Exotic options: conceptualization and evolution in the literature from a systematic review

The article develops a conceptual analysis of the literature on exotic options based on two specific objectives: first, to describe the main concepts, characteristics and types of exotic options; second, to analyze the evolution of publications on the subject. Methodologically, we carry out a documentary research of classical authors and a systematic review of the literature under protocol in the bibliographic databases Scopus and Web of Science. The 96 publications obtained are submitted to bibliometric and content analysis. We identify articles published mainly in journals (72%) between 2006 and 2015 (64%), mostly on valuation of exotic options. Options depending on the price path of the underlying asset are the most applied, especially barrier, lookback and Asian. As a theoretical contribution, the analysis of the evolution of literature represents a substantial foundation for future studies, as it enables the most relevant publications on exotic options to be individualized, detects gaps in the field of knowledge, and recognizes growing topics. On a practical level, a better understanding of the subject could lead to a greater use of exotic instruments.