Sensitivity analysis of utility-based prices and risk-tolerance wealth processes

In the general framework of a semimartingale financial model and a utility function $U$ defined on the positive real line, we compute the first-order expansion of marginal utility-based prices with respect to a ``small'' number of random endowments. We show that this linear approximation has some important qualitative properties if and only if there is a risk-tolerance wealth process. In particular, they hold true in the following polar cases: \begin{tabular}@p97mm@ for any utility function $U$, if and only if the set of state price densities has a greatest element from the point of view of second-order stochastic dominance;for any financial model, if and only if $U$ is a power utility function ($U$ is an exponential utility function if it is defined on the whole real line). \end{tabular}Comment: Published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/105051606000000529 in the Annals of Applied Probability (http://www.imstat.org/aap/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

On the two-times differentiability of the value functions in the problem of optimal investment in incomplete markets

We study the two-times differentiability of the value functions of the primal and dual optimization problems that appear in the setting of expected utility maximization in incomplete markets. We also study the differentiability of the solutions to these problems with respect to their initial values. We show that the key conditions for the results to hold true are that the relative risk aversion coefficient of the utility function is uniformly bounded away from zero and infinity, and that the prices of traded securities are sigma-bounded under the num\'{e}raire given by the optimal wealth process.Comment: Published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/105051606000000259 in the Annals of Applied Probability (http://www.imstat.org/aap/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org