We present three approaches to value American continuous-installment calls and puts and compare their computational precision. In an American continuous-installment option, the premium is paid continuously instead of up-front. At or before maturity, the holder may terminate payments by either exercising the option or stopping the option contract. Under the usual assumptions, we are able to construct an instantaneous riskless dynamic hedging portfolio and derive an inhomogeneous Black-Scholes partial differential equation for the initial value of this option. This key result allows us to derive valuation formulas for American continuous-installment options using the integral representation method and consequently to obtain closed-form formulas by approximating the optimal stopping and exercise boundaries as multipiece exponen- * We are grateful to Manfred Gilli, Henri Loubergé and Evis Këllezi for encouragements, suggestions and remarks. 1 tial functions. This process is compared to the finite-difference method to solve the inhomogeneous Black-Scholes PDE and a Monte Carlo approach.

The real estate derivatives market allows participants to manage risk and return from exposure to property, without buying or selling directly the underlying asset. Such a market is growing very fast hence the need to rely on simple yet effective pricing models is very great. In order to take into account the real estate market sensitivity to the interest rate term structure in this paper is presented a two-factor model where the real estate asset value and the spot rate dynamics are jointly modeled. The pricing problem for both European and American options is then analyzed and since no closed-form solution can be found a bidimensional binomial lattice framework is adopted. The model proposed is able to fit the interest rate and volatility term structures

This paper is concerned with the valuation of European continuous-installment options where the aim is to determine the initial premium given a constant installment payment plan. The distinctive feature of this pricing problem is the determination, along with the initial premium, of an optimal stopping boundary since the option holder has the right to stop making installment payments at any time before maturity. Given that the initial premium function of this option is governed by an inhomogeneous Black–Scholes partial differential equation, we can obtain two alternative characterizations of the European continuous-installment option pricing problem, for which no closed-form solution is available. First, we formulate the pricing problem as a free boundary problem and using the integral representation method, we derive integral expressions for both the initial premium and the optimal stopping boundary. Next, we use the linear complementarity formulation of the pricing problem for determining the initial premium and the early stopping curve implicitly with a finite difference scheme. Finally, the pricing problem is posed as an optimal stopping problem and then implemented by a Monte Carlo approach.

For its theoretical interest and strong impact on financial markets, option valuation is considered one of the cornerstones of contemporary mathematical finance. This paper specifically studies the valuation of exotic options with digital payoff and flexible payment plan. By means of the Incomplete Fourier Transform, the pricing problem is solved in order to find integral representations of the upfront price for European call and put options. Several applications in the areas of corporate finance, insurance, and real options are discussed. Finally, a new type of digital derivative named supercash option is introduced and some payment schemes are also presented.

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