Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T07:53:59.689Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Can Tests Based on Option Hedging Errors Correctly Identify Volatility Risk Premia?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

Abstract

Tests for the existence and the sign of the volatility risk premium are often based on expected option hedging errors. When the hedge is performed under the ideal conditions of continuous trading and correct model specification, the sign of the premium is the same as the sign of the mean hedging error for a large class of models. We show that discrete trading and model misspecification may cause the standard test to yield unreliable results. In particular, ignoring jump risk premia can lead to incorrect conclusions. We also show that delta-gamma hedges do not increase the reliability of the test.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © School of Business Administration, University of Washington 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bakshi, G.; Cao, C.; and Chen, Z.. “Empirical Performance of Alternative Option Pricing Models”. Journal of Finance, 52 (1997), 20032049.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bakshi, G., and Kapadia, N.. “Delta-Hedged Gains and the Negative Market Volatility Risk Premium”. Review of Financial Studies, 16 (2003), 527566.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bates, D. S. “Jumps and Stochastic Volatility: Exchange Rate Processes Implicit in Deutsche Mark Options”. Review of Financial Studies, 9 (1996), 69107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bates, D. S.Hedging the Smirk”. Finance Research Letters, 2 (2005), 195200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bates, D. S.Post-'87 Crash Fears in the S&P Futures Option Market”. Journal of Econometrics, 94 (2000), 181238.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Benzoni, L.Pricing Options under Stochastic Volatility: An Empirical Investigation”. Working Paper, University of Minnesota (2002).Google Scholar
Bergman, Y. Z.; Grundy, B. D.; and Wiener, Z.. “General Properties of Option Prices”. Journal of Finance, 51 (1996), 15731610.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bertsimas, D.; Kogan, L.; and Lo, A. W.. “When Is Time Continuous?Journal of Financial Economics, 55 (2000), 173204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Black, F., and Scholes, M.. “The Pricing of Options and Corporate Liabilities”. Journal of Political Economy, 81 (1973), 637654.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boyle, P. P., and Emanuel, D.. “Discretely Adjusted Option Hedges”. Journal of Financial Economics, 8 (1980), 259282.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Broadie, M.; Chernov, M.; and Johannes, M.. “Model Specification and Risk Premiums: The Evidence From Futures Options”. Journal of Finance, 62 (2007), 14531490.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buraschi, A., and Jackwerth, J.. “The Price of a Smile: Hedging and Spanning in Option Markets”. Review of Financial Studies, 14 (2001), 495527.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carr, P., and Wu, L.. “What Type of Process Underlies Options? A Simple Robust Test”. Journal of Finance, 58 (2003), 25812610.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coval, J. D., and Shumway, T.. “Expected Options Returns”. Journal of Finance, 56 (2001), 9831009.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Doran, J. S.The Influence of Tracking Error on Volatility Premium Estimation”. Working Paper, Florida State University (2005).Google Scholar
Driessen, J., and Maenhout, P.. “An Empirical Portfolio Perspective on Option Pricing Anomalies”. Review of Finance, 11 (2007), 561603.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dudenhausen, A.Effectiveness of Hedging Strategies under Model Misspecification and Trading Restrictions”. International Journal of Theoretical and Applied Finance, 6 (2003), 521552.Google Scholar
Eraker, B.Do Stock Prices and Volatility Jump? Reconciling Evidence from Spot and Option Prices”. Journal of Finance, 59 (2004), 13671404.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eraker, B.; Johannes, M.; and Polson, N.. “The Impact of Jumps in Volatility and Returns”. Journal of Finance, 58 (2003), 12691300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fama, E. F., and French, K. R.. “Common Risk Factors in the Returns on Stocks and Bonds”. Journal of Financial Economics, 33 (1993), 356.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guo, D.The Risk Premium of Volatility Implicit in Currency Options”. Journal of Business and Economics Statistics, 16 (1998), 498507.Google Scholar
Heston, S. L.A Closed-Form Solution for Options With Stochastic Volatility with Applications to Bond and Currency Options”. Review of Financial Studies, 6 (1993), 327343.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, J., and Pan, J.. “Dynamic Derivatives Strategies”. Journal of Financial Economics, 69 (2003), 401430.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merton, R. C.Option Pricing When Underlying Stock Returns are Discontinuous”. Journal of Financial Economics, 3 (1976), 125144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pan, J.The Jump-Risk Premia Implicit in Options: Evidence from an Integrated Time-Series Study”. Journal of Financial Economics, 63 (2002), 350.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poteshman, A. M.Estimating a General Stochastic Variance Model from Option Prices”. Working Paper, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1998).Google Scholar
Rubinstein, M.A Simple Formula for the Expected Rate of Return of an Option over a Finite Holding Period”. Journal of Finance, 39 (1984), 15031509.CrossRefGoogle Scholar