56 research outputs found
Local time and the pricing of time-dependent barrier options
A time-dependent double-barrier option is a derivative security that delivers
the terminal value at expiry if neither of the continuous
time-dependent barriers b_\pm:[0,T]\to \RR_+ have been hit during the time
interval . Using a probabilistic approach we obtain a decomposition of
the barrier option price into the corresponding European option price minus the
barrier premium for a wide class of payoff functions , barrier functions
and linear diffusions . We show that the barrier
premium can be expressed as a sum of integrals along the barriers of
the option's deltas \Delta_\pm:[0,T]\to\RR at the barriers and that the pair
of functions solves a system of Volterra integral
equations of the first kind. We find a semi-analytic solution for this system
in the case of constant double barriers and briefly discus a numerical
algorithm for the time-dependent case.Comment: 32 pages, to appear in Finance and Stochastic
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