Modern Stochastics: Theory and Applications

In this note the maximization of the expected terminal wealth for the setup of quadratic transaction costs is considered. First, a very simple probabilistic solution to the problem is provided. Although the problem was largely studied, as far as authors know up to date this simple and probabilistic form of the solution has not appeared in the literature. Next, the general result is applied for the numerical study of the case where the risky asset is given by a fractional Brownian motion and the information flow of the investor can be diversified.

This paper establishes the conditions for the existence of a stationary solution to the first-order autoregressive equation on a plane as well as properties of the stationary solution. The first-order autoregressive model on a plane is defined by the equation A stationary solution X to the equation exists if and only if $(1-a-b-c)(1-a+b+c)(1+a-b+c)(1+a+b-c)\gt 0$. The stationary solution X satisfies the causality condition with respect to the white noise ϵ if and only if $1-a-b-c\gt 0$, $1-a+b+c\gt 0$, $1+a-b+c\gt 0$ and $1+a+b-c\gt 0$. A sufficient condition for X to be purely nondeterministic is provided.

Despite the relevance of the binomial distribution for probability theory and applied statistical inference, its higher-order moments are poorly understood. The existing formulas are either not general enough, or not structured and simplified enough for intended applications.

A stochastic heat equation on $[0,T]\times B$, where B is a bounded domain, is considered. The equation is driven by a general stochastic measure, for which only σ-additivity in probability is assumed. The existence, uniqueness and Hölder regularity of the solution are proved.

The test for the location of the tangency portfolio on the set of feasible portfolios is proposed when both the population and the sample covariance matrices of asset returns are singular. The particular case of investigation is when the number of observations, n, is smaller than the number of assets, k, in the portfolio, and the asset returns are i.i.d. normally distributed with singular covariance matrix Σ such that $rank(\boldsymbol{\Sigma })=r\lt n\lt k+1$. The exact distribution of the test statistic is derived under both the null and alternative hypotheses. Furthermore, the high-dimensional asymptotic distribution of that test statistic is established when both the rank of the population covariance matrix and the sample size increase to infinity so that $r/n\to c\in (0,1)$. Theoretical findings are completed by comparing the high-dimensional asymptotic test with an exact finite sample test in the numerical study. A good performance of the obtained results is documented. To get a better understanding of the developed theory, an empirical study with data on the returns on the stocks included in the S&P 500 index is provided.

A Markov process defined by some pseudo-differential operator of an order $1\lt \alpha \lt 2$ as the process generator is considered. Using a pseudo-gradient operator, that is, the operator defined by the symbol $i\lambda |\lambda {|^{\beta -1}}$ with some $0\lt \beta \lt 1$, the perturbation of the Markov process under consideration by the pseudo-gradient with a multiplier, which is integrable at some large enough power, is constructed. Such perturbation defines a family of evolution operators, properties of which are investigated. A corresponding Cauchy problem is considered.

Consistent estimators of the baseline hazard rate and the regression parameter are constructed in the Cox proportional hazards model with heteroscedastic measurement errors, assuming that the baseline hazard function belongs to a certain class of functions with bounded Lipschitz constants.

The theory of the so-called ${\mathcal{W}_{q}}$ and ${\mathcal{Z}_{q}}$ scale functions is developped for the fluctuations of right-continuous discrete time and space killed random walks. Explicit expressions are derived for the resolvents and two-sided exit problem when killing depends on the present level of the process. Similar results in the reflected case are also considered. All the expressions are given in terms of new generalisations of the scale functions, which are obtained using arguments different from the continuous case (spectrally negative Lévy processes). Hence, the connections between the two cases are spelled out. For a specific form of the killing function, the probability of bankruptcy is obtained for the model known as omega model in the actuarial literature.