Title: Features of skewness-adjusted binomial interest rate models

Authors: R. Stafford Johnson; Amit Sen

Addresses: Department of Finance, Xavier University, 108 Smith Hall, 3800 Victory Parkway, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA ' Department of Economics, Xavier University, 328 Smith Hall, 3800 Victory Parkway, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Abstract: This paper examines four distinctive features of a skewness-adjusted binomial interest rate model. Specifically: 1) implied spot yield curves generated from a skewness-adjusted binomial interest rate tree are consistent with interest rate expectations theory; 2) implied forward rates and implied yields on futures contracts are equal when the skewness-adjusted binomial interest rate tree is calibrated to an end-of-the period distribution reflecting an increasing, decreasing, or stable interest rate trend; 3) the asymptotic properties of the skewness-adjusted binomial interest rate model elevate the importance of the mean in determining the up and down parameters for the case of a large number of sub-periods; 4) the skewness-adjusted Black-Derman-Toy model retains its arbitrage-free features, but loses them when the variability conditions are not adjusted to account for skewness.

Keywords: binomial model; interest rates; skewness; calibration model.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBD.2020.109333

International Journal of Bonds and Derivatives, 2020 Vol.4 No.2, pp.126 - 151

Received: 07 Aug 2019
Accepted: 31 Aug 2019
Published online: 03 Sep 2020 *

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