computations.
Incorporates the many tools needed for modeling and pricing infinance and insurance Introductory Stochastic Analysis for Finance and Insuranceintroduces readers to the topics needed to master and use basicstochastic analysis techniques for mathematical finance. The authorpresents the theories of stochastic processes and stochasticcalculus and provides the necessary tools for modeling and pricingin finance and insurance. Practical in focus, the book's emphasisis on application, intuition, and computation, rather thantheory. Consequently, the text is of interest to graduate students,researchers, and practitioners interested in these areas. While thetext is self-contained, an introductory course in probabilitytheory is beneficial to prospective readers. This book evolved from the author's experience as an instructor andhas been thoroughly classroom-tested. Following an introduction,the author sets forth the fundamental information and tools neededby researchers and practitioners working in the financial andinsurance industries: * Overview of Probability Theory * Discrete-Time stochastic processes * Continuous-time stochastic processes * Stochastic calculus: basic topics The final two chapters, Stochastic Calculus: Advanced Topics andApplications in Insurance, are devoted to more advanced topics.Readers learn the Feynman-Kac formula, the Girsanov's theorem, andcomplex barrier hitting times distributions. Finally, readersdiscover how stochastic analysis and principles are applied inpractice through two insurance examples: valuation of equity-linkedannuities under a stochastic interest rate environment andcalculation of reserves for universal life insurance. Throughout the text, figures and tables are used to help simplifycomplex theory and pro-cesses. An extensive bibliography opens upadditional avenues of research to specialized topics. Ideal for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students, thistext is recommended for one-semester courses in stochastic financeand calculus. It is also recommended as a study guide forprofessionals taking Causality Actuarial Society (CAS) and Societyof Actuaries (SOA) actuarial examinations.
Developed for the professional Master's program in Computational Finance at Carnegie Mellon, the leading financial engineering program in the U.S. Has been tested in the classroom and revised over a period of several years Exercises conclude every chapter; some of these extend the theory while others are drawn from practical problems in quantitative finance
Stochastic calculus has important applications to mathematical finance. This book will appeal to practitioners and students who want an elementary introduction to these areas. From the reviews: "As the preface says, ‘This is a text with an attitude, and it is designed to reflect, wherever possible and appropriate, a prejudice for the concrete over the abstract’. This is also reflected in the style of writing which is unusually lively for a mathematics book." --ZENTRALBLATT MATH
