Pricing external barrier options under a stochastic volatility model

Abstract

An external barrier option has a random variable which determines whether the option is knock-in or knock-out. In this paper, we deal with the pricing of the external barrier option under a stochastic volatility model incorporated by a fast mean-reverting process. By using a singular perturbation method (asymptotic analysis) on the given partial differential equation for the option price, and applying the double Mellin transform technique and the method of images, we derive the corrected option price, which is an explicit analytical approximated solution for the external barrier option. For numerical experiments, we verify the price accuracy of the external barrier option with a stochastic volatility model by comparing the approximated option price with the option price obtained by Monte Carlo simulation. Finally, we investigate the behavior and sensitivity of option prices to model parameters.