Option Pricing under a Generalized Black–Scholes Model with Stochastic Interest Rates, Stochastic Strings, and Lévy Jumps

Speaker: Prof. Steven P. Clark, Dept. of Finance, UNC Charlotte

Abstract: We introduce a novel option pricing model that features stochastic interest rates along with an underlying price process driven by stochastic string shocks combined with pure jump Lévy processes. Substituting the Brownian motion in the Black–Scholes model with a stochastic string leads to a class of option pricing models with expiration-dependent volatility. Further extending this Generalized Black–Scholes (GBS) model by adding Lévy jumps to the returns generating processes results in a new framework generalizing all exponential Lévy models. We derive four distinct versions of the model, with each case featuring a different jump process: the finite activity lognormal and double–exponential jump diffusions, as well as the infinite activity CGMY process and generalized hyperbolic Lévy motion. In each case, we obtain closed or semi-closed form expressions for European call option prices which generalize the results obtained for the original models. Empirically, we evaluate the performance of our model against the skews of S&P 500 call options, considering three distinct volatility regimes. Our findings indicate that: (a) model performance is enhanced with the inclusion of jumps; (b) the GBS plus jumps model outperform the alternative models with the same jumps; (c) the GBS-CGMY jump model offers the best fit across volatility regimes.