Skip to main content
Log in

American bond option pricing in one-factor dynamic term structure models

  • Published:
Review of Derivatives Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Arbitrage-tree pricing of American options on bonds in one-factor dynamic term structure models is investigated. We re-derive a general decomposition result which states that the American bond option premium can be split into the value of an otherwise equivalent European option and anearly exercise premium. This extends earlier work on American equity options by e.g. Kim (1990), Jamshidian (1992) and Carr, Jarrow, and Myneni (1992) and parallels recent work by Jamshidian (1991, 1992, 1993) and Chesney, Elliott, and Gibson (1993). We examine a Gaussian class of special cases in some detail and provide a variety of numerical valuation results.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Arnold, L. (1974).Stochastic Differential Equations: Theory and Applications. Florida, USA: Krieger Publishing Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Black, F., and M. Scholes. (1973). “The Pricing of Options and Corporate Liabilities,”Journal of Political Economy 81, 637–654.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carr, P., R. Jarrow, and R. Myneni. (1992). “Alternative Characterizations of American Put Options,”Mathematical Finance 2, 87–106.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chan, K., G. Karolyi, F. Longstaff, and A. Sanders. (1992). “An Empirical Comparison of Alternative Models of the Short-Term Interest Rate,”Journal of Finance XLVII(3), 1209–1227.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chesney, M., R. Elliott, and R. Gibson. (1993). “Analytical Solutions for the Pricing of American Bond and Yield Options,”Mathematical Finance 3(3), 277–294.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cox, J. C., J. Ingersoll, and S. Ross. (1985a). “An Analysis of Variable Rate Loan Contracts,”Journal of Finance 35, 389–403.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cox, J., J. Ingersoll, and S. Ross. (1985b). “A Theory of the Term Structure of Interest Rates,”Econometrica 53, 385–407.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dothan, L. (1978). “On the Term Structure of Interest Rates,”Journal of Financial Economics 6, 59–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duffie, D. (1996).Dynamic Asset Pricing Theory. 2nd edition, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, J., and D. Kreps. (1979). “Martingales and Arbitrage in Multiperiod Securities Markets,”Journal of Economic Theory 20, 381–408.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heath, D., R. Jarrow, and A. Morton. (1992). “Bond Pricing and the Term Structure of Interest Rates: A New Methodology for Contingent Claims Valuation,”Econometrica 60(1), 77–105.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ho, T., and S.-B. Lee. (1986). “Term Structure Movements and Pricing Interest Rate Contingent Claims,”Journal of Finance XLI(5), 1011–1028.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hull, J., and A. White. (1990). “Pricing Interest Rate Derivative Securities,”Review of Financial Studies 3(4), 573–592.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ingersoll, J. (1987).Theory of Financial Decision Making. Rowman & Littlefield.

  • Jamshidian, F. (1989). “An Exact Bond Option Formula,”Journal of Finance XLIV(1), 205–209.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jamshidian, F. (1991). “Bond and Option Evaluation in the Gaussian Interest Rate Model,”Research in Finance 9, 131–170.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jamshidian, F. (1992). “An Analysis of American Options,”Review of Futures Markets 11(1), 72–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jamshidian, F. (1993). “A Comment on a Recent Paper by Chesney, Elliott, and Gibson,” Working Paper, Fuji International Finance PLC, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • JØrgensen, P. (1994). American Option Pricing, Ph.D. dissertation, Denmark: Aarhus School of Business.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim, I. (1990). “The Analytic Valuation of American Options,”The Review of Financial Studies 3(4), 547–572.

    Google Scholar 

  • Merton, R. (1973). “Theory of Rational Option Pricing,”Bell Journal of Economics and Management Science 4(1), 141–183.

    Google Scholar 

  • Myneni, R. (1992). “The Pricing of the American Option,”The Annals of Applied Probability 2(1), 1–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rubinstein, M. (1976). “The Valuation of Uncertain Income Streams and the Pricing of Options,”The Bell Journal of Economics 7, 407–425.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stapleton, R., and M. Subrahmanyam. (1993). “The Analysis and Valuation of Interest Rate Options,”Journal of Banking and Finance 17, 1079–1095.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turnbull, S., and F. Milne. (1991). “A Simple Approach to Interest-Rate Option Pricing,”The Review of Financial Studies 4(1), 87–120.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vasicek, O. (1977). “An Equilibrium Characterization of the Term Structure,”Journal of Financial Economics 5, 177–188.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yu, G. (1993). Essays on the Valuation of American Options, Ph.D. dissertation. Stern School of Business, New York University.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Additional information

An earlier version of the paper was entitled ‘American Bond Option Pricing in One-Factor Spot Interest Rate Models’.

I am grateful for many helpful comments from two anonymous referees, the participants of the Second Nordic Symposium on Contingent Claims Analysis in Finance held in Bergen, Norway in May of 1994 and from the participants of the EIASM Doctoral Tutorial held in connection with the 1994 EFA annual meeting in Bruxelles. I am particularly indebted to Krishna Ramaswamy for his help and advice during my stay as visiting doctoral fellow at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Financial support from the Aarhus University Research Foundation (Grants # E-1994-SAM-1-1-72 & E-1995-SAM-1-59), the Danish Social Science Research Council, and the Danish Research Academy is gratefully acknowledged. All errors and omissions are my own.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

JØrgensen, P.L. American bond option pricing in one-factor dynamic term structure models. Rev Deriv Res 1, 245–267 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01531144

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01531144

Keywords

Navigation