Option Pricing under a Markov-modulated Merton Jump-Diffusion Dividend

In this paper, the valuation of European option is investigated when the discrete dividends are described by Markov-modulated Merton jump-diffusion process. According to the dividend discount theory, we regard the stock price as the net present value of all future dividends. The regime switching Esscher transform is applied to determine a risk-neutral measure. The closed form solution of European option is obtained under the condition that the dividend payments are announced in advance. Numerical simulations for the European call option prices are provided.