Real Options And Investment Under Uncertainty

The study of investment under uncertainty was stagnant for several decades until developments in real options revitalized the field. The topics covered in this book include the reasons behind the under-investment programme.

How should firms decide whether and when to invest in new capital equipment, additions to their workforce, or the development of new products? Why have traditional economic models of investment failed to explain the behavior of investment spending in the United States and other countries? In this book, Avinash Dixit and Robert Pindyck provide the first detailed exposition of a new theoretical approach to the capital investment decisions of firms, stressing the irreversibility of most investment decisions, and the ongoing uncertainty of the economic environment in which these decisions are made. In so doing, they answer important questions about investment decisions and the behavior of investment spending. This new approach to investment recognizes the option value of waiting for better (but never complete) information. It exploits an analogy with the theory of options in financial markets, which permits a much richer dynamic framework than was possible with the traditional theory of investment. The authors present the new theory in a clear and systematic way, and consolidate, synthesize, and extend the various strands of research that have come out of the theory. Their book shows the importance of the theory for understanding investment behavior of firms; develops the implications of this theory for industry dynamics and for government policy concerning investment; and shows how the theory can be applied to specific industries and to a wide variety of business problems.

This text addresses a wide range of issues in valuation using the Real Options technique. It covers the whole area of Real Options and looks closely at developments, especially in valuing technology companies. Authors in Europe, North and South America, Asia and Africa provide seven Real Options models and applications.

Comprehensive in scope, Real Options reviews current techniques of capital budgeting and details an approach (based on the pricing of options) that provides a means of quantifying the elusive elements of managerial flexibility in the face of unexpected changes in the market. In the 1970s and the 1980s, developments in the valuation of capital-investment opportunities based on options pricing revolutionized capital budgeting. Managerial flexibility to adapt and revise future decisions in order to capitalize on favorable future opportunities or to limit losses has proven vital to long-term corporate success in an uncertain and changing marketplace. In this book Lenos Trigeorgis, who has helped shape the field of real options, brings together a wealth of previously scattered knowledge and research on the new flexibility in corporate resource allocation and in the evaluation of investment alternatives brought about by the shift from static cash-flow approaches to the more dynamic paradigm of real options—an approach that incorporates decisions on whether to defer, expand, contract, abandon, switch use, or otherwise alter a capital investment. Comprehensive in scope, Real Options reviews current techniques of capital budgeting and details an approach (based on the pricing of options) that provides a means of quantifying the elusive elements of managerial flexibility in the face of unexpected changes in the market. Also discussed are the strategic value of new technology, project interdependence, and competitive interaction. The ability to value real options has so dramatically altered the way in which corporate resources are allocated that future textbooks on capital budgeting will bear little resemblance to those of even the recent past. Real Options is a pioneer in this area, coupling a coherent picture of how option theory is used with practical insights in into real-world applications.

Examines the ways in which real options theory can contribute to strategic management. This volume offers conceptual pieces that trace out pathways for the theory to move forward and presents research on the implications of real options for strategic investment, organization, and firm performance.

Using real-world examples and clear case studies, the authors provide investors and managers with an innovative method for assessing a company's non-financial assets, allowing them to assess opportunities whose financial rewards are less than certain.

Inhaltsangabe:Abstract: The objective of this dissertation is to examine the application of Real Options for the evaluation of companies with regard to acquisitions. There has been an intensive scientific discussion in the past years about the Real Options method for the evaluation of investments and mergers & acquisitions as in practice usually the management tries to capture future developments with static methods of capital budgeting. For example, future cash-flows are discounted with a fixed risk-adjusted discount rate. Therefore, the Real Options approach has been applied very rarely as it has the reputation of high complexity and poor practicability in daily business. However, the use of present values and capitalized values may produce pitfalls in acquisition decisions as strategic investment decisions might be characterized by a wide range of possibilities to react flexibly to a fast changing environment. In chapter 1, the term Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) is defined and the motives as well as the relevance of M&A transactions for different branches are described in detail. Furthermore, the process and the different phases of a merger or an acquisition are explained. Chapter 2 presents traditional evaluation methods of static net present value, sensitivity analysis, Monte Carlo and decision tree. These classic methods are discussed and a comparison is drawn among these techniques in regard to practicability. At the end of this chapter, a evaluation is presented in regard to specific situations with the mayor parameter of uncertainty and flexibility for the application of these classic methods. The basic concept of option pricing is described in chapter 3. In addition, the Black-Scholes equation and the underlying assumptions are explained in detail in order to understand financial options, which are the basic for the Real Options approach. At the end of the chapter, an example of a call and put option is discussed in order to understand the functioning of options. Chapter 4 presents an introduction and definition of the Real Options method. Furthermore, the value drivers and the value creation due to the application of Real Options are discussed and analyzed in detail. After the discussion of the functioning of Real Options, a comparison of the analogy between financial Options and Real Options is done in order to possible differences. In this context, the limitations of the analogy of financial and Real Options are presented. Finally, [...]

Inhaltsangabe:Abstract: This paper evaluates the real options approach (ROA) as a means for appraising capital investments under uncertainty. Globalisation and growing competitiveness have led to an increase in uncertainty with regard to companies decision making. Flexibility to react to this uncertainty has become more important. The question arises whether there is a need for a further investment appraisal technique or whether traditional techniques can cope with that. A growing literature about real options shows that traditional investment appraisal techniques do not value flexibility. That is why ROA has become more important within recent years. However, the degree of its utilisation by companies seems to be rather low. Three possible reasons for that are examined: ROA is not well-known by companies, especially small- and medium-sized enterprises. ROA is only limitedly applicable. ROA is too difficult to use. After traditional investment appraisal techniques have been outlined, the real options approach is illustrated by means of a case study. The possible range of application is assessed by reviewing the literature. A survey was conducted to check whether companies know about or apply that technique, and to identify the tools used by companies. This study shows that while the range of possible applications of real options is rather vast, ROA is rarely known by German and British companies and barely applied. One reason might be, that most books and articles are of rather academic nature. This seems to have been realised since books with a focus on practical application have been published recently. The complexity of ROA seems to be a further reason for its low degree of utilisation. Companies tend to use simpler but more comprehensible techniques although these methods have some major drawbacks. However, business science should not end in itself but serve businesses. Therefore, further emphasis has to be put on making real options approachable for practitioners. Inhaltsverzeichnis:Table of Contents: I.Abstract2 II.Acknowledgements3 III.Table of Contents4 IV.List of Figures7 V.List of Abbreviations8 1.Introduction9 2.Characteristics of Investment Decisions11 2.1What Is a Capital Investment?11 2.2Risk and Uncertainty12 3.Tools for Investment Appraisals15 3.1Static Methods15 3.2Discounted Cash Flow Approaches (Dynamic)17 3.3Approaches Which Try to Deal With Risk20 4.The Real Options Approach24 4.1Why Use Real Options to [...]