%0 Journal Article %A Qi Hu %A David Newton %T Universal Arbitrage-Free Estimation of State Price Density %D 2020 %R 10.3905/jod.2020.1.123 %J The Journal of Derivatives %P jod.2020.1.123 %X Given the valuable information content of Arrow-Debreu prices, the recovery of a well-behaved state price density is of considerable importance. However, this is a nontrivial task because of data limitation and the complex arbitrage-free constraints. In this article, we develop a more effective linear programming support vector machine estimator for state price density, which incorporates no-arbitrage restrictions and bid-ask spread. This method does not depend on a particular approximation function and framework and is, therefore, universally applicable. In a parallel empirical study, we apply the method to options on the S&P 500, showing it to be accurate and smooth.TOPICS: Derivatives, optionsKey Findings▪ Recovery of a well-behaved state price density is an important but nontrivial because of data limitation and the complex arbitrage-free constraints.▪ We develop a universally applicable linear programming support vector machine estimator for state price density that incorporates no-arbitrage restrictions and bid-ask spread.▪ We apply the method empirically to options on the S&P 500, showing it to be accurate and smooth. %U https://jod.pm-research.com/content/iijderiv/early/2020/11/21/jod.2020.1.123.full.pdf