New Releases by Ron Chan

This paper studies the overall and distributional effects of the green energy transition on local labor markets in the United States from 2005 to 2019. Utilizing exogenous solar and wind potentials derived from remote sensing data, we identify the causal impact of the expansion in solar and wind energy. Our findings reveal that the growth in solar and wind capacity has led to a modest but significant increase in employment and labor force participation, with solar energy also contributing to wage growth. The most substantial benefits, in terms of job opportunities and wage increases, are observed among younger, lower-educated, non-Hispanic white workers. We also observe a surge in employment in greener occupations, particularly in the manufacturing sector. Our results suggest that these effects are driven by an increase in jobs and business establishments in manufacturing sectors, accompanied by a reduction in government transfers across various welfare programs.

This paper applies an algorithm for the convolution of compactly supported Legendre series (the CONLeg method) (cf. Hale and Townsend 2014a), to pricing/hedging European-type, early-exercise and discrete- monitored barrier options under a Lévy process. The paper employs Chebfun (cf. Trefethen et al. 2014) in computational finance and provides a quadrature-free approach by applying the Chebyshev series in financial modelling. A significant advantage of using the CONLeg method is to formulate option pricing and option Greek curves rather than individual prices/values. Moreover, the CONLeg method can yield high accuracy in option pricing and hedging when the risk-free smooth probability density function (PDF) is smooth/non-smooth. Finally, we show that our method can accurately price/hedge options deep in/out of the money and with very long/short maturities. Compared with existing techniques, the CONLeg method performs either favourably or comparably in numerical experiments.

In this paper we extend the complex Fourier series expansion method proposed in Chan 2016a and 2016b to derive a closed-form pricing formula of options with early-exercise features - American options, barrier options and Bermuda options. We implement the method to price options under exponential L''evy processes and stochastic volatility models. We give a succinct error analysis to show that we can achieve an exponential convergence rate in the pricing method in many cases. The computational complexity of our method is O((M-1)N log N) with N a (small) number of terms from the series expansion, and M, the number of early-exercise/monitoring dates. Throughout the paper, we also provide the derivation of option Greeks of our method and its ability of pricing in/at/out-of-the-money options or options with complicated contingent claims. Finally, in follow-up papers, we will present the application of this pricing formula to options with both early-exercise features and path-dependent features, such as American-Asian options and American-lookback options.

There are a range of private financial benefits of residential solar photovoltaic (PV) installation, such as a reduced electricity bill, tax incentives and a feed-in tariff for generated electricity. To empirically analyze how rising electricity prices affect household adoption decisions, we use the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster as a natural experiment. The shutdown of nuclear power plants across Japan led to a sizable increase in electricity prices that varied by region, allowing us to identify the effect of electricity prices on household PV system adoption. We find that higher electricity prices are significantly more influential on PV adoption on existing homes than on newly-built homes. Our estimated electricity price elasticity of PV systems ranges from 0.9 to 1.2 for existing homes and is much smaller and statistically insignificant for newly-built homes. We discuss behavioral mechanisms explaining this difference and implications for policies stimulating residential adoption of renewables.

We introduce a new numerical method called the complex Fourier series (CFS) method proposed by Chan (2017) to price options with an early-exercise feature -- American, Bermudan and discretely monitored barrier options -- under exponential Lévy asset dynamics. This new method allows us to quickly and accurately compute the values of early-exercise options and their Greeks. We also provide an error analysis to demonstrate that, in many cases, we can achieve an exponential convergence rate in the pricing method as long as we choose the correct truncated computational interval. Our analysis indicates that the CFS method is computationally more efficient than the methods currently available. Finally, the superiority of the CFS method is illustrated with real financial data by considering the Standard & Poor''s depositary receipts (SPDR) exchange-traded fund (ETF) on the S&P 500 R index options, which are American options traded from November 2017 to February 2018.

We apply a new numerical method, the singular Fourier-Pade (SFP) method invented by Driscoll and Fornberg (2001, 2011), to price European-type options in Levy and affine processes. The motivation behind this application is to reduce the ineffciency of current Fourier techniques when they are used to approximate piecewise continuous (non-smooth) probability density functions. When techniques such as fast Fourier transforms and Fourier series are applied to price and hedge options with non-smooth probability density functions, they cause the Gibbs phenomenon; accordingly, the techniques converge slowly for density functions with jumps in value or derivatives. This seriously adversely affects the efficiency and accuracy of these techniques. In this paper, we derive pricing formulae and their option Greeks using the SFP method to resolve the Gibbs phenomenon and restore the global spectral convergence rate. Moreover, we show that our method requires a small number of terms to yield fast error convergence, and it is able to accurately price any European-type option deep in/out of the money and with very long/short maturities. Furthermore, we conduct an error-bound analysis of the SFP method in option pricing. This new method performs favourably in numerical experiments compared with existing techniques.

Closed-form pricing formulae and option Greeks are obtained for European-type options using an orthogonal polynomial series -- complex Fourier series. We assume that risky assets are driven by exponential Lévy processes and stochastic volatility models. We provide a succinct error analysis to demonstrate that we can achieve an exponential convergence rate in the pricing method in many cases as long as we choose the correct definite computational interval. As a novel pricing method, we also numerically demonstrate that complex Fourier series are more accurate and computationally effective when implemented to price in/at/out-of-the-money options or options with complicated contingent claims.

This paper examines the effect of energy costs on industry export competitiveness. Most studies in the literature use direct energy consumption (energy consumption at the final stage of production) and domestic energy prices to compute energy costs faced by domestic industries. Using multi-country input-output information, this study measures the effect of aggregate energy costs on export performance, where aggregate energy costs include not only direct energy costs, but also indirect energy costs passed on through the upstream supply chain. This study develops a theoretical trade model that incorporates tradable intermediate goods to inform its empirical strategy. It then estimates a reduced-form model using a panel data for 10 manufacturing sectors in 43 countries from 1991 to 2012. The analysis finds that ignoring input-output relationships can lead to significant over- or underestimates of the effect of energy price shocks on exports, depending on intermediate factor intensities and trade relationships. Using estimated trade elasticities, the study simulates the economic consequences of energy cross-subsidies and carbon taxes. The results show that energy cross-subsidies that raise energy tariffs on industry to support lower rates for households and farmers in India could reduce the country''s net manufacturing exports by.

This paper develops a complex Fourier series (CFS) expansion pricing formula for evaluating European-type (call/put) options -- asset-or-nothing options, cash-or-nothing options, forward-start options, ratchet options and vanilla options -- when these risky assets are driven by Levy processes, time-changed Levy processes or stochastic volatility with or without jumps. This novel pricing formula is an extension of the original CFS expansion method proposed in Chan (2016). The major contribution of this paper is to derive a CFS pricing formula for both forward-start and ratchet options. In this paper, we also conduct an error-bound analysis of the CFS expansion pricing formula. In most cases, we can obtain an exponential convergence rate when we have an appropriate definite integration range for pricing European-type options. Moreover, based on the pricing formula, we can also derive different option Greeks. Finally, in follow-up papers, we will present the application of this pricing formula to options with early-exercise features (such as American options and barrier options) and path-dependent features (such as Asian options).

Young adventurers Patrice and Nate have followed neighborhood defender Crazy Dave throughout time--but are they ready to investigate a school campus to keep the streets safe from zombies? In Plants vs. Zombies: Bully For You, they''ll be visiting a very strange college in an attempt to take down Dr. Zomboss yet again--and any school visit''s tolerable if you get to battle zombies! Paul Tobin (Prometheus, Bandette) and Ron Chan (The Guild, X-Men) join forces with the mysterious Anti-Bully Squad to deliver a hilarious, all-ages romp to your school! Featuring special bonus stories illustrated by acclaimed creators Dustin Nguyen, Jennifer Meyer, and Peter Bagge! Praise for previous volumes of the Dark Horse Plants vs. Zombies graphic novel series: "Wonderful fun and silliness await you in this book, and you''ll be sure to leave it with a smile on your face and zombie bits on your lawn." -Fanboy Comics "This is one of the more fun video game adaptations that I''ve read and the most fun I''ve had with a zombie story since Zombieland." -Front Towards Gamer "If you like Plants vs. Zombies this comic adds to its appeal. It''s a good clean read for all ages." -Eat Your Comics

This study quantifies the cost savings from the Acid Rain Program (ARP) compared with a command-and-control alternative and also examines the impact of trading under the ARP on health damages. To quantify cost savings, we compare compliance costs for non-NSPS (New Source Performance Standards) coal-fired Electricity Generating Units (EGUs) under the ARP with compliance costs under a uniform performance standard that achieves the same aggregate emissions. We do this for the year 2002, the third year of Phase II of the program. We find annual cost savings of approximately $240 million (1995$). To examine the health effects of trading, we compute the health damages associated with observed sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions from all units regulated under the ARP in 2002--approximately 10.2 million tons--and compare them with damages from a No-Trade counterfactual in which each unit emits SO2 at a rate equal to its allocation of permits for the year 2002, plus any drawdown of its allowance bank. Damages under the ARP are $2.4 billion (2000$) higher than under the No-Trade. This reflects the transfer of allowances from EGUs west of the Mississippi River to units in the eastern US with higher exposed populations.

The confusing-yet-brilliant inventor known only as Crazy Dave helps his niece, Patrice, and young adventurer Nate Timely fend off a "fun-dead" neighborhood invasion in Plants vs. Zombies: Lawnmageddon!

We investigate the impacts of electricity market restructuring on fuel efficiency, utilization and, new to this area, cost of coal purchases among coal-fired power plants using a panel data set from 1991 to 2005. Our study focuses exclusively on coal-fired power plants and uses panel data covering several years after implementation of restructuring. The estimation compares how investor-owned (IOs) plants in states with restructuring changed their behavior relative to IOs in states without. Our analysis finds that restructuring led to: (1) a two percent improvement in fuel efficiency for IOs, (2) a ten percent decrease in unit cost of heat input, and (3) a lower capacity factor even after adjusting for cross-plant generation re-allocation due to cost reductions. Based on these estimates, back-of-the-envelope calculations find that restructuring has led to about 6.5 million dollars in annual cost savings or nearly 12 percent of operating expenses and up to a 7.6 percent emissions reduction per plant.

Boys being boys. Idiots being idiots. Buddies being buddies.Roy''s Boys is one comic by two artists. Follow along as best buddies Roy and Shane take turns forming one semi-autobiographical look into their sad little lives. This book collects the first year (over one-hundred strips!) of the twice-weekly webcomic (www.roysboyscomic.com). Share in the jubilation, the heartbreak, the violence, and the dick and fart jokes, all over again, or for the very first time! Warning! Roy''s Boys contains crude humor and foul language!

In this paper I study the economics of self-enforcing international environmental agreements where agents never know what exactly the state of the world is. Explicitly, I consider countries using Bayesian learning to update their beliefs on the state of the world. Using a very simple framework of allowing pollution as a common bad, I study how Bayesian learning conveys message to countries and whether a full disclosure of information can necessarily improve the aggregate welfare. Interestingly, I find that the value of information is always negative which suggests that strategic interactions between countries significantly make the countries worse off. I also consider a dynamic setting where countries emissions can affect the learning process and surprisingly I find that the equilibrium breaks down to a coalition that cannot have more than two countries.

For ten years he has lived a lie, telling himself that he nurtures life, when once he merely took it. But only now does he finally embrace the truth ... that he is closer to the wild than he is to his own humanity. He is nature''s remedy to man''s disease. The man known only as Brock lives a quiet existence as gamekeeper of a secluded Scottish estate, until paramilitary mercenaries storm the estate and kill Jonah Morgan - the owner and Brock''s friend. Now, Brock faces his dark past and the events he had sworn he''d forget. Obliged to avenge Jonah''s death, Brock must leave his tranquil life and journey deep into an unfamiliar, urban underworld. But as he gets pulled in deeper, it''s difficult to tell who has more power, Brock, the man, or the animal within.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could have two of the world’s most accomplished and sought-after graphic artists sitting next to you at your computer as you navigate the infinite possibilities of Adobe Illustrator CS2? How to Wow with Illustrator CS2 is the next-best thing. Two Illustrator powerhouses—Ron Chan and Barbara Obermeier—both renowned graphic designers and trainers, have developed an effective way to help you reach your full creative potential. Ron and Barbara guide you step-by-step through real-world techniques, with an emphasis on uncompromising quality, last-minute flexibility, and go-home-at-night speed! You’ll learn tips and techniques on everything from sophisticated typography to commercial graphics approaches using Illustrator CS2. You’re given the inspiration and know-how at every stage of the creative process in order to learn How to Wow! This book begins with the essentials of Illustrator, including effectively working with layers and tools and integrating with other applications, and then moves on to innovative ideas for making your graphics and typography dazzle the eye. You’ll encounter fascinating techniques for giving your work that competitive, professional edge.

Knights of the Old Republic: Destroyer begins with an untold chapter from the lives of Malak and Revan -- stars of the KotOR video game! From there, it takes us to a death-defying shootout on the face of a comet and into the heart of one of the cruelest organizations in the galaxy -- the Crucible. Former Padawan Zayne Carrick risks not just his life, but also his sanity, to help his friend Jarael face her dark past. Zayne may have set off for adventure, but what he finds are irreversible consequences for himself and his crew in a dangerous, unforgiving galaxy. * Featuring Malak and Revan from the Knights of the Old Republic video game!

Set before the first season of the show, these hilarious stories delighted fans and newbies alike and introduced plots that influenced the show itself, including season 5''s backstory of Tink, originally hinted at in these pages. Featuring a huge variety of comics'' best artists as well as many of the talents key to the web series, and leading directly to the moment Zaboo unexpectedly appears at a startled Codexís front door in episode 1, this collection comprises a true season of The Guild! Collects the one-shots The Guild: Vork, The Guild: Tink, The Guild: Bladezz, The Guild: Clara, and The Guild: Zaboo. * Written by Felicia Day, with the series director, producer, and actors! * Featuring art by Darick Robertson, Becky Cloonan, Kristian Donaldson, and more! * Leads directly into The Guild Season 1!