This paper analyzes the application of quantile hedging on equity-linked life insurance contracts in the presence of transaction costs. Following the time-based replication strategy, we present the explicit expressions for the present values of expected hedging errors and transaction costs. The results are derived by using the adjusted hedging volatility σ̄ proposed by Leland. Furthermore, the e...

Uncertainty is a problem not only in human decision-making, but is a prevalent quality of natural environments and thus requires evolutionary response. Unpredictable natural selection is expected to result in the evolution of bet-hedging strategies, which are adaptations to long-term fluctuating selection. Despite a recent surge of interest in bet hedging, its study remains mired in conceptual ...

We analyze optimal risk management strategies of a bank financed with deposits and equity in a one period model. The bank’s motivation for risk management comes from deposits which can lead to bank runs. In the event of such a run, liquidation costs arise. The hedging strategy that maximizes the value of equity is derived. We identify conditions under which well known results such as complete h...

Theoretical research predicted that firms with convex tax schedules would hedge to minimize expected taxes. However, previous empirical research did not detect a relationship between derivative use and tax losses carry forward, which contribute to tax schedule convexity. This study aims to show that the tax incentive to hedge depends on tax losses carry forward and the ability of the firm to ca...

We compare the performance of various hedging strategies for index collateralized debt obligation (CDO) tranches across a variety of models and hedging methods during the recent credit crisis. Our empirical analysis shows evidence for market incompleteness: a large proportion of risk in the CDO tranches appears to be unhedgeable. We also show that, unlike what is commonly assumed, dynamic model...

This paper empirically tests the determinants of foreign currency hedging using a large sample of UK non-financial firms. I find, unlike similar studies using US data, strong evidence of a relationship between expected financial distress costs and the foreign currency hedging decision and more significantly the foreign currency only hedging decision. This contrast in the findings between this s...

The incentive on an electricity generating firm to exercise market power depends strongly on the volume the firm has pre-sold in the forward or hedge markets. Therefore, in order to forecast the effect of mergers and other market developments on market power outcomes, it is essential to model the hedging decisions of dominant generating firms. This paper shows that a dominant firm’s profit-maxi...

This paper presents hedging strategies for European and exotic options in a Lévy market. By applying Taylor's Theorem, dynamic hedging portfolios are constructed under different market assumptions, such as the existence of power jump assets or moment swaps. In the case of European options or baskets of European options, static hedging is implemented. It is shown that perfect hedging can be achi...

In this paper we propose a research agenda on the use of information markets as tools to collect, aggregate and analyze citizens’ opinions, expectations and preferences from social media in order to support public policy design and implementation. We argue that markets are institutional settings able to efficiently allocate scarce resources, aggregate and disseminate information into prices and...

During the recent European sovereign debt crisis, returns on EMU government bond portfolios experienced substantial volatility clustering, leptokurtosis and skewed returns, as well as correlation spikes. Asset managers invested in European government bonds had to derive new hedging strategies to deal with the changing return properties and the higher level of uncertainty. In this market environ...