Rare disaster probability and options pricing

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of Financial Economics
Year: 2021
Volume: 139
Issue: 3
Pages: 750-769

Authors (2)

Barro, Robert J. (Harvard University) Liao, Gordon Y. (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

2.011 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We derive an options-pricing formula from recursive preferences and estimate rare disaster probability. The new options-pricing formula applies to far out-of-the-money put options on the stock market when disaster risk dominates, the size distribution of disasters follows a power law, and the economy has a representative agent with a constant-relative-risk-aversion utility function. The formula conforms with options data on the Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 Index from 1983 to 2018 and for analogous indices for other countries. The disaster probability, inferred from monthly fixed effects, is highly correlated across countries, peaks during the Global Financial Crisis, and forecasts rates of economic growth.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:jfinec:v:139:y:2021:i:3:p:750-769
Journal Field
Finance
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-24