Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Supervisor: James S. Dyer. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Doctor of Philosophy(PhD) / This thesis builds on the real estate lease model of Grenadier which consists of the Black Scholes PDE and an upper reflecting boundary condition. Extending the method of images of Buchen, a new technique was developed to solve this class of problems. Problems that previously required difficult integration can now be solved with algebra and simple integrals. In addition, the compound option in this framework is solved using this new technique. To the best of our knowledge the solution of the compound problem has not been published. An interesting symmetry between this class of problems and the lookback option was also discovered and described in this thesis. The extension of the method of images to include problems with the reflecting boundary condition in the context of real estate leases was presented at the Financial Integrity Research Network Doctoral Tutorials at the University of Technology, Sydney, in 2006. The presentation was awarded the ``FIRN Best Paper Award''. This paper has been submitted to the Journal of Financial Mathematics for publication. The solution to the compound problem in the context of the upward-only market review option is the subject of the next paper.

One of the main challenges that investors in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project face is the management of the volatility of the price of Certified Emission Reduction (CERs). Large scale CDM projects require a long-term investment with significant amount of costs, and this type of investment is often irreversible. Project investors should quantitatively assess the CER trigger price that justifies the initiation of a CDM investment. The traditional discounted cash flow valuation is unable to capture the option value associated with uncertain investment, and thus it tends to underestimate the trigger price which initiates the investment. Real options theory explicitly considers the option value of delayed investment and can provide a better measurement of the trigger price. This paper presents a theoretical model of the CDM investment project and derives the CER trigger prices that guide investment decisions by using historical market data. It develops a stochastic dynamic programming model for both the geometric Brownian motion process and the mean-reverting process. An analytical solution for the trigger price is derived for the former process, and the trigger price is numerically estimated for the latter. By considering various parameter values, it analyzes the effects of different market environments on the trigger price.

One of the main challenges that investors in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project face is the management of the volatility of the price of Certified Emission Reduction (CERs). Large scale CDM projects require a long-term investment with significant amount of costs, and this type of investment is often irreversible. Project investors should quantitatively assess the CER trigger price that justifies the initiation of a CDM investment. The traditional discounted cash flow valuation is unable to capture the option value associated with uncertain investment, and thus it tends to underestimate the trigger price which initiates the investment. Real options theory explicitly considers the option value of delayed investment and can provide a better measurement of the trigger price. This paper presents a theoretical model of the CDM investment project and derives the CER trigger prices that guide investment decisions by using historical market data. It develops a stochastic dynamic programming model for both the geometric Brownian motion process and the mean-reverting process. An analytical solution for the trigger price is derived for the former process, and the trigger price is numerically estimated for the latter. By considering various parameter values, it analyzes the effects of different market environments on the trigger price.

Manufacturers use resale price maintenance (RPM) for a variety of reasons. In a conventional market setting, when factory price is fixed, profit is maximized by ensuring the lowest possible retail price. The higher retail price ensured by RPM mean a lower quantity sold, since demand is downward sloping. The explanations of RPM remain controversial after many scholars¡¦ investigations. Pro-competitive arguments view RPM as a marketing practice that ensures an efficient distribution system. Anticompetitive arguments contend that manufacturers use RPM to maintain cartel prices and reduce competition among retailers. Understanding the incentives to adopt RPM is critical both for marketing scholars and for antitrust policymakers because RPM, which is employed over the wide variety of products, is the most important vertical restraints, in terms of both the frequency of use and the number of legal cases generated. In Taiwan, the applicability of RPM is limited by Fair Trade Law. Fair Trade Commission considers that RPM is per se illegal as a vertical restraint against competition The explanation for RPM often cited is the special services argument, which indicates the discounter will draw customers from the retailers that provide full services when RPM is not employed. However, in practices, RPM is used in a much wider variety of products than the special services argument would predict. In this research, we examine the RPM property from the risk perspectives and determine how the incentives for using RPM are affected by the changes of economic variables. We find that the imposition of RPM is appropriate in the circumstances where retail price variance is high, sales quantities variance is low and the correlation between two variables is positive. In addition, we find that RPM can be a substitute or complement for advertising, as is found in the existing literature. Our model clearly exhibits the relationship between advertising and RPM, which are both important marketing strategies. We also find that RPM can reduce consumers¡¦ incentive to delay purchases. As the demand price elasticity increases, RPM is more strictly employed by manufactures who want to eliminate purchase delay caused by frequent markdowns. We also perform empirical tests to show that the motivation behind RPM is to reduce the negative externality of frequent markdowns on consumers¡¦ purchase delay.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2004. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains x, 120 p. Includes abstract and vita. Advisor: Jay B. Barney, Business Administration Graduate Program. Includes bibliographical references (p. 110-120).

Upon making an optimal timing decision, a player takes into consideration not only the actions of the other players, but also the uncertainty of the environment. I use the real options approach to study the strategic timing decisions of asymmetric firms in an environment with uncertainty. When firms make timing decisions, they take into account the opportunity cost of immediate action today. The second chapter studies the identification in an asymmetric duopoly. The two potential entrants contemplate entering a new market where the demand follows a geometric Brownian motion. I show that under certain parameter conditions there will be an equilibrium triggered by preemption, and both firms could preempt. Moreover, the equilibrium may no longer be only triggered by preemption. I identify the joint distribution of the unobserved investment costs and find the probability of the first entry being triggered by preemption. Given the observation of the first entrant, I can predict the probability of observing the second entrant. The third chapter studies the spillover effect of exit in a vertical relationship. I extend the methodology of irreversible investment under uncertainty to consider exits in a vertical market structure. When the exogenous demand shock is low, one party of the supply chain wants to exit first and will thus lead to the exit of the remaining party. The firm which wants to exit later strategically acts to delay the exit of its counterpart and therefore prevents its own exit. When the state level drops below the unique equilibrium exit threshold, both firms will exit simultaneously. The expected delay in exit timing is derived. The fourth chapter studies the strategic optimal timing of entry in the competition between one-way essential complements under demand uncertainty. The value of a new add-on to its consumers is uncertain. While the rational essential good producing firm recognizes the value of waiting under uncertainty when it contemplates entering the add-on market and endogenously self-selects between the two entry options- to produce or to acquire, the add-on producing firm strategically decides when to agree on acquisition. The impact of profit sharing in the case of acquisition and relative fixed costs of entry on the size and form of the waiting region and the responses of both firms are analyzed. / text

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Nearly unpredictable turbulence on an overall economic level, radical changes in the legal framework and a shift in the moral concepts prevailing in the general public emphasize the importance of increased corporate flexibility. Usually, most flexibility measurements suffer from the defect that they are not pecuniary, that interactions between different flexibility dimensions are not considered and that they lack the required relatedness to the respective context. These problems contribute to a large extent to the fact that, when making investment decisions, the value of flexibility is considered but intuitively or insufficiently. Frequently, the results are irrational myopic pseudo decisions. The present work can be regarded as an attempt to design a pecuniary and context-related flexibility measure of three single flexibility dimensions in an extremely simplified framework and under restrictive assumptions. The primary method used is Monte Carlo Simulation. The present study shows that the value of flexibility can be substantive and that taking into account the interactions of various single flexibilities when strategic investments are made can be of great importance. In this paper, we work out the connection between "environmental volatility" and the "value of flexibility". Our work shows a numerically strong positive relation between these two properties. (author's abstract) / Series: Working Papers SFB "Adaptive Information Systems and Modelling in Economics and Management Science"

Doctor of Philosophy(PhD) / This thesis builds on the real estate lease model of Grenadier which consists of the Black Scholes PDE and an upper reflecting boundary condition. Extending the method of images of Buchen, a new technique was developed to solve this class of problems. Problems that previously required difficult integration can now be solved with algebra and simple integrals. In addition, the compound option in this framework is solved using this new technique. To the best of our knowledge the solution of the compound problem has not been published. An interesting symmetry between this class of problems and the lookback option was also discovered and described in this thesis. The extension of the method of images to include problems with the reflecting boundary condition in the context of real estate leases was presented at the Financial Integrity Research Network Doctoral Tutorials at the University of Technology, Sydney, in 2006. The presentation was awarded the ``FIRN Best Paper Award''. This paper has been submitted to the Journal of Financial Mathematics for publication. The solution to the compound problem in the context of the upward-only market review option is the subject of the next paper.