On Trinomial Trees for One-Factor Short Rate Models∗ Markus Leippoldy Swiss Banking Institute, University of Zurich Zvi Wienerz School of Business Administration, Hebrew University of Jerusalem April 3, 2003 ∗Markus Leippold acknowledges the financial support of the Swiss National Science Foundation (NCCR FINRISK). Zvi Wiener acknowledges the financial support of the Krueger and Rosenberg funds at the He- brew University of Jerusalem. We welcome comments, including references to related papers we inadvertently overlooked. yCorrespondence Information: University of Zurich, ISB, Plattenstr. 14, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland; tel: +41 1-634-2951; fax: +41 1-634-4903;
[email protected]. zCorrespondence Information: Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, 91905, Israel; tel: +972-2-588-3049; fax: +972-2-588-1341;
[email protected]. On Trinomial Trees for One-Factor Short Rate Models ABSTRACT In this article we discuss the implementation of general one-factor short rate models with a trinomial tree. Taking the Hull-White model as a starting point, our contribution is threefold. First, we show how trees can be spanned using a set of general branching processes. Secondly, we improve Hull-White's procedure to calibrate the tree to bond prices by a much more efficient approach. This approach is applicable to a wide range of term structure models. Finally, we show how the tree can be adjusted to the volatility structure. The proposed approach leads to an efficient and flexible construction method for trinomial trees, which can be easily implemented and calibrated to both prices and volatilities. JEL Classification Codes: G13, C6. Key Words: Short Rate Models, Trinomial Trees, Forward Measure.