Extension of the Ho and Lee Interest rate Model to the Multinominal Case

The paper presents a state dependent multinomial model of intertemporal changes in the term structure of interest rates. The model is a one-factor interest-rate model within the Markov family models for short-term interest rate and it extends the Ho and Lee [J. Finance XLI (5) (1986) 1001] binomial model. We derive the theoretical basis of the multinomial model, suggest a computational framework to evaluate the model's parameters and investigate the suitability of the model for the Italian market.