IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/fip/fedgfe/1997-15.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

A jump-diffusion approach to modeling credit risk and valuing defaultable securities

Author

Listed:
  • Chunsheng Zhou

Abstract

The existing structural models of credit risk have relied almost exclusively on diffusion processes to model the evolution of firm value. While a diffusion approach is convenient, it has produced very disappointing results in empirical application. Jones, Mason, and Rosenfeld (1984) find that the credit spreads on corporate bonds are too high to be matched by the diffusion approach. Also, because the instantaneous default probability of a healthy firm is zero under a continuous process, the diffusion approach predicts that the term structure of credit spreads should always start at zero and slope upward for firms that are not currently in financial distress. Empirical literature shows, however, that the actual credit spread curves are sometimes flat or even downward-sloping. If a diffusion approach cannot capture the basic features of credit risk, what approach can? This paper develops a new structural approach to valuing default-risky securities by modeling the evolution of firm value as a jump-diffusion process. Under a jump-diffusion process, a firm can default instantaneously because of a sudden drop in its value. With this characteristic, a jump-diffusion model can match the size of credit spreads on corporate bonds and can generate various shapes of yield spread curves and marginal default rate curves. The model also links recovery rates to firm value at default in a natural way so that variation in recovery rates is endogenously generated in the model. The model is also consistent with many other stylized empirical facts in the credit-risk literature.

Suggested Citation

  • Chunsheng Zhou, 1997. "A jump-diffusion approach to modeling credit risk and valuing defaultable securities," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 1997-15, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedgfe:1997-15
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/feds/1997/199715/199715abs.html
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/feds/1997/199715/199715pap.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kon, Stanley J, 1984. "Models of Stock Returns-A Comparison," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 39(1), pages 147-165, March.
    2. Robert A. Jarrow & David Lando & Stuart M. Turnbull, 2008. "A Markov Model for the Term Structure of Credit Risk Spreads," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Financial Derivatives Pricing Selected Works of Robert Jarrow, chapter 18, pages 411-453, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    3. Jarrow, Robert A & Rosenfeld, Eric R, 1984. "Jump Risks and the Intertemporal Capital Asset Pricing Model," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 57(3), pages 337-351, July.
    4. Robert A. Jarrow & Stuart M. Turnbull, 2008. "Pricing Derivatives on Financial Securities Subject to Credit Risk," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Financial Derivatives Pricing Selected Works of Robert Jarrow, chapter 17, pages 377-409, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    5. Merton, Robert C., 1971. "Optimum consumption and portfolio rules in a continuous-time model," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 373-413, December.
    6. repec:bla:jfinan:v:44:y:1989:i:4:p:909-22 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Bates, David S, 1996. "Jumps and Stochastic Volatility: Exchange Rate Processes Implicit in Deutsche Mark Options," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 9(1), pages 69-107.
    8. Geske, Robert, 1977. "The Valuation of Corporate Liabilities as Compound Options," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(4), pages 541-552, November.
    9. Vasicek, Oldrich, 1977. "An equilibrium characterization of the term structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 177-188, November.
    10. Merton, Robert C, 1974. "On the Pricing of Corporate Debt: The Risk Structure of Interest Rates," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 29(2), pages 449-470, May.
    11. Merton, Robert C., 1976. "Option pricing when underlying stock returns are discontinuous," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(1-2), pages 125-144.
    12. Merton, Robert C., 1977. "On the pricing of contingent claims and the Modigliani-Miller theorem," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 241-249, November.
    13. Duffee, Gregory R., 1996. "On measuring credit risks of derivative instruments," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 20(5), pages 805-833, June.
    14. Weiss, Lawrence A., 1990. "Bankruptcy resolution: Direct costs and violation of priority of claims," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 285-314, October.
    15. Philippe Jorion, 1988. "On Jump Processes in the Foreign Exchange and Stock Markets," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 1(4), pages 427-445.
    16. Chance, Don M, 1990. "Default Risk and the Duration of Zero Coupon Bonds," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 45(1), pages 265-274, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. 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.
    2. Zhou, Chunsheng, 2001. "The term structure of credit spreads with jump risk," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(11), pages 2015-2040, November.
    3. Suresh M. Sundaresan, 2000. "Continuous‐Time Methods in Finance: A Review and an Assessment," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(4), pages 1569-1622, August.
    4. Jarrow, Robert A. & Turnbull, Stuart M., 2000. "The intersection of market and credit risk," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 24(1-2), pages 271-299, January.
    5. Duffie, Darrell, 2005. "Credit risk modeling with affine processes," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(11), pages 2751-2802, November.
    6. Christina Nikitopoulos-Sklibosios, 2005. "A Class of Markovian Models for the Term Structure of Interest Rates Under Jump-Diffusions," PhD Thesis, Finance Discipline Group, UTS Business School, University of Technology, Sydney, number 6, July-Dece.
    7. Moraux, Franck, 2004. "Modeling the business risk of financially weakened firms: A new approach for corporate bond pricing," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 47-61.
    8. Duffie, Darrell, 2003. "Intertemporal asset pricing theory," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, in: G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 11, pages 639-742, Elsevier.
    9. Stephan Dieckmann & Michael Gallmeyer, 2006. "Pricing Rare Event Risk in Emerging Markets," 2006 Meeting Papers 305, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    10. Jose Giancarlo Gasha & Mr. Andre O Santos & Mr. Jorge A Chan-Lau & Mr. Carlos I. Medeiros & Mr. Marcos R Souto & Christian Capuano, 2009. "Recent Advances in Credit Risk Modeling," IMF Working Papers 2009/162, International Monetary Fund.
    11. Martin Dòzsa & Karel Janda, 2015. "Corporate asset pricing models and debt contracts," CAMA Working Papers 2015-33, Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
    12. Radu Tunaru, 2015. "Model Risk in Financial Markets:From Financial Engineering to Risk Management," World Scientific Books, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., number 9524, August.
    13. Christina Nikitopoulos-Sklibosios, 2005. "A Class of Markovian Models for the Term Structure of Interest Rates Under Jump-Diffusions," PhD Thesis, Finance Discipline Group, UTS Business School, University of Technology, Sydney, number 1-2005, January-A.
    14. Bjork, Tomas, 2009. "Arbitrage Theory in Continuous Time," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, edition 3, number 9780199574742.
    15. Chen, An-Sing & Chu, Hsiang-Hui & Hung, Pi-Hsia & Cheng, Miao-Sih, 2020. "Financial risk and acquirers' stockholder wealth in mergers and acquisitions," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    16. Samuel Chege Maina, 2011. "Credit Risk Modelling in Markovian HJM Term Structure Class of Models with Stochastic Volatility," PhD Thesis, Finance Discipline Group, UTS Business School, University of Technology, Sydney, number 1-2011, January-A.
    17. Maclachlan, Iain C, 2007. "An empirical study of corporate bond pricing with unobserved capital structure dynamics," MPRA Paper 28416, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Tunaru, Radu & Zheng, Teng, 2017. "Parameter estimation risk in asset pricing and risk management: A Bayesian approach," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 80-93.
    19. Mr. Iryna V. Ivaschenko, 2003. "How Much Leverage is too Much, or Does Corporate Risk Determine the Severity of a Recession?," IMF Working Papers 2003/003, International Monetary Fund.
    20. Ma, Chaoqun & Ma, Zonggang & Xiao, Shisong, 2019. "A closed-form pricing formula for vulnerable European options under stochastic yield spreads and interest rates," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 59-68.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Risk; Securities;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:fip:fedgfe:1997-15. 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: Ryan Wolfslayer ; Keisha Fournillier (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/frbgvus.html .

    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.