Skip to main content
Log in

Bounding the values of financial derivatives by the use of the moment problem

  • Original Research
  • Published:
Annals of Operations Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Lower and upper bounds are derived on single-period European options under moment information, without assuming that the asset prices follow geometric Brownian motion, which is frequently untrue in practice. Sometimes the entire asset distribution is not completely known, sometimes it is known but the numerical calculation is easier by the use of the moments than the entire probability distribution. As geometric Brownian motion assumption regarding the asset prices is frequently untrue in practice. Some of the bounds are given by formulas, some are obtained by solving special linear programming problems. The bounds can be made close if a sufficiently large number of moments is used, and may serve for approximation of the values of financial derivatives.

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.

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Black, F., & Scholes, M. (1973). The pricing of options and corporate liabilities. The Journal of Political Economy, 81(3), 637–654.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fujiwara, O. (1987). Two adjacent pipe diameters at the optimal solution in the water distribution network models. Water Resources Research, 23(8), 1457–1460.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grundy, B. D. (1991). Option prices and the underlying asset’s return distribution. The Journal of Finance, 46(3), 1045–1070.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karlin, S., & Studden, W. J. (1996). Pure and Applied Mathematics Tchebysheff systems: With applications in Analysis and Statistics. New York: Interscience Publishers.

  • Khang, D. B., & Fujiwara, O. (1992). Optimal adjacent pipe diameters in water distribution networks with reliability constraints. Water Resources Research, 28(6), 1503–1505.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lo, A. (1987). Semi-parametric upper bounds for option prices and expected payoffs. Journal of Financial Economics, 19(2), 373–388.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lo, A. W., & MacKinlay, A. C. (1999). A Non-Random Walk Down Wall Street. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Merton, R. (1973). Theory of rational option pricing. Bell Journal of Economics, 4(1), 141–183.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krein, M. G., & Nudelman, A. A. (1977). The Markov moment problem and extremal problems. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data, 50.

  • Prékopa, A. (1990). The discrete moment problem and linear programming. Discrete Applied Mathematics, 27, 235–254.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prékopa, A. (1990). Sharp bounds on probabilities using linear programming. Operations Research, 38, 227–239.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prékopa, A. (1995). Stochastic Programming. Boston: Kluwer Scientific Publishers.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Prékopa, A. (2001). Discrete higher order convex functions. In N. Hadjisavvas, J. E. Martinez-Legaz, & J-P. Penot, (eds.) Generalized Convexity and Generalized Monotonicity, Lecture Notes in Economics and Mathematical Systems (Vol. 502, pp. 293–320).

  • Prékopa, A., & Naumova, M. (2016). The discrete moment method for the numerical integration of piecewise higher order convex functions. Discrete Applied Mathematics, 202(C), 151–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prékopa, A., Ninh, A., & Alexe, G. (2016). On the relationship between the discrete and continuous bounding moment problems and their numerical solutions. Annals of Operations Research, 238(1–2), 521–575.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ritchken, P. H. (1985). On option pricing bounds. The Journal of Finance, 40(4), 1219–1233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ritchken, P. H., & Kuo, S. (1988). Option bounds with finite revision opportunities. The Journal of Finance, 43(2), 301–308.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, P. G. (1994). Bounds for the option prices and expected payoffs. Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, 4, 179–197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mariya Naumova.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Naumova, M., Prékopa, A. Bounding the values of financial derivatives by the use of the moment problem. Ann Oper Res 305, 211–225 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-020-03839-7

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-020-03839-7

Keywords

Navigation