From CKLS Process to CIR-type and OU-type Processes: Using a Twice-differentiable Mapping and Generalized Girsanov's Theorem

TL;DR

This paper transforms a CKLS short-rate model into a CIR-type process using a twice-differentiable mapping and a generalized Girsanov theorem, enabling analysis of its properties and connections to OU processes.

Contribution

It introduces a novel transformation and measure change for CKLS models, correcting previous errors and establishing conditions for the resulting process to be well-defined and useful in finance.

Findings

The transformed process has a CIR-type diffusion with nonlinear drift.

Existence, uniqueness, and positivity of solutions are proven under specific parameters.

The Radon-Nikodym derivative is shown to be a true martingale using boundary classification.

Abstract

We study a twice-differentiable transformation applied to a CKLS-type short-rate model with linear drift and power-type diffusion. The transformation yields a new process whose diffusion component has a square-root structure and whose drift becomes nonlinear. A critical reassessment of earlier studies using similar transformations reveals fundamental errors in model specification and derivations. To address this, we introduce a generalized Girsanov change of measure that adjusts the drift of the transformed process. Under the resulting equivalent measure, the dynamics reduce to the classical Cox-Ingersoll-Ross (CIR) model. Using the Yamada-Watanabe-Engelbert theorem, we establish existence, uniqueness, and positivity of solutions, and show that the combined transformation and measure change is valid only under specific parameter restrictions, including those most relevant for financial applications. The CIR representation allows us to exploit known results on stationary distributions, moments, and boundary behavior. Under an additional coefficient relationship, the process can be further linked to an Ornstein-Uhlenbeck framework, yielding explicit distributional properties under the equivalent measure. Finally, since standard martingale conditions are not applicable, we prove directly that the associated Radon-Nikodym derivative is a true martingale by invoking a recent criterion based on Feller's explosion test and boundary classification.