Tail Risk in Weather Derivatives

Weather derivative markets, particularly Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Heating Degree Day (HDD) and Cooling Degree Day (CDD) futures, face challenges from complex temperature dynamics and spatially heterogeneous co-extremes that standard Gaussian models overlook. Using daily data from 13 major U...

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Main Authors: Tuoyuan Cheng, Saikiran Reddy Poreddy, Kan Chen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-06-01
Series:Commodities
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2813-2432/4/2/11
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author Tuoyuan Cheng
Saikiran Reddy Poreddy
Kan Chen
author_facet Tuoyuan Cheng
Saikiran Reddy Poreddy
Kan Chen
author_sort Tuoyuan Cheng
collection DOAJ
description Weather derivative markets, particularly Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Heating Degree Day (HDD) and Cooling Degree Day (CDD) futures, face challenges from complex temperature dynamics and spatially heterogeneous co-extremes that standard Gaussian models overlook. Using daily data from 13 major U.S. cities (2014–2024), we first construct a two-stage baseline model to extract standardized residuals isolating stochastic temperature deviations. We then estimate the Extreme Value Index (EVI) of HDD/CDD residuals, finding that the nonlinear degree-day transformation amplifies univariate tail risk, notably for warm-winter HDD events in northern cities. To assess multivariate extremes, we compute Tail Dependence Coefficient (TDC), revealing pronounced, geographically clustered tail dependence among HDD residuals and weaker dependence for CDD. Finally, we compare Gaussian, Student’s <i>t</i>, and Regular Vine Copula (R-Vine) copulas via joint VaR–ES backtesting. The R-Vine copula reproduces HDD portfolio tail risk, whereas elliptical copulas misestimate portfolio losses. These findings highlight the necessity of flexible dependence models, particularly R-Vine, to set margins, allocate capital, and hedge effectively in weather derivative markets.
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spelling doaj-art-c5b6847ab4f84b6f85e72fe44cd355402025-08-20T02:24:34ZengMDPI AGCommodities2813-24322025-06-01421110.3390/commodities4020011Tail Risk in Weather DerivativesTuoyuan Cheng0Saikiran Reddy Poreddy1Kan Chen2Risk Management Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore 119244, SingaporeRisk Management Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore 119244, SingaporeRisk Management Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore 119244, SingaporeWeather derivative markets, particularly Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Heating Degree Day (HDD) and Cooling Degree Day (CDD) futures, face challenges from complex temperature dynamics and spatially heterogeneous co-extremes that standard Gaussian models overlook. Using daily data from 13 major U.S. cities (2014–2024), we first construct a two-stage baseline model to extract standardized residuals isolating stochastic temperature deviations. We then estimate the Extreme Value Index (EVI) of HDD/CDD residuals, finding that the nonlinear degree-day transformation amplifies univariate tail risk, notably for warm-winter HDD events in northern cities. To assess multivariate extremes, we compute Tail Dependence Coefficient (TDC), revealing pronounced, geographically clustered tail dependence among HDD residuals and weaker dependence for CDD. Finally, we compare Gaussian, Student’s <i>t</i>, and Regular Vine Copula (R-Vine) copulas via joint VaR–ES backtesting. The R-Vine copula reproduces HDD portfolio tail risk, whereas elliptical copulas misestimate portfolio losses. These findings highlight the necessity of flexible dependence models, particularly R-Vine, to set margins, allocate capital, and hedge effectively in weather derivative markets.https://www.mdpi.com/2813-2432/4/2/11heating degree daycooling degree dayextreme value theoryvine copulavalue-at-riskexpected shortfall
spellingShingle Tuoyuan Cheng
Saikiran Reddy Poreddy
Kan Chen
Tail Risk in Weather Derivatives
Commodities
heating degree day
cooling degree day
extreme value theory
vine copula
value-at-risk
expected shortfall
title Tail Risk in Weather Derivatives
title_full Tail Risk in Weather Derivatives
title_fullStr Tail Risk in Weather Derivatives
title_full_unstemmed Tail Risk in Weather Derivatives
title_short Tail Risk in Weather Derivatives
title_sort tail risk in weather derivatives
topic heating degree day
cooling degree day
extreme value theory
vine copula
value-at-risk
expected shortfall
url https://www.mdpi.com/2813-2432/4/2/11
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AT saikiranreddyporeddy tailriskinweatherderivatives
AT kanchen tailriskinweatherderivatives