IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jrefec/v58y2019i1d10.1007_s11146-016-9569-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How Big are the Ambiguity-Based Premiums on Mortgage Insurances?

Author

Listed:
  • Chang-Chih Chen

    (Jiangxi Normal University)

  • Chia-Chien Chang

    (National Kaohsiung University of Applied Science)

Abstract

This paper studies how ambiguity aversion affects the pricing of mortgage insurance (MI). We consider pricing-kernel ambiguity arising from market incompleteness. This ambiguity model is applied to a standard framework of MI-ML (mortgage loan) structural pricing. Our quantitative results show that insurers’ ambiguity aversion generates substantial positive effects on MI premium. Ambiguity impacts are highly sensitive to loan-to-value ratio, ambiguity magnitude, and the tightness of information constraints. By using the U.S. city-level housing and mortgage data, we estimate that, on average, ambiguity aversion increases MI premium rate by 77 % (46 bps), and explains about 60–90 % of pricing errors.

Suggested Citation

  • Chang-Chih Chen & Chia-Chien Chang, 2019. "How Big are the Ambiguity-Based Premiums on Mortgage Insurances?," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 133-157, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jrefec:v:58:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1007_s11146-016-9569-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s11146-016-9569-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11146-016-9569-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11146-016-9569-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kunreuther, Howard & Hogarth, Robin & Meszaros, Jacqueline, 1993. "Insurer Ambiguity and Maarket Failure," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 71-87, August.
    2. Gabriel Perez‐Quiros & Allan Timmermann, 2000. "Firm Size and Cyclical Variations in Stock Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(3), pages 1229-1262, June.
    3. Jin-Chuan Duan & Jason Wei, 2009. "Systematic Risk and the Price Structure of Individual Equity Options," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(5), pages 1981-2006, May.
    4. Lars Peter Hansen & Thomas J Sargent, 2014. "Robust Control and Model Uncertainty," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: UNCERTAINTY WITHIN ECONOMIC MODELS, chapter 5, pages 145-154, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    5. Hansen, Lars Peter & Jagannathan, Ravi, 1997. "Assessing Specification Errors in Stochastic Discount Factor Models," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(2), pages 557-590, June.
    6. Boyarchenko, Nina, 2012. "Ambiguity shifts and the 2007–2008 financial crisis," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(5), pages 493-507.
    7. John H. Cochrane & Jesus Saa-Requejo, 2000. "Beyond Arbitrage: Good-Deal Asset Price Bounds in Incomplete Markets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(1), pages 79-119, February.
    8. Subal Kumbhakar & Christopher Parmeter, 2010. "Estimation of hedonic price functions with incomplete information," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 39(1), pages 1-25, August.
    9. Sujoy Mukerji & Jean-Marc Tallon, 2001. "Ambiguity Aversion and Incompleteness of Financial Markets," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 68(4), pages 883-904.
    10. Lars Peter Hansen & Thomas J Sargent, 2014. "Robust Control and Model Misspecification," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: UNCERTAINTY WITHIN ECONOMIC MODELS, chapter 6, pages 155-216, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    11. Phelim Boyle & Shui Feng & Weidong Tian & Tan Wang, 2008. "Robust Stochastic Discount Factors," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 21(3), pages 1077-1122, May.
    12. Zhao, Lin & Zhu, Wei, 2011. "Ambiguity Aversion: A New Perspective on Insurance Pricing," ASTIN Bulletin, Cambridge University Press, vol. 41(1), pages 157-189, May.
    13. James Kau & Donald Keenan & Alexey Smurov, 2006. "Reduced Form Mortgage Pricing as an Alternative to Option-Pricing Models," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 33(3), pages 183-196, November.
    14. Cogley, Timothy, 2001. "A Frequency Decomposition of Approximation Errors in Stochastic Discount Factor Models," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 42(2), pages 473-503, May.
    15. José A. Azevedo‐Pereira & David P. Newton & Dean A. Paxson, 2002. "UK Fixed Rate Repayment Mortgage and Mortgage Indemnity Valuation," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 30(2), pages 185-211.
    16. Azevedo-Pereira, Jose A & Newton, David P & Paxson, Dean A, 2003. "Fixed-Rate Endowment Mortgage and Mortgage Indemnity Valuation," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 26(2-3), pages 197-221, March-May.
    17. Hua Chen & Michael Sherris & Tao Sun & Wenge Zhu, 2013. "Living With Ambiguity: Pricing Mortality-Linked Securities With Smooth Ambiguity Preferences," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 80(3), pages 705-732, September.
    18. Hansen, Lars Peter & Jagannathan, Ravi, 1991. "Implications of Security Market Data for Models of Dynamic Economies," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(2), pages 225-262, April.
    19. Miao, Jianjun & Wang, Neng, 2007. "Investment, consumption, and hedging under incomplete markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(3), pages 608-642, December.
    20. James F. Epperson & James B. Kau & Donald C. Keenan & Walter J. Muller, 1985. "Pricing Default Risk in Mortgages," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 13(3), pages 261-272, September.
    21. Zhu, Wenge, 2011. "Ambiguity aversion and an intertemporal equilibrium model of catastrophe-linked securities pricing," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 38-46, July.
    22. Nengjiu Ju & Jianjun Miao, 2012. "Ambiguity, Learning, and Asset Returns," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 80(2), pages 559-591, March.
    23. Qi, Min & Yang, Xiaolong, 2009. "Loss given default of high loan-to-value residential mortgages," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 788-799, May.
    24. Savor, Pavel & Wilson, Mungo, 2013. "How Much Do Investors Care About Macroeconomic Risk? Evidence from Scheduled Economic Announcements," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 48(2), pages 343-375, April.
    25. Chang, Chia-Chien, 2014. "Valuation Of Mortgage Insurance Contracts With Counterparty Default Risk: Reduced-Form Approach," ASTIN Bulletin, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(2), pages 303-334, May.
    26. Gilboa, Itzhak & Schmeidler, David, 1989. "Maxmin expected utility with non-unique prior," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 141-153, April.
    27. Hodrick, Robert J. & Zhang, Xiaoyan, 2001. "Evaluating the specification errors of asset pricing models," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 327-376, November.
    28. Ashok Bardhan & Raša Karapandža & Branko Urošević, 2006. "Valuing Mortgage Insurance Contracts in Emerging Market Economies," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 9-20, February.
    29. Kau, James B, et al, 1992. "A Generalized Valuation Model for Fixed-Rate Residential Mortgages," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 24(3), pages 279-299, August.
    30. Daniel Ellsberg, 1961. "Risk, Ambiguity, and the Savage Axioms," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 75(4), pages 643-669.
    31. Ulrich, Maxim, 2013. "Inflation ambiguity and the term structure of U.S. Government bonds," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(2), pages 295-309.
    32. Donald F. Cunningham & Patric H. Hendershott, 1984. "Pricing FHA Mortgage Default Insurance," NBER Working Papers 1382, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    33. Nicholas Sharp & David Newton & Peter Duck, 2008. "An Improved Fixed-Rate Mortgage Valuation Methodology with Interacting Prepayment and Default Options," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 36(3), pages 307-342, April.
    34. Mao‐Wei Hung & Yu‐Hong Liu, 2005. "Pricing vulnerable options in incomplete markets," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(2), pages 135-170, February.
    35. Rama Cont, 2006. "Model Uncertainty And Its Impact On The Pricing Of Derivative Instruments," Mathematical Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(3), pages 519-547, July.
    36. Susanne Cannon & Norman G. Miller & Gurupdesh S. Pandher, 2006. "Risk and Return in the U.S. Housing Market: A Cross-Sectional Asset-Pricing Approach," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 34(4), pages 519-552, December.
    37. Chia-Chien Chang & Chou-Wen Wang & Chih-Yuan Yang, 2012. "The Effects of Macroeconomic Factors on Pricing Mortgage Insurance Contracts," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 79(3), pages 867-895, September.
    38. Ming‐Chi Chen & Chia‐Chien Chang & Shih‐Kuei Lin & So‐De Shyu, 2010. "Estimation of Housing Price Jump Risks and Their Impact on the Valuation of Mortgage Insurance Contracts," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 77(2), pages 399-422, June.
    39. Glenn B. Canner & Monisha Mittal & Wayne Passmore, 1994. "Private mortgage insurance," Federal Reserve Bulletin, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.), issue Oct, pages 883-899.
    40. Alexander David, 2008. "Inflation Uncertainty, Asset Valuations, and the Credit Spreads Puzzle," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 21(6), pages 2487-2534, November.
    41. Thijssen, Jacco J.J., 2011. "Incomplete markets, ambiguity, and irreversible investment," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 35(6), pages 909-921, June.
    42. Kau, James B. & Keenan, Donald C. & Muller III, Walter J. & Epperson, James F., 1995. "The Valuation at Origination of Fixed-Rate Mortgages with Default and Prepayment," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 5-36, July.
    43. Rama Cont, 2006. "Model uncertainty and its impact on the pricing of derivative instruments," Post-Print halshs-00002695, HAL.
    44. Chia-Chien Chang & Wei-Yi Huang & So-De Shyu, 2012. "Pricing Mortgage Insurance with Asymmetric Jump Risk and Default Risk: Evidence in the U.S. Housing Market," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 45(4), pages 846-868, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chen, Chang-Chih & Chang, Chia-Chien & Sun, Edward W. & Yu, Min-Teh, 2022. "Optimal decision of dynamic wealth allocation with life insurance for mitigating health risk under market incompleteness," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 300(2), pages 727-742.
    2. Chen, Chang-Chih & Ho, Kung-Cheng & Yan, Cheng & Yeh, Chung-Ying & Yu, Min-Teh, 2023. "Does ambiguity matter for corporate debt financing? Theory and evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    3. Yang, Chih-Yuan & Chang, Chia-Chien, 2024. "Do economic uncertainty and persistence in housing prices matter on mortgage insurance?," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 33-44.
    4. Ban, Mingyuan & Chen, Chang-Chih, 2019. "Ambiguity and capital structure adjustments," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 242-270.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ban, Mingyuan & Chen, Chang-Chih, 2019. "Ambiguity and capital structure adjustments," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 242-270.
    2. Chen, Chang-Chih & Ho, Kung-Cheng & Yan, Cheng & Yeh, Chung-Ying & Yu, Min-Teh, 2023. "Does ambiguity matter for corporate debt financing? Theory and evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    3. Chia-Chien Chang & Min-Teh Yu, 2017. "Valuing Vulnerable Mortgage Insurance Under Capital Forbearance," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 54(4), pages 558-578, May.
    4. Jang, Bong-Gyu & Park, Seyoung, 2016. "Ambiguity and optimal portfolio choice with Value-at-Risk constraint," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 18(C), pages 158-176.
    5. Yang, Chih-Yuan & Chang, Chia-Chien, 2024. "Do economic uncertainty and persistence in housing prices matter on mortgage insurance?," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 33-44.
    6. Massimo Guidolin & Francesca Rinaldi, 2013. "Ambiguity in asset pricing and portfolio choice: a review of the literature," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 74(2), pages 183-217, February.
    7. Wu, Yang-Che & Huang, Yi-Ting & Lin, Shih-Kuei & Chuang, Ming-Che, 2017. "Fair valuation of mortgage insurance under stochastic default and interest rates," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 433-447.
    8. Trojani, Fabio & Wiehenkamp, Christian & Wrampelmeyer, Jan, 2014. "Ambiguity and Reality," Working Papers on Finance 1418, University of St. Gallen, School of Finance.
    9. Ma, Jinrun & Niu, Yingjie, 2019. "The timing and intensity of investment under ambiguity," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 318-330.
    10. Ming Pu & Gang-Zhi Fan & Chunsheng Ban, 2016. "The Pricing of Mortgage Insurance Premiums Under Systematic and Idiosyncratic Shocks," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 83(2), pages 447-474, June.
    11. Sujoy Mukerji & Han N. Ozsoylev & Jean‐Marc Tallon, 2023. "Trading Ambiguity: A Tale Of Two Heterogeneities," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 64(3), pages 1127-1164, August.
    12. Oliver Walker & Simon Dietz, 2012. "Ambiguity and insurance: robust capital requirements and premiums," GRI Working Papers 97, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
    13. Lim, Terence & Lo, Andrew W. & Merton, Robert C. & Scholes, Myron S., 2006. "The Derivatives Sourcebook," Foundations and Trends(R) in Finance, now publishers, vol. 1(5–6), pages 365-572, April.
    14. Araujo, Aloisio & Chateauneuf, Alain & Faro, José Heleno, 2018. "Financial market structures revealed by pricing rules: Efficient complete markets are prevalent," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 257-288.
    15. Dirk Becherer & Klebert Kentia, 2017. "Hedging under generalized good-deal bounds and model uncertainty," Mathematical Methods of Operations Research, Springer;Gesellschaft für Operations Research (GOR);Nederlands Genootschap voor Besliskunde (NGB), vol. 86(1), pages 171-214, August.
    16. Maccheroni, Fabio & Marinacci, Massimo & Rustichini, Aldo, 2006. "Dynamic variational preferences," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 128(1), pages 4-44, May.
    17. Junichi Imai, 2022. "A Numerical Method for Hedging Bermudan Options under Model Uncertainty," Methodology and Computing in Applied Probability, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 893-916, June.
    18. Puhl, Martin & Savor, Pavel & Wilson, Mungo, 2024. "Uncertainty premia for small and large risks," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    19. Guo, Liang, 2013. "Determinants of credit spreads: The role of ambiguity and information uncertainty," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 279-297.
    20. Chang, Chia-Chien, 2014. "Valuation Of Mortgage Insurance Contracts With Counterparty Default Risk: Reduced-Form Approach," ASTIN Bulletin, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(2), pages 303-334, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jrefec:v:58:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1007_s11146-016-9569-9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.