The Term Structure of Variance Swaps and Risk Premia

64 Pages Posted: 27 Aug 2012 Last revised: 14 May 2018

See all articles by Yacine Ait-Sahalia

Yacine Ait-Sahalia

Princeton University - Department of Economics

Mustafa Karaman

University of Zurich - Swiss Banking Institute (ISB)

Loriano Mancini

Università della Svizzera italiana (USI Lugano); Swiss Finance Institute

Date Written: April 23, 2018

Abstract

We study the term structure of variance swaps, equity and variance risk premia. A model-free analysis reveals a significant price jump component in variance swap rates. A model-based analysis shows that investors' willingness to ensure against volatility risk increases after a market drop. This effect is stronger for short horizons and more persistent for long horizons. During the financial crisis investors demanded large risk premia to hold equities but the risk premia largely depended and strongly decreased with the holding horizon. The term structure of equity and variance risk premia responds differently to various economic indicators.

Keywords: Variance Swap, Stochastic Volatility, Likelihood Approximation, Term Structure, Equity Risk Premium, Variance Risk Premium

JEL Classification: C51, G12, G13

Suggested Citation

Ait-Sahalia, Yacine and Karaman, Mustafa and Mancini, Loriano, The Term Structure of Variance Swaps and Risk Premia (April 23, 2018). Swiss Finance Institute Research Paper No. 18-37, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2136820 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2136820

Yacine Ait-Sahalia (Contact Author)

Princeton University - Department of Economics ( email )

Fisher Hall
Princeton, NJ 08544
United States
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Mustafa Karaman

University of Zurich - Swiss Banking Institute (ISB) ( email )

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Zurich, 8032
Switzerland

Loriano Mancini

Università della Svizzera italiana (USI Lugano) ( email )

Via Giuseppe Buffi 6
6904 Lugano, CH-6904
Switzerland
+41 (0)91 912 46 47 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.people.usi.ch/mancil/

Swiss Finance Institute ( email )

c/o University of Geneva
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Switzerland

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