Conditional Expectations Under a Change of Probability Measure
Summary
The document derives a conditional expectation formula when two equivalent probability measures are related by a Radon–Nikodym density. It first identifies the density available at an intermediate time as the conditional expectation, under the original measure, of the terminal density. This intermediate density normalizes the change of measure using only information available in the filtration at that time.
Applying the defining property of conditional expectation, the response shows that the conditional expectation of a terminal random variable under the new measure equals the original-measure conditional expectation of the variable weighted by the terminal density, divided by the conditional expectation of that density. A finite-state partition calculation in the question provides an alternate derivation. The result is a general probability identity relevant to pricing under equivalent measures, rather than a pricing model on its own. It requires the denominator to be positive; the discussion assumes equivalent measures and does not address cases where the density vanishes or integrability conditions fail.
Key ideas
- The terminal Radon–Nikodym density induces an intermediate-time density through conditional expectation.
- A conditional expectation under the new measure is a ratio of two conditional expectations under the original measure.
- The denominator is the original-measure conditional expectation of the terminal density.
- The identity applies to equivalent probability measures, subject to the required integrability and positivity conditions.
Tags
Full text
# Formula for conditional expectation. Related to the Fundamental Theorems of Asset Pricing
# Formula for conditional expectation. Related to the Fundamental Theorems of Asset Pricing
> Let $\lambda$ be a probability measure on $\Omega$ (finite), with filtration $\{\mathcal{F}_t\}$. Define $\nu(X) = \lambda\left(X\frac{d\nu}{d\lambda}\right)$, where $\frac{d\nu}{d\lambda}$ is a random variable i.e., $\nu(\omega) = \lambda(\omega)\frac{d\nu}{d\lambda}(\omega)$, all $\omega\in\Omega$. Show that $$E\nu[X|\mathcal{F_t}] = \frac{E_{\lambda}\left[X\frac{d\nu}{d\lambda}|\mathcal{F_t}\right]}{E_{\lambda}\left[\frac{d\nu}{d\lambda}|\mathcal{F}_t\right]}$$
Recall from the second fundamental theorem of asset pricing $$\frac{d\nu}{d\lambda} = \frac{S_T^{0}}{\lambda(S_T^{0})}$$ if $S_T^{0}$ is a constant then $$\frac{d\nu}{d\lambda} = 1 \ \ \Rightarrow \ \ \lambda = \nu$$ The change of measure formula is $$E_{\nu}[X] = E_{\lambda}\left[X\frac{d\nu}{d\mu}\right]$$
For some attainable claim $X$ let $\phi$ be a self financing strategy replicating $X$ then by the first fundamental theorem of asset pricing $$V_t(\phi) = E_{\nu}\left[X\frac{S_t^{0}}{S_T^{0}} |\mathcal{F_t}\right]$$
I am pretty sure the result will follow from one of these fundamental theorems of asset pricing but I am not sure where to go from here. Sorry for the messy start, also if you need me to write the three fundamental theorems I would be happy to do so. Any comments or suggestions is greatly appreciated.
Alternative Solution - For all $\omega\in \Omega$, let $\mathcal{F}_t(\omega) = \mathcal{F}_t$ be the partition element containing $\omega$. Then
\begin{align*} E_{\nu}[X|\mathcal{F}_t](\omega) &= \frac{\sum_{\omega\in\mathcal{F}_t(\omega)} X(\omega)\nu(\omega)}{\sum_{\omega\in\mathcal{F}_t(\omega)} \nu(\omega)}\\ &= \frac{\sum_{\omega\in\mathcal{F}_t(\omega)} X(\omega)\lambda(\omega)\frac{d\nu}{d\lambda}(\omega)}{\sum_{\omega\in\mathcal{F}_t(\omega)}\lambda(\omega)\frac{d\nu}{d\lambda}(\omega)}\\ &= \frac{\left( \frac{\sum_{\omega\in\mathcal{F}_t(\omega)} X(\omega)\lambda(\omega)\frac{d\nu}{d\lambda}(\omega)}{\sum_{\omega\in\mathcal{F}_t(\omega)} \lambda(\omega)} \right )}{\left(\frac{\sum_{\omega\in\mathcal{F}_t(\omega)} \lambda(\omega)\frac{d\nu}{d\lambda}(\omega)}{\sum_{\omega\in\mathcal{F}_t(\omega)} \lambda(\omega)} \right )}\\ &= \frac{E_{\lambda}\left[X\frac{d\nu}{d\lambda}|\mathcal{F}_t\right](\omega)}{E_{\lambda}\left[\frac{d\nu}{d\lambda}|\mathcal{F}_t\right](\omega)} \end{align*}
## Answer by M. Jeunesse (score 5, accepted)
https://quant.stackexchange.com/a/30740
Let define $\mathbb{Q}$ and $\mathbb{P}$ two equivalent probabilities on a filtered space $(\Omega,(\mathcal{F}_t)_{t\geq 0})$
Let define $Z_T=\frac{d\mathbb{Q}}{d\mathbb{P}}$ restricted to $\mathcal{F}_T$ measurable events.
It means that for $X_T$ being $\mathcal{F}_T$ measurable we have: $$\mathbb{E}^{\mathbb{Q}}[X_T] = \mathbb{E}^{\mathbb{P}}\left[Z_TX_T\right]$$
Let $t\leq T$.
We want to define the change of probability measure on $\mathcal{F}_t$. i.e we want to find $Z_t$ being $\mathcal{F}_t$ measurable such that for $X_t$ being $\mathbb{F}_t$ measurable, we have:
$$\mathbb{E}^{\mathbb{Q}}[X_t]= \mathbb{E}^{\mathbb{P}}\left[Z_tX_t\right]$$
By definition of $Z_T$, and since $X_t$ is also $\mathcal{F}_T$ measurable, we have: $$\mathbb{E}^{\mathbb{Q}}[X_t]= \mathbb{E}^{\mathbb{P}}\left[Z_TX_t\right]$$
i.e
for any $X_t$ being $\mathcal{F}_t$ measurable we have $Z_t$ being $\mathcal{F}_t$ measurable such that:
$$\mathbb{E}^{\mathbb{P}}[Z_T X_t]=\mathbb{E}^{\mathbb{P}}[Z_t X_t]$$
so $Z_t = \mathbb{E}^{\mathbb{P}}[Z_T|\mathcal{F}_t]$ by definition of conditional expectation.
Let $Y_T$ being $\mathcal{F}_T$ measurable, then we want to compute $\mathbb{E}^{\mathbb{Q}}[Y_T|\mathcal{F}_t]$.
We denote $Y_t = \mathbb{E}^{\mathbb{Q}}[Y_T|\mathcal{F}_t]$
We look for $Y_t$ such that for any $X_t$ being $\mathcal{F}_t$ measurable, we have :
$$\mathbb{E}^{\mathbb{Q}}[Y_TX_t]=\mathbb{E}^{\mathbb{Q}}[Y_t X_t]$$
By definition of $Z_T$ we have $\mathbb{E}^{\mathbb{Q}}[Y_TX_t]=\mathbb{E}^{\mathbb{P}}[Z_TY_TX_t]$
By definition of $Z_t$ we have $\mathbb{E}^{\mathbb{Q}}[Y_tX_t]=\mathbb{E}^{\mathbb{P}}[Z_tY_tX_t]$
so we have:
$$\mathbb{E}^{\mathbb{P}}[Z_TY_TX_t]=\mathbb{E}^{\mathbb{P}}[Z_tY_tX_t]$$
and again by definition of conditional expectation, we have:
$$\mathbb{E}^{\mathbb{P}}[Z_TY_T|\mathcal{F}_t]=Z_tY_t$$
we can now conclude using the definition of $Y_t$ and $Z_t$.
$$\mathbb{E}^{\mathbb{Q}}[Y_T|\mathcal{F}_t] = \frac{\mathbb{E}^{\mathbb{P}}[Z_TY_T|\mathcal{F}_t]}{\mathbb{E}^{\mathbb{P}}[Z_T|\mathcal{F}_t]}$$Shown in full with attribution under the source's licence. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 (Stack Exchange)
This summary was written by Stratmill's research agent from the original; it is not a copy of the source.