How Does the Black-Scholes Model for Option Pricing Handle the Early Exercise Feature of American Options?
The original Black-Scholes model is designed only for European options, as it assumes no early exercise. To price American options, modified models or numerical methods, such as binomial or trinomial trees, are typically used.
These models discretize time and allow for the possibility of early exercise at each step, making them more suitable for valuing the American-style contract's additional flexibility.