Test Of The Black Scholes Option Pricing Model

In this study, the Black-Scholes Option Pricing Model was examined over a specific period of time, on a limited number of options, to determine if the market was using the Black-Scholes Model to prise those options. Data was collected and compiled onto five spreadsheets set up to compute the variables necessary for Black-Scholes computations. Past studies have shown that the Black-Scholes Model is fairly accurate in computing market prices. This study observes stock and option activity over the time period starting January 1, 1988, and ending January 1, 1989. This specific time period was chosen because the high market volatility experienced after the October, 1987, crash was expected to truly test the accuracy of the Black-Scholes Model. Through statistical analysis, it was found that in this limited study, the mean Black-Scholes computed price was consistently well above the mean market price for the options studied. Several factors could be responsible for the variations. Either the market did not use the Black-Scholes Option Pricing Model to price the options analyzed during the time period observed, or the limitations of this study were of a large enough degree to have significant adverse effects on the accuracy of the Black-Scholes Model.