Maximizing functionals of the maximum in the Skorokhod embedding problem and an application to variance swaps

The Az\'{e}ma-Yor solution (resp., the Perkins solution) of the Skorokhod embedding problem has the property that it maximizes (resp., minimizes) the law of the maximum of the stopped process. We show that these constructions have a wider property in that they also maximize (and minimize) expec...

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Main Authors: Hobson, D, Klimmek, M
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: 2010
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author Hobson, D
Klimmek, M
author_facet Hobson, D
Klimmek, M
author_sort Hobson, D
collection OXFORD
description The Az\'{e}ma-Yor solution (resp., the Perkins solution) of the Skorokhod embedding problem has the property that it maximizes (resp., minimizes) the law of the maximum of the stopped process. We show that these constructions have a wider property in that they also maximize (and minimize) expected values for a more general class of bivariate functions $F(W_{\tau},S_{\tau})$ depending on the joint law of the stopped process and the maximum. Moreover, for monotonic functions $g$, they also maximize and minimize $\mathbb {E}[\int_0^{\tau}g(S_t)\,dt]$ amongst embeddings of $\mu$, although, perhaps surprisingly, we show that for increasing $g$ the Az\'{e}ma-Yor embedding minimizes this quantity, and the Perkins embedding maximizes it. For $g(s)=s^{-2}$ we show how these results are useful in calculating model independent bounds on the prices of variance swaps. Along the way we also consider whether $\mu_n$ converges weakly to $\mu$ is a sufficient condition for the associated Az\'{e}ma-Yor and Perkins stopping times to converge. In the case of the Az\'{e}ma-Yor embedding, if the potentials at zero also converge, then the stopping times converge almost surely, but for the Perkins embedding this need not be the case. However, under a further condition on the convergence of atoms at zero, the Perkins stopping times converge in probability (and hence converge almost surely down a subsequence).
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spelling oxford-uuid:cfd39734-c2af-4566-be74-844ec57dd3682022-03-27T07:45:31ZMaximizing functionals of the maximum in the Skorokhod embedding problem and an application to variance swapsJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:cfd39734-c2af-4566-be74-844ec57dd368EnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2010Hobson, DKlimmek, MThe Az\'{e}ma-Yor solution (resp., the Perkins solution) of the Skorokhod embedding problem has the property that it maximizes (resp., minimizes) the law of the maximum of the stopped process. We show that these constructions have a wider property in that they also maximize (and minimize) expected values for a more general class of bivariate functions $F(W_{\tau},S_{\tau})$ depending on the joint law of the stopped process and the maximum. Moreover, for monotonic functions $g$, they also maximize and minimize $\mathbb {E}[\int_0^{\tau}g(S_t)\,dt]$ amongst embeddings of $\mu$, although, perhaps surprisingly, we show that for increasing $g$ the Az\'{e}ma-Yor embedding minimizes this quantity, and the Perkins embedding maximizes it. For $g(s)=s^{-2}$ we show how these results are useful in calculating model independent bounds on the prices of variance swaps. Along the way we also consider whether $\mu_n$ converges weakly to $\mu$ is a sufficient condition for the associated Az\'{e}ma-Yor and Perkins stopping times to converge. In the case of the Az\'{e}ma-Yor embedding, if the potentials at zero also converge, then the stopping times converge almost surely, but for the Perkins embedding this need not be the case. However, under a further condition on the convergence of atoms at zero, the Perkins stopping times converge in probability (and hence converge almost surely down a subsequence).
spellingShingle Hobson, D
Klimmek, M
Maximizing functionals of the maximum in the Skorokhod embedding problem and an application to variance swaps
title Maximizing functionals of the maximum in the Skorokhod embedding problem and an application to variance swaps
title_full Maximizing functionals of the maximum in the Skorokhod embedding problem and an application to variance swaps
title_fullStr Maximizing functionals of the maximum in the Skorokhod embedding problem and an application to variance swaps
title_full_unstemmed Maximizing functionals of the maximum in the Skorokhod embedding problem and an application to variance swaps
title_short Maximizing functionals of the maximum in the Skorokhod embedding problem and an application to variance swaps
title_sort maximizing functionals of the maximum in the skorokhod embedding problem and an application to variance swaps
work_keys_str_mv AT hobsond maximizingfunctionalsofthemaximumintheskorokhodembeddingproblemandanapplicationtovarianceswaps
AT klimmekm maximizingfunctionalsofthemaximumintheskorokhodembeddingproblemandanapplicationtovarianceswaps