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This paper aims to test three parametric models in pricing and hedging higher-order moment swaps. Using vanilla option prices from the volatility surface of the Euro Stoxx 50 Index, the paper shows that the pricing accuracy of these models is very satisfactory under four different pricing error functions. The result is that taking a position in a third moment swap considerably improves the performance of the standard hedge of a variance swap based on a static position in the log-contract and a dynamic trading strategy. The position in the third moment swap is taken by running a Monte Carlo simulation.

This paper undertook empirical tests of three parametric models. The aim of the paper is twofold: assess the pricing accuracy of these models and show how the classical hedge of the variance swap in terms of a position in a log-contract and a dynamic trading strategy can be significantly enhanced by using third-order moment swaps. The pricing accuracy was measured under four different pricing error functions. A Monte Carlo simulation was run to take a position in the third moment swap.

The results of the paper are twofold: the pricing accuracy of the Heston (1993) model and that of two Levy models with stochastic time and stochastic volatility are satisfactory; taking a position in third-order moment swaps can significantly improve the performance of the standard hedge of a variance swap.

The limitation is that these empirical tests are conducted on existing three parametric models. Maybe more critical insights could have been revealed had these tests been conducted in a brand new derivatives pricing model.

This work is 100 per cent original, and it undertook empirical tests of the pricing and hedging accuracy of existing three parametric models.

It has been demonstrated in the US market that expected market excess returns can be predicted using the average higher-order moments of all firms. This study aims to empirically test this theory in emerging markets.

Two measures of average higher moments have been used (equal-weighted and value-weighted) along with the market moments to predict subsequent aggregate excess returns using the linear as well as the quantile regression model.

The authors report that both equal-weighted skewness and kurtosis significantly predict subsequent market returns in two countries, while value-weighted average skewness and kurtosis are significant in predicting returns in four out of nine sample markets. The results for quantile regression show that the relationship between the risk variable and aggregate returns varies along the spectrum of conditional quantiles.

This is the first study that investigates the impact of third and fourth higher-order average realized moments on the predictability of subsequent aggregate excess returns in the MSCI Asian emerging stock markets. This study is also the first to analyze the sensitivity of future market returns over various quantiles.

The author investigates realized comoments that overcome the drawback of conventional ones and derive the following findings. First, the author proves that (even generalized) geometric implied lower-order comoments yield neither geometric realized third comoment nor fourth moment. This is in contrast to previous studies that produce geometric realized third moment and arithmetic realized higher-order moments through lower-order implied moments. Second, arithmetic realized joint cumulants are obtained through complete Bell polynomials of lower-order joint cumulants. This study’s realized measures are unbiased estimators and they can, therefore, overcome the drawbacks of conventional realized measures.

In this paper, we examine whether the risk neutral skewness and kurtosis from S&P 500 options have information for predicting the higher moments of the stock returns called skewness and kurtosis, which contain the important information for forecasting potential crash, spike upward and the fluctuations of stock index. We find that the implied risk neutral skewness and kurtosis does not provide the information contents for predicting the higher moments of S&P 500 index return, after eliminating the overlapping data. All the results are robust to the alternative measures of risk neutral moments from options prices, the sub-periods and forecasting periods.

Productivity and production risks affect the use of agricultural production practices and inputs, particularly in developing countries. This paper aims to investigate the effects of adopting drought-tolerant maize varieties (DTMVs) on farm productivity, yield variance and downside risk exposure of maize growing households of Zambia.

The study uses household survey data collected from 11 maize producing districts of Eastern, Southern and Copperbelt provinces of Zambia using a structured questionnaire. The Antle’s flexible moment-based approach was used in specifying, estimating and testing a stochastic production function. The study further applied an endogenous switching regression model to control for both observable and unobservable sources of bias.

The study revealed that DTMV adoption increases maize yield by 15 per cent and reduces the risk of crop failure: reducing yield variance by 38 per cent and exposure to downside risk by 36 per cent.

This study establishes the benefits of DTMV adoption in Zambia with regards to productivity, yield stability and downside risk in the face of climate change. Results from this study underscore the need for more concerted efforts to scale-out DTMVs for both maize productivity enhancement and for risk mitigation against weather shocks.

This paper conducts a factor analysis using the implied variances of S&P 500 index options and KOSPI 200 index options. After estimating the factors that influence variance risks, we rotate the factors to decompose them into a common factor and local factors. The results show that 10~12 percent of variance risks in both markets is explained by the common factor and 65 percent of S&P 500 implied variances and 70 percent of KOSPI 200 implied variances are explained by each local factor, which is in contrast to the results for bond markets that the most variation of interest rates could be explained by a common factor. To figure out the source of common and local factors, additionally, we adopt the regression models that incorporate the risk-neutral (RN) variance, skewness, and kurtosis as explanatory variables. Approximately, the common factor is mainly determined by the RN variance of the S&P 500 index and RN higher moments of the KOSPI 200 index. In contrast, the S&P 500 local factor is influenced by the RN variance of the S&P 500 index and the KOSPI 200 local factor is explained by the RN higher moment of the KOSPI 200 index.

This paper generalizes the quadratic framework introduced by Le Courtois (2016) and Sumpf (2018), to obtain new credibility premiums in the balanced case, i.e. under the balanced squared error loss function. More precisely, the authors construct a quadratic credibility framework under the net quadratic loss function where premiums are estimated based on the values of past observations and of past squared observations under the parametric and the non-parametric approaches, this framework is useful for the practitioner who wants to explicitly take into account higher order (cross) moments of past data.

In the actuarial field, credibility theory is an empirical model used to calculate the premium. One of the crucial tasks of the actuary in the insurance company is to design a tariff structure that will fairly distribute the burden of claims among insureds. In this work, the authors use the weighted balanced loss function (WBLF, henceforth) to obtain new credibility premiums, and WBLF is a generalized loss function introduced by Zellner (1994) (see Gupta and Berger (1994), pp. 371-390) which appears also in Dey et al. (1999) and Farsipour and Asgharzadhe (2004).

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest and the funding information is not applicable.

This work is motivated by the following: quadratic credibility premium under the balanced loss function is useful for the practitioner who wants to explicitly take into account higher order (cross) moments and new effects such as the clustering effect to finding a premium more credible and more precise, which arranges both parts: the insurer and the insured. Also, it is easy to apply for parametric and non-parametric approaches. In addition, the formulas of the parametric (Poisson–gamma case) and the non-parametric approach are simple in form and may be used to find a more flexible premium in many special cases. On the other hand, this work neglects the semi-parametric approach because it is rarely used by practitioners.

There are several examples of actuarial science (credibility).

In this paper, the authors used the WBLF and a quadratic adjustment to obtain new credibility premiums. More precisely, the authors construct a quadratic credibility framework under the net quadratic loss function where premiums are estimated based on the values of past observations and of past squared observations under the parametric and the non-parametric approaches, this framework is useful for the practitioner who wants to explicitly take into account higher order (cross) moments of past data.

We explore the cross-section of realized variance, skewness, and kurtosis for stock returns obtained from intraday data. We investigate the properties of the realized higher moments, and more importantly, examine relations between the realized moments and subsequent stock returns. We find evidence of a negative relation between realized skewness and next week’s returns. A strategy buying stocks in the lowest realized skewness quintile and selling stocks in the highest realized skewness quintile earns 0.79 percent per week a risk-adjusted basis. Our results on the realized skewness are robust to controls for various firm characteristics such as size and book-to-market. Little evidence exists that either the realized volatility or the realized kurtosis is significantly related to next week’s returns.

This research study aims to design a novel risk-managed time-series momentum approach. The present study also examines the time-series momentum effect in the Indian equity market. Apart from this, the study also proposes a novel risk-managed time-series momentum approach.

The study considers the adjusted monthly closing prices of the stocks listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange from January 1996 to December 2020 to formulate long-short portfolios. Newey–West t statistics were used to test the significance of momentum returns. The present research has considered standard risk factors, i.e. market, size and value, to evaluate the risk-adjusted performance of time-series momentum portfolios.

The present research reports a substantial absolute momentum effect in the Indian equity market. However, absolute momentum strategies are exposed to occasional severe losses. The proposed time-series momentum approach not only yields 2.5 times higher return than the standard time-series momentum approach but also causes substantial enhancement in downside risks and higher-order moments.

The study's outcomes offer valuable insights for professional investors, capital market regulators and asset management companies.

This study is one of the pioneers attempting to test the time-series momentum effect in emerging economies. Besides, current research contributes to the escalating literature on risk-managed momentum by suggesting a novel revised time-series momentum approach.

This paper aims to examine the performance of Islamic and conventional stocks listed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange by using both parametric and non-parametric approaches. The motivation is to do risk-return analysis of Islamic stock prices and conventional stock prices.

It uses various measures of performance, e.g. Sharpe ratio, Treynor ratio, Jensen's alpha, beta, generalized auto-regressive conditional heteroskedasticity and stochastic dominance. Using the Karachi Meezan Index-30 (KMI-30) and the Karachi Stock Exchange Index-30 (KSE-30) as proxies for Islamic and conventional stock prices, respectively, it examines the performance of Islamic and conventional stocks. The daily data of KMI-30 and KSE-30, covering period from June 9, 2009 to June 20, 2020 are used.

The results show that the overall KMI-30 outperforms the KSE-30. The returns of the KMI-30 are greater than the KSE-30. However, the risk and volatility of the KMI-30 and KSE-30 are similar. Further, the KMI-30 has higher excess returns per unit of total risk than the KSE-30. But both indexes have similar excess returns per unit of systematic risk. Moreover, the KMI-30 returns have stochastically dominance over the KSE-30 returns. These results reveal that the Islamic index performs better than the conventional index.

The findings provide several practical implications in financial and investment decisions making by investors, managers and policymakers such as strategies for asset allocation and investment. Further, in risk management, it provides guidance for allocating portfolios and managing risk. The investment in Islamic stocks may mitigate potential risk within asset portfolios.

This research is unique in its approach to the analysis of the performance comparison of conventional and Islamic stock by using comprehensive parametric and non-parametric estimation techniques. Such research has not been undertaken in the Pakistan's equity market since.