Two-sided Exit Problem Research Articles

Discounted densities of overshoot and undershoot for Lévy processes with applications in finance

Abstract This paper considers the first passage times to constant boundaries and the two-sided exit problem for Lévy process with a characteristic exponent in which at least one of the two jumps having rational Laplace transforms. The joint distribution of the first passage times and undershoot/overshoot are obtained. The processes recover many models that have appeared in the literature such as the compound Poisson risk models, the perturbed compound Poisson risk models, and their dual ones. As applications, we obtain the solutions for popular path-dependent options such as lookback and barrier options in terms of Laplace transforms.

Unified approach for solving exit problems for additive-increase and multiplicative-decrease processes

AbstractWe analyse an additive-increase and multiplicative-decrease (also known as growth–collapse) process that grows linearly in time and that, at Poisson epochs, experiences downward jumps that are (deterministically) proportional to its present position. For this process, and also for its reflected versions, we consider one- and two-sided exit problems that concern the identification of the laws of exit times from fixed intervals and half-lines. All proofs are based on a unified first-step analysis approach at the first jump epoch, which allows us to give explicit, yet involved, formulas for their Laplace transforms. All eight Laplace transforms can be described in terms of two so-called scale functions associated with the upward one-sided exit time and with the upward two-sided exit time. All other Laplace transforms can be obtained from the above scale functions by taking limits, derivatives, integrals, and combinations of these.

Draw-down Parisian ruin for spectrally negative Lévy processes

AbstractDraw-down time for a stochastic process is the first passage time of a draw-down level that depends on the previous maximum of the process. In this paper we study the draw-down-related Parisian ruin problem for spectrally negative Lévy risk processes. Intuitively, a draw-down Parisian ruin occurs when the surplus process has continuously stayed below the dynamic draw-down level for a fixed amount of time. We introduce the draw-down Parisian ruin time and solve the corresponding two-sided exit problems via excursion theory. We also find an expression for the potential measure for the process killed at the draw-down Parisian time. As applications, we obtain new results for spectrally negative Lévy risk processes with dividend barrier and with Parisian ruin.

Some Explicit Results on First Exit Times for a Jump Diffusion Process Involving Semimartingale Local Time

In this paper, we consider the one-sided and the two-sided first exit problem for a jump diffusion process with semimartingale local time. Denote this process by $$X=\{X_{t},t\ge 0\}$$ and set $$\tau _{l}=\inf \{t\ge 0, X_{t}\le l\}$$ and $$\tau _{l,u}=\inf \{t\ge 0, X_{t}\notin (l,u)\}$$ with $$l<u$$ . We first establish the existence and uniqueness of strong solutions of the stochastic differential equation (SDE) satisfied by X. Then we investigate the Laplace transforms associated with $$\tau _{l}$$ and $$\tau _{l,u}$$ . It turns out that the explicit expressions for those Laplace transforms can be expressed in terms of exponential functions.

Analytic value function for a pairs trading strategy with a Lévy-driven Ornstein–Uhlenbeck process

This paper studies the performance of pairs trading strategy under a specific spread model. Based on the empirical evidence of mean reversion and jumps in the spread between pairs of stocks, we assume that the spread follows a Lévy-driven Ornstein–Uhlenbeck process with two-sided jumps. To evaluate the performance of a pairs trading strategy, we propose the expected return per unit time as the value function of the strategy. Significantly different from the current related works, we incorporate an excess jump component into the calculation of return and time cost. Further, we obtain the analytic expression of strategy value function, where we solve out the probabilities of crossing thresholds via the Laplace transform of first passage time of the Lévy-driven Ornstein–Uhlenbeck process in one-sided and two-sided exit problems. Through numerical illustrations, we calculate the value function and optimal thresholds for a spread model with symmetric jumps, reveal the non-negligible contribution of incorporating the excess jumps into the value function, and analyze the impact of model parameters on the strategy performance.

Analytic Value Function for Pairs Trading Strategy With a Levy-Driven Ornstein-Uhlenbeck Process

This paper studies the performance of pairs trading strategy under a specific spread model. Based on the empirical evidence of mean reversion and jumps in the spread between pairs of stocks, we assume that the spread follows a Levy-driven Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process with twosided jumps. To evaluate the performance of a pairs trading strategy, we propose the expected return per unit time as the value function of the strategy. Significantly different from the current related works, we incorporate an excess jump component into the calculation of return and time cost. Further, we obtain the analytic expression of strategy value function, where we solve out the probabilities of crossing thresholds via the Laplace transform of first passage time of the Levy driven Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process in one-sided and two-sided exit problems. Through numerical illustrations, we calculate the value function and optimal thresholds for a spread model with symmetric jumps, reveal the non-negligible contribution of incorporating the excess jumps into the value function, and analyze the impact of model parameters on the strategy performance.

Exit problems for general draw-down times of spectrally negative Lévy processes

AbstractFor spectrally negative Lévy processes, we prove several fluctuation results involving a general draw-down time, which is a downward exit time from a dynamic level that depends on the running maximum of the process. In particular, we find expressions of the Laplace transforms for the two-sided exit problems involving the draw-down time. We also find the Laplace transforms for the hitting time and creeping time over the running-maximum related draw-down level, respectively, and obtain an expression for a draw-down associated potential measure. The results are expressed in terms of scale functions for the spectrally negative Lévy processes.

Pricing insurance drawdown-type contracts with underlying Lévy assets

In this paper we consider some insurance policies related to drawdown and drawup events of log-returns for an underlying asset modeled by a spectrally negative geometric Lévy process. We consider four contracts, three of which were introduced in Zhang (2013) for a geometric Brownian motion. The first one is an insurance contract where the protection buyer pays a constant premium until the drawdown of fixed size of log-returns occurs. In return he/she receives a certain insured amount at the drawdown epoch. The next insurance contract provides protection from any specified drawdown with a drawup contingency. This contract expires early if a certain fixed drawup event occurs prior to the fixed drawdown. The last two contracts are extensions of the previous ones by an additional cancellation feature which allows the investor to terminate the contract earlier. We focus on two problems: calculating the fair premium p for the basic contracts and identifying the optimal stopping rule for the policies with the cancellation feature. To do this we solve some two-sided exit problems related to drawdown and drawup of spectrally negative Lévy processes, which is of independent mathematical interest. We also heavily rely on the theory of optimal stopping.

Two-Sided Exit Problems in the Ordered Risk Model

The insurance risk model in the presence of two horizontal absorbing barriers is considered. The lower barrier is the usual ruin barrier while the upper one corresponds to the dividend barrier. The distribution of two first-exit times of the risk process from the strip between the two horizontal lines is under study. The claim arrival process is governed by an Order Statistic Point Process (OSPP) which enables the derivation of formulas in terms of the joint distribution of the order statistics of a sample of uniform random variables.

On the Solution of Two-Sided Fractional Ordinary Differential Equations of Caputo Type

Abstract This paper provides well-posedness results and stochastic representations for the solutions to equations involving both the right- and the left-sided generalized operators of Caputo type. As a special case, these results show the interplay between two-sided fractional differential equations and two-sided exit problems for certain Lévy processes.

Strikingly simple identities relating exit problems for Lévy processes under continuous and Poisson observations

We consider exit problems for general Lévy processes, where the first passage over a threshold is detected either immediately or at an epoch of an independent homogeneous Poisson process. It is shown that the two corresponding one-sided problems are related through a surprisingly simple identity. Moreover, we identify a simple link between two-sided exit problems with one continuous and one Poisson exit. Finally, identities for reflected processes and a link between some Parisian type exit problems are established. For spectrally one-sided Lévy processes this approach enables alternative proofs for a number of previously established identities, providing additional insight.

Drawdown analysis for the renewal insurance risk process

In this paper, we study some drawdown-related quantities in the context of the renewal insurance risk process with general interarrival times and phase-type distributed jump sizes. We make use of some recent results on the two-sided exit problem for the spectrally negative Markov additive process and a fluid flow analogy between certain queues and risk processes to solve for the two-sided exit problem of the renewal insurance risk process. The two-sided exit quantities are later shown to be central to the analysis of drawdown quantities including the drawdown time, the drawdown size, the running maximum (minimum) at the drawdown time, the last running maximum time prior to drawdown, the number of jumps before drawdown and the number of excursions from running maximum before drawdown. Finally, we consider another application of our methodology for the study of the expected discounted dividend payments until ruin.

A Note on First Passage Functionals for Lévy Processes with Jumps of Rational Laplace Transforms

This paper investigates the two-sided first exit problem for a jump process having jumps with rational Laplace transform. The corresponding boundary value problem is solved to obtain an explicit formula for the first passage functional. Also, we derive the distribution of the first passage time to two-sided barriers and the value at the first passage time.

Loss rates in the single-server queue with complete rejection

Consider the single-server queue in which customers are rejected if their total sojourn time would exceed a certain level $$K$$ . A basic performance measure of this system is the probability $$P_K$$ that a customer gets rejected in steady state. This paper presents asymptotic expansions for $$P_K$$ as $$K\rightarrow \infty $$ . If the service time $$B$$ is light-tailed and inter-arrival times are exponential, it is shown that the loss probability has an exponential tail. The proof of this result heavily relies on results on the two-sided exit problem for Lévy processes with no positive jumps. For heavy-tailed (subexponential) service times and generally distributed inter-arrival times, the loss probability is shown to be asymptotically equivalent to the trivial lower bound $$P(B>K)$$ .

Analysis of a drawdown-based regime-switching Lévy insurance model

In this paper, we propose a new drawdown-based regime-switching (DBRS) Lévy insurance model in which the underlying drawdown process is used to model an insurer’s level of financial distress over time, and to trigger regime-switching transitions. By some analytical arguments, we derive explicit formulas for a generalized two-sided exit problem. We specifically state conditions under which the survival probability is not trivially zero (which corresponds to the positive security loading conditions of the proposed model). The regime-dependent occupation time until ruin is later studied. As a special case of the general DBRS model, a regime-switching premium model is given further consideration. Connections with other existing risk models (such as the loss-carry-forward tax model of Albrecher and Hipp, 2007) are established.

A Time-Homogeneous Diffusion Model with Tax

We study the two-sided exit problem of a time-homogeneous diffusion process with tax payments of loss-carry-forward type and obtain explicit formulae for the Laplace transforms associated with the two-sided exit problem. The expected present value of tax payments until default, the two-sided exit probabilities, and, hence, the nondefault probability with the default threshold equal to the lower bound are solved as immediate corollaries. A sufficient and necessary condition for the tax identity in ruin theory is discovered.

A Time-Homogeneous Diffusion Model with Tax

We study the two-sided exit problem of a time-homogeneous diffusion process with tax payments of loss-carry-forward type and obtain explicit formulae for the Laplace transforms associated with the two-sided exit problem. The expected present value of tax payments until default, the two-sided exit probabilities, and, hence, the nondefault probability with the default threshold equal to the lower bound are solved as immediate corollaries. A sufficient and necessary condition for the tax identity in ruin theory is discovered.

An Insurance Risk Model with Parisian Implementation Delays

We consider a similar variant of the event ruin for a Lévy insurance risk process as in Czarna and Palmowski (J Appl Probab 48(4):984–1002, 2011) and Loeffen et al. (to appear, 2011) when the surplus process is allowed to spend time under a pre-specified default level before ruin is recognized. In these two articles, the ruin probability is examined when deterministic implementation delays are allowed. In this paper, we propose to capitalize on the idea of randomization and thus assume these delays are of a mixed Erlang nature. Together with the analytical interest of this problem, we will show through the development of new methodological tools that these stochastic delays lead to more explicit and computable results for various ruin-related quantities than their deterministic counterparts. Using the modern language of scale functions, we study the Laplace transform of this so-called Parisian time to ruin in an insurance risk model driven by a spectrally negative Lévy process of bounded variation. In the process, a generalization of the two-sided exit problem for this class of processes is further obtained.

Two-Sided First Exit Problem for Jump Diffusion Distribution Processes Having Jumps with a Mixture of Erlang

In this paper, we consider the two-sided first exit problem for jump diffusion processes having jumps with rational Laplace transforms. We investigate the probabilistic property of conditional memorylessness, and drive the joint distribution of the first exit time from an interval and the overshoot over the boundary at the exit time.

A note on first passage functionals for hyper-exponential jump-diffusion processes

This investigation concerns the hyper-exponential jump-diffusion processes. Following the exposition of the two-sided exit problem by Kyprianou, A. E., and Asmussen, S. and Albrecher, H., this study investigates first passage functionals for these processes.The corresponding boundary value problems are solved to obtain an explicit formula for the first passage functionals.<br />