Analytically pricing European-style options under the modified Black-Scholes equation with a spatial-fractional derivative

Abstract

This paper investigates the option pricing under the FMLS (finite moment log stable) model, which can effectively capture the leptokurtic feature observed in many financial markets. However, under the FMLS model, the option price is governed by a modified Black-Scholes equation with a spatial-fractional derivative. In comparison with standard derivatives of integer order, the fractional-order derivatives are characterized by their “globalness”, i.e., the rate of change of a function near a point is affected by the property of the function defined in the entire domain of definition rather than just near the point itself. This has added an additional degree of difficulty not only when a purely numerical solution is sought but also when an analytical method is attempted. Despite this difficulty, we have managed to find an explicit closed-form analytical solution for European-style options after successfully solving the FPDE (fractional partial differential equation) derived from the FMLS model. After the validity of the put-call parity under the FMLS model is verified both financially and mathematically, we have also proposed an efficient numerical evaluation technique to facilitate the implementation of our formula so that it can be easily used in trading practice.