Empirical Assessment of an Intertemporal Option Pricing Model with Latent Variables

Abstract: This paper assesses the empirical performance of an intertemporal option pricing model with latent variables which generalizes the Black-Scholes and the stochastic volatility formulas. We derive a closed-form formula for an equilibrium model with recursive preferences where the fundamentals follow a Markov switching process. In a simulation experiment based on the model, we show that option prices are more informative about preference parameters than stock returns. When we estimate the preference parameters implicit in S&P 500 call option prices given our model, we find quite reasonable values for the coefficient of relative risk aversion and the intertemporal elasticity of substitution.