Jackknifing Bond Option Prices

Author: Phillips, Peter C. B.

Source: Review of Financial Studies, Volume 18, Number 2, 2005 , pp. 707-742(36)

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Abstract:

Prices of interest rate derivative securities depend crucially on the mean reversion parameters of the underlying diffusions. These parameters are subject to estimation bias when standard methods are used. The estimation bias can be substantial even in very large samples and much more serious than the discretization bias, and it translates into a bias in pricing bond options and other derivative securities that is important in practical work. This article proposes a very general and computationally inexpensive method of bias reduction that is based on Quenouille's (1956; Biometrika, 43, 353–360) jackknife. We show how the method can be applied directly to the options price itself as well as the coefficients in the models. We investigate its performance in a Monte Carlo study. Empirical applications to U.S. dollar swap rates highlight the differences between bond and option prices implied by the jackknife procedure and those implied by the standard approach. These differences are large and suggest that bias reduction in pricing options is important in practical applications.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/rfs/hhi018

Publication date: 2005-01-01

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The Review of Financial Studies is a major forum for the promotion and wide dissemination of significant new research in financial economics. As reflected by its broadly based editorial board, the Review balances theoretical and empirical contributions. The primary criteria for publishing a paper are its quality and importance to the field of finance, without undue regard to its technical difficulty. Finance is interpreted broadly to include the interface between finance and economics. The Review is sponsored by The Society for Financial Studies. The editors of the Review and officers of the Society are elected for limited terms.