[pt] O caráter dinâmico dos aspectos econômicos do mundo atual, somado à grande incerteza inerente às decisões futuras, faz com que o conceito de análise de investimentos esteja sofrendo consideráveis alterações. Cada vez mais é observada uma necessidade de inclusão de uma margem de flexibilidade gerencial nos critérios de avaliação de projetos. Justamente por isto, vários autores vêm criticando o tradicional método de análise, baseado no fluxo de caixa descontado (FCD). Ao mesmo tempo, vêm sendo destacadas as vantagens da utilização da teoria das Opções Reais, caracterizada justamente por incluir este tão importante elemento de flexibilidade gerencial, capaz de garantir uma adaptabilidade estratégica aos tomadores de decisão. Dentre os projetos que mais precisam deste novo critério de avaliação estão aqueles relacionados a investimentos na área de petróleo. Isto porque esta é uma área caracterizada por elevada incerteza e que demanda vultosas quantias de investimento, requerendo assim, uma análise mais cuidadosa. Dentro do tema Opções Reais em petróleo, Dias (2005) desenvolveu dois modelos de análise: o Business e o Rigid Cash Flow. A presente dissertação busca fazer uma comparação entre estes dois modelos e tirar conclusões a respeito da melhor decisão de investimento, tanto no que diz respeito ao melhor momento de se investir - a questão do timing - quanto ao que diz respeito à valoração do projeto em si. Para a realização desta análise comparativa, são desenvolvidos gráficos em Excel, com resultados gerados por um programa desenvolvido em VBA (Visual Basic for Aplications). / [en] Nowadays, world´s economic issues are characterized by dynamism and strong uncertainties, especially in questions related to future decisions. As a consequence of this, the theory of investment analysis has been changing a lot. More and more it has been observed a growing necessity to include the concept of managerial flexibility in project valuation. Plenty of authors criticize the currently used investment analysis method, mainly represented by the discounted cash flow. Besides, several researches have been carried out to analyze the advantages of using the Real Options theory, which is characterized exactly by including this managerial flexibility, so important to the investment and project studies. Managerial flexibility is important exactly because it is capable to guarantee strategic adaptability to the decision makers. Among the projects that need most this new valuation criterion, it is important to mention those related to petroleum investments, due to its complexity and to the fact that petroleum projects demand voluminous sums of investment, requiring therefore, a more detailed and careful analysis. Dias (2005), in his studies about Real Option theory in petroleum area, has developed two analysis models: Business and Rigid Cash Flow. The main proposal of this dissertation is to compare these two models and to draw some conclusions about the best investment decision, regarding not only the best moment to invest - timing decisions - but also the valuation projects issues. To make this comparative analysis, some graphs have been developed in Excel. The data used to construct such graphs were generated by a VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) program, also developed by Dias (2005).

Os métodos tradicionais de análise de investimentos, como o valor presente líquido (VPL) e a taxa interna de retorno (TIR), baseiam-se em previsões de fluxos de caixa futuros. Os fluxos de caixa futuros são estimados e os valores destes podem divergir daquilo que foi esperado, uma vez que o futuro é incerto. As variáveis que influenciam o projeto, as quais fazem parte de uma previsão inicial, podem mudar significativamente. Em um ambiente de grande incerteza com relação ao futuro, é necessário considerar o quanto o projeto irá permitir que a gerência possa reagir frente às mudanças no cenário empresarial. Contudo, a metodologia tradicional ignora as possíveis ações gerenciais que podem ser tomadas em resposta às mudanças no contexto empresarial, sejam estas favoráveis ou não ao projeto, o que pode induzir a decisões de investimento equivocadas. O objetivo geral deste trabalho consiste em avaliar a aplicabilidade da teoria de opções reais como instrumento de avaliação de projetos de investimento. Buscou-se, ainda, verificar quais as vantagens e desvantagens da teoria de opções reais com relação aos métodos tradicionais de avaliação de investimentos; verificar para quais situações a teoria de opções reais mostra-se mais adequada e apresentar as limitações e as principais dificuldades enfrentadas ao utilizar a teoria de opções reais como metodologia de avaliação de projetos de investimento. Para tanto, no presente trabalho, após ampla revisão bibliográfica sobre o tema, foi realizado um exercício teórico, em que foi desenvolvido um projeto de investimento. Objetivou-se, por meio do desenvolvimento desse projeto de investimento, verificar as diferenças entre duas metodologias de avaliação de projetos de investimento: o valor presente líquido, que consiste em uma metodologia tradicional, e uma metodologia alternativa, que, neste trabalho, é a teoria de opções reais. / The traditional methods of investments analysis, as the net present value (NPV) and the internal rate of return (IRR), are based on forecast of future cash flows. The future cash flows are esteemed and their values can differentiate from the expected, as the future is uncertain. The variables that influence the project, which are part of an initial forecast, can change significantly. In an environment of great uncertainty related to the future, it is necessary to consider how much the project will allow that the management can react against the changes in the enterprise scene. However, the traditional methodology ignores the possible managerial actions which can be taken in reply to the changes in the enterprise context, being them either favorable to the project or not, what can induce to wrong investment decisions. The general objective of this work consists of evaluation the applicability of the real options theory as instrument of investment projects evaluation. It was still sought the advantages and disadvantages of real options theory related to the traditional methods of investments evaluations; to verify which situations the real options theory reveals mores adequate and present the limitations and the main difficulties coped with, when used the real options theory as methodology of investment projects evaluation. However, in the present work, after wide bibliographical revision on the subject, a theoretical exercise was made, where an investmentproject was developed. It was aimed by means of development of this investment project, to verify the differences between two methodologies of investment projects evaluation: the net present value, that is a traditional methodology, and an alternative methodology, that in this work, is the real options theory.

Esta tese tem como objetivo estudar os efeitos dos benefícios governamentais nos investimentos em petróleo e gás no Brasil, sob a abordagem da teoria das opções reais, a qual encara o investimento como uma call cujo ativo subjacente é o valor do projeto e cujo preço de exercício são os gastos no investimento. A vantagem desta abordagem é a avaliação do impacto de diversas flexibilidades operacionais, que assumem a forma de opções, sobre a decisão de investir. Tais flexibilidades são ignoradas em uma análise tradicional de valor presente líquido, podendo conduzir a uma sub-avaliação da jazida de petróleo e a decisões errôneas de investimento. Após uma análise quantitativa da série de preço internacional do petróleo, conclui-se que o Movimento Browniano Geométrico representa uma aproximação aceitável para representar a evolução do valor do barril, uma das variáveis de estado da qual o valor das reservas depende. Assume-se, também, que o valor da reserva depende do custo marginal de extração, o qual é crescente à medida que a jazida se esgota - uma propriedade peculiar aos recursos não-renováveis conhecida como Efeito Jevons. Sob tais hipóteses, procura-se analisar como os royalties e as participações especiais no Brasil afetam a razão preço-custo que torna o agente indiferente entre investir ou não no desenvolvimento de um campo de petróleo ou gás, no contexto do término da fase de exploração e início da fase de desenvolvimento. / This thesis has the aim of studying the effects of petroleum and gas governments benefits on investments, under the approach of Real Option theory, which considers the investment as a call whose underlying asset is the value of the project and whose strike price is the expense in investment. The advantage of this approach is the evaluation of several operational flexibilities - as options on the decision to invest. These flexibilities are ignored in a traditional Net Present Value approach, which may lead to an undervaluation of the oil deposit and to an erroneous decision to invest. After a quantitative analysis on the international oil price series, we conclude that Geometric Brownian Motion is an acceptable proxy to perform the evolution of the barrels value, which is one of the state variables the value of reserve depends on. We also assume that the value of reserve depends on the marginal cost of extraction, which is increasing as the reservoir depletes - a peculiar property of nonrenewable resources known as Jevons Effect. Under such assumptions, we search to evaluate how royalties and special participation in Brazil affect the ratio price-cost which makes the agent be indifferent between invest or not invest in the development of a oil or gas field, in the context of the end of exploration phase and the beginning of the development.

For several decades, management scholars have extolled the virtues of using real option logic when making decisions under uncertainty. Real option logic suggests that in such situations, firms might be better off deferring or staging investments, reducing potential financial losses, while at the same time securing an option to grow (or abandon) the investment when uncertainty abates. Our analysis of the empirical research published in leading management journals over the past 25 years suggests that while some progress has been made, much more work needs to be done. We still do not have the answers to critical questions such as: Which entrepreneurial/managerial traits impact the identification or exploitation of real options? Do multiple types of uncertainties interact with each other and influence real option decisions? Addressing these and other issues identified in our study can help improve our understanding of the usefulness of real option logic in management.

Valuation of R&D projects is quite complex due to the substantial uncertainties in a project's life-cycle phases. The sequential nature of R&D projects continuously provides decision-makers with choices regarding whether and when to undertake future potential investment opportunities. This means that when valuing R&D projects decision-makers should take these factors into account. But R&D project usually takes long time to complete processes for commercialization. If the time to complete is longer, it is easier to trigger the crisis for capital shortage. So it seems very important modeling the capital shortage risk to induce the probability of failure in the pricing model. In this thesis we try to apply the analogy of financial securities subject to credit risk of Jarrow & Turnbull (1995) and attempt to value patents with capital shortage risk in an arbitrage free environment using the martingale measure technique. Furthermore, derive closed form formula for patents valuation which makes application easier than that of the theoretic option model. The major findings are: (1) when considering the effect of the failure frequency (capital shortage risk), the patent value will grow rapidly and then converge in the short run, no matter how other parameters incorporated into the robust analysis; (2) when increasing in the volatility of market revenues with synchronized higher volatility of investment cost, the volatility curve will be distorted to be U-shaped. Meanwhile, lower failure frequency could aggravate the decreasing in the option value. Another issue is when the manager exercises the project with multiple underlying assets, where the assets returns are of non-linear correlation particularly in the non-Normal environment. Non-parametric dependence measures may better employed when explaining co-movement. We focus on the value of a (such as resources development) project in general depends on the price of the multiple products; these are usually correlated to some extent. So the project was treated as having a rainbow option, whose underlying asset prices correlate with each other, and also as having uncertainties that decrease according to the project stage. Based on Cherubini and Luciano’s framework (2002), the risk-neutral copula models are derived to figure decision flexibilities out easily. The main framework studies the valuation of a project (call on Max) by determining the joint risk-neutral distribution of the underlying assets (products) using copulas. Monte-Carlo simulations show that the higher default risk and association among the assets and the expected cost to completion contributes the higher risk premium in our model with dependence structure of Archimedean copula family than traditional Black-Scholes environment. / Valuation of R&D projects is quite complex due to the substantial uncertainties in a project's life-cycle phases. The sequential nature of R&D projects continuously provides decision-makers with choices regarding whether and when to undertake future potential investment opportunities. This means that when valuing R&D projects decision-makers should take these factors into account. But R&D project usually takes long time to complete processes for commercialization. If the time to complete is longer, it is easier to trigger the crisis for capital shortage. So it seems very important modeling the capital shortage risk to induce the probability of failure in the pricing model. In this thesis we try to apply the analogy of financial securities subject to credit risk of Jarrow & Turnbull (1995) and attempt to value patents with capital shortage risk in an arbitrage free environment using the martingale measure technique. Furthermore, derive closed form formula for patents valuation which makes application easier than that of the theoretic option model. The major findings are: (1) when considering the effect of the failure frequency (capital shortage risk), the patent value will grow rapidly and then converge in the short run, no matter how other parameters incorporated into the robust analysis; (2) when increasing in the volatility of market revenues with synchronized higher volatility of investment cost, the volatility curve will be distorted to be U-shaped. Meanwhile, lower failure frequency could aggravate the decreasing in the option value. Another issue is when the manager exercises the project with multiple underlying assets, where the assets returns are of non-linear correlation particularly in the non-Normal environment. Non-parametric dependence measures may better employed when explaining co-movement. We focus on the value of a (such as resources development) project in general depends on the price of the multiple products; these are usually correlated to some extent. So the project was treated as having a rainbow option, whose underlying asset prices correlate with each other, and also as having uncertainties that decrease according to the project stage. Based on Cherubini and Luciano’s framework (2002), the risk-neutral copula models are derived to figure decision flexibilities out easily. The main framework studies the valuation of a project (call on Max) by determining the joint risk-neutral distribution of the underlying assets (products) using copulas. Monte-Carlo simulations show that the higher default risk and association among the assets and the expected cost to completion contributes the higher risk premium in our model with dependence structure of Archimedean copula family than traditional Black-Scholes environment.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 73-75). Also available in electronic version.

For more than 20 years, cap-and-trade system has served as an efficient market-based mechanism to reduce emission of air pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and greenhouse gas. In this system, a limited amount of emission allowances are traded between affected firms with no price restriction. A potential problem arises when market demand of the allowances significantly surpasses market supply: allowance prices could boom to unexpected high level that jeopardizes the overall economy. Safety valve, an innovative mechanism, sets an upper limit of the allowance price and eliminates the risk of allowance price spike. Yet individual firms would bear less incentive to undertake substantial investment in costly emission reduction equipment. This paper analyzes how firms would change their investment strategy when we add a safety valve to a cap-and trade system. Since the allowance price evolution process is time dependent and does not follow the standard Geometric Brownian Motion, there is no analytical solution to this problem, hence we base our analysis on numerical analysis. Using a lattice model, we conclude that a safety valve would undoubtedly delay firms’ actual investment in emission reduction equipment. We also conduct sensitivity tests to analyze how would a firm’s investment strategy respond to change in some model parameters.

The deregulation of energy markets around the world, including power markets has changed the way operating assets in these markets are managed. Independent power asset owners and even utilities operating in these markets no longer operate their assets based on the cost of service approach that prevailed under regulation. Just as in other competitive markets, the objectives of asset owners in power markets revolve around maximizing profit for their shareholders. To this end, financial valuation of physical assets in power markets should incorporate different strategies that are used by asset operators to maximize profit. A lot of observed strategies in power markets are driven by a number of factors, the key among which are: • asset operators are no longer obligated to supply service or manage their assets in certain prescribed ways, rather they have rights to operate, within applicable market rules, using techniques that maximize their profits, • revenues are driven by uncertain market factors, including power price, cost and/or availability of fuel stock and technical uncertainties, and • power assets have physical operating and equipment constraints and limits. Having flexibilties (“options”) to optimize their assets (inline with shareholders’ objectives), rational asset managers react strategically to gradual arrival of information , given applicable equipment constraints, by revising previous decisions in such a way that only optimal (or near optimal) decisions are implemented. As a result, the appropriate approach to valuing power assets in competitive markets must account for managerial flexibilities or “real options” in the presence of uncertainties and technical constraints. The focus of this work is to develop a robust valuation framework for physical power assets operating in competitive markets such as peaking or mid-merit thermal power plants and baseload power plants. The goal is to develop a modeling framework that can be adapted to different energy assets with different types of operating flexibilities and technical constraints and which can be employed for various purposes such as capital budgeting, business planning, risk management and strategic bidding planning among others. The valuation framework must also be able to capture the reality of power market rules and opportunities, as well as technical constraints of different assets. The modeling framework developed conceptualizes operating flexibilities of power assets as “switching options’ whereby the asset operator decides at every decision point whether to switch from one operating mode to another mutually exclusive mode, within the limits of the equipment constraints of the asset. As a current decision to switch operating modes (in the face of current realization of relevant uncertainty factors) may affect future operating flexibilities of the asset and hence cash flows , a dynamic optimization framework is employed. The developed framework accounts for the uncertain nature of key value drivers by representing them with appropriate stochastic processes. Specifically, the framework developed conceptualizes the operation of a power asset as a multi-stage decision making problem where the operator has to make a decision at every stage to alter operating mode given currently available information about key value drivers. The problem is then solved dynamically by decomposing it into a series of two-stage sub-problems according to Bellman’s optimality principle. The solution algorithm employed is the Least Squares Monte Carlo (LSM) method. The developed valuation framework was adapted for a gas-fired thermal power plant, a peaking hydroelectric power plant and a baseload power plant. This work built on previously published real options valuation methodologies for gas-fired thermal power plants by factoring in uncertainty from gas supply/consumption imbalance which is usually faced by gas-fired power generators. This source of uncertainty which has yet to be addressed in the literature, in the context of real options valuation, arises because of mismatch between natural gas and electricity wholesale markets. Natural gas markets in North America operate on a day-ahead basis while power plants are dispatched in real time. Inability of a power generator to match its gas supply and consumption in real time, leading to unauthorized gas over-run or under-run, attracts penalty charges from the gas supplier to the extent that the generator can not manage the imbalance through other means. A savvy gas-fired power plant operator will factor in the potential costs of gas imbalance into its operating strategies resulting in optimal operating decisions that may be different from when gas-imbalance is not considered. By considering an illustrative power plant operating in Ontario, we show effects of gas-imbalance on dispatch strategies on a daily cycling operation basis and the resulting impact on net revenue. Results show that a gas-fired power plant is over-valued by ignoring the impacts of gas imbalance on valuation. Similarly, we employ the developed valuation framework to value a peaking hydroelectric power plant. This application also builds on previous real options valuation work for peaking hydroelectric power plants by considering their operations in a joint energy and ancillary services market. Specifically, the valuation model is developed to capture the value of a peaking power plant whose owner has the flexibility to participate in a joint operating reserve market and an energy market, which is currently the case in the Ontario wholesale power market. The model factors in water inflow uncertainty into the reservoir forebay of a hydroelectric facility and also considers uncertain energy and operating reserve prices. The switching options considered include (i) a joint energy and operating reserve bid (ii) an energy only bid and (iii) a do nothing (idle) strategy. Being an energy limited power plant, by doing nothing at a decision interval, the power asset operator is able to time-shift scarce water for use at a future period when market situations are expected to be better. An illustrative example considered shows the impact of the different value drivers on the plant’s value and dispatch strategies. Results show that by ignoring the flexibility of the asset owner to participate in an operating reserve market, a peaking hydroelectric power plant is undervalued. Finally, the developed valuation framework was employed to optimize life-cycle management decisions of a baseload power plant, such as a nuclear power plant. The applicability of real-options framework to the operations of baseload power plants has not attracted much attention in the literature given their inflexibility with respect to short-term operation. However, owners of baseload power plants, such as nuclear plants, have the right to optimize scheduling and spending of life cycle management projects such as preventative maintenance and equipment inspection. Given uncertainty of long-term value drivers, including power prices, equipment performance and the relationship between current life cycle spending and future equipment degradation, optimization is carried out with the objective of minimizing overall life-cycle related costs. These life-cycle costs include (i) lost revenue during planned and unplanned outages (ii) potential costs of future equipment degradation due to inadequate preventative maintenance and (iii) the direct costs of implementing the life-cycle projects. The switching options in this context include the option to shutdown the power plant in order to execute a given preventative maintenance and inspection project and the option to keep the option “alive” by choosing to delay a planned life-cycle activity. Results of an illustrative example analyzed show that the flexibility of the asset owner to delay spending or to suspend it entirely affects the asset’s value accordingly and should be factored into valuation. Applications can be found for the developed framework and models in different areas important to firms operating in competitive energy markets. These areas include capital budgeting, trading, risk management, business planning and strategic/tactitcal bidding among others.

The deregulation of energy markets around the world, including power markets has changed the way operating assets in these markets are managed. Independent power asset owners and even utilities operating in these markets no longer operate their assets based on the cost of service approach that prevailed under regulation. Just as in other competitive markets, the objectives of asset owners in power markets revolve around maximizing profit for their shareholders. To this end, financial valuation of physical assets in power markets should incorporate different strategies that are used by asset operators to maximize profit. A lot of observed strategies in power markets are driven by a number of factors, the key among which are: • asset operators are no longer obligated to supply service or manage their assets in certain prescribed ways, rather they have rights to operate, within applicable market rules, using techniques that maximize their profits, • revenues are driven by uncertain market factors, including power price, cost and/or availability of fuel stock and technical uncertainties, and • power assets have physical operating and equipment constraints and limits. Having flexibilties (“options”) to optimize their assets (inline with shareholders’ objectives), rational asset managers react strategically to gradual arrival of information , given applicable equipment constraints, by revising previous decisions in such a way that only optimal (or near optimal) decisions are implemented. As a result, the appropriate approach to valuing power assets in competitive markets must account for managerial flexibilities or “real options” in the presence of uncertainties and technical constraints. The focus of this work is to develop a robust valuation framework for physical power assets operating in competitive markets such as peaking or mid-merit thermal power plants and baseload power plants. The goal is to develop a modeling framework that can be adapted to different energy assets with different types of operating flexibilities and technical constraints and which can be employed for various purposes such as capital budgeting, business planning, risk management and strategic bidding planning among others. The valuation framework must also be able to capture the reality of power market rules and opportunities, as well as technical constraints of different assets. The modeling framework developed conceptualizes operating flexibilities of power assets as “switching options’ whereby the asset operator decides at every decision point whether to switch from one operating mode to another mutually exclusive mode, within the limits of the equipment constraints of the asset. As a current decision to switch operating modes (in the face of current realization of relevant uncertainty factors) may affect future operating flexibilities of the asset and hence cash flows , a dynamic optimization framework is employed. The developed framework accounts for the uncertain nature of key value drivers by representing them with appropriate stochastic processes. Specifically, the framework developed conceptualizes the operation of a power asset as a multi-stage decision making problem where the operator has to make a decision at every stage to alter operating mode given currently available information about key value drivers. The problem is then solved dynamically by decomposing it into a series of two-stage sub-problems according to Bellman’s optimality principle. The solution algorithm employed is the Least Squares Monte Carlo (LSM) method. The developed valuation framework was adapted for a gas-fired thermal power plant, a peaking hydroelectric power plant and a baseload power plant. This work built on previously published real options valuation methodologies for gas-fired thermal power plants by factoring in uncertainty from gas supply/consumption imbalance which is usually faced by gas-fired power generators. This source of uncertainty which has yet to be addressed in the literature, in the context of real options valuation, arises because of mismatch between natural gas and electricity wholesale markets. Natural gas markets in North America operate on a day-ahead basis while power plants are dispatched in real time. Inability of a power generator to match its gas supply and consumption in real time, leading to unauthorized gas over-run or under-run, attracts penalty charges from the gas supplier to the extent that the generator can not manage the imbalance through other means. A savvy gas-fired power plant operator will factor in the potential costs of gas imbalance into its operating strategies resulting in optimal operating decisions that may be different from when gas-imbalance is not considered. By considering an illustrative power plant operating in Ontario, we show effects of gas-imbalance on dispatch strategies on a daily cycling operation basis and the resulting impact on net revenue. Results show that a gas-fired power plant is over-valued by ignoring the impacts of gas imbalance on valuation. Similarly, we employ the developed valuation framework to value a peaking hydroelectric power plant. This application also builds on previous real options valuation work for peaking hydroelectric power plants by considering their operations in a joint energy and ancillary services market. Specifically, the valuation model is developed to capture the value of a peaking power plant whose owner has the flexibility to participate in a joint operating reserve market and an energy market, which is currently the case in the Ontario wholesale power market. The model factors in water inflow uncertainty into the reservoir forebay of a hydroelectric facility and also considers uncertain energy and operating reserve prices. The switching options considered include (i) a joint energy and operating reserve bid (ii) an energy only bid and (iii) a do nothing (idle) strategy. Being an energy limited power plant, by doing nothing at a decision interval, the power asset operator is able to time-shift scarce water for use at a future period when market situations are expected to be better. An illustrative example considered shows the impact of the different value drivers on the plant’s value and dispatch strategies. Results show that by ignoring the flexibility of the asset owner to participate in an operating reserve market, a peaking hydroelectric power plant is undervalued. Finally, the developed valuation framework was employed to optimize life-cycle management decisions of a baseload power plant, such as a nuclear power plant. The applicability of real-options framework to the operations of baseload power plants has not attracted much attention in the literature given their inflexibility with respect to short-term operation. However, owners of baseload power plants, such as nuclear plants, have the right to optimize scheduling and spending of life cycle management projects such as preventative maintenance and equipment inspection. Given uncertainty of long-term value drivers, including power prices, equipment performance and the relationship between current life cycle spending and future equipment degradation, optimization is carried out with the objective of minimizing overall life-cycle related costs. These life-cycle costs include (i) lost revenue during planned and unplanned outages (ii) potential costs of future equipment degradation due to inadequate preventative maintenance and (iii) the direct costs of implementing the life-cycle projects. The switching options in this context include the option to shutdown the power plant in order to execute a given preventative maintenance and inspection project and the option to keep the option “alive” by choosing to delay a planned life-cycle activity. Results of an illustrative example analyzed show that the flexibility of the asset owner to delay spending or to suspend it entirely affects the asset’s value accordingly and should be factored into valuation. Applications can be found for the developed framework and models in different areas important to firms operating in competitive energy markets. These areas include capital budgeting, trading, risk management, business planning and strategic/tactitcal bidding among others.

A risky project evaluation technique called the fuzzy real options analysis is developed to evaluate brownfield redevelopment projects. Other decision making techniques, such as multiple criteria analysis and conflict analysis, can be incorporated into fuzzy real options analysis to facilitate negotiations on brownfield redevelopment among decision makers (DMs). The value of managerial flexibility, which is important in negotiations and policy making for brownfield redevelopment, is overlooked when the traditional evaluation method, net present value (NPV), is employed. Findings of this thesis can be used to promote brownfield redevelopment, thereby helping to eliminate environmental threats and enhance regional sustainability. A brownfield is an abandoned or underutilized property that contains, or may contain, pollutants, hazardous substances, or contaminants from previous usage, typically industrial activity. Brownfields often occur when the local economy transits from industrial to service-oriented seeking more profit. Governments actively promote brownfield redevelopment to eliminate public health threats, help economic transition, and enhance sustainability. However, developers are reluctant to participate in brownfield redevelopment because they often regard these projects as unprofitable when using classic evaluation techniques. On the other hand, case studies show that brownfield redevelopment projects can be good business opportunities for developers. An improved evaluation method is developed in order to estimate the value of a brownfield more accurately. The main reason that makes the difference between estimates and ''actual'' values lies in the failure of the deterministic project evaluation tool to price the value of uncertainty, which leads to efforts to enhance the decision making under uncertainty. Real options modelling, which extends the ability of option pricing models in real asset evaluation, is employed in risky project evaluation because of its capacity to handle uncertainties. However, brownfield redevelopment projects contain uncertain factors that have no market price, thus violating the assumption of option pricing models for which all risks have been reflected in the market. This problem, called private risk, is addressed by incorporating fuzzy numbers into real options in this thesis, which can be called fuzzy real options. Fuzzy real options are shown to generalize the original model to deal with additional kinds of uncertainties, making them more suitable for project evaluation. A numerical technique based on hybrid variables is developed to price fuzzy real options. We proposed an extension of Least Squares Monte-Carlo simulation (LSM) that produces numerical evaluations of options. A major advantage of this methodology lies in its ability to produce results regardless of whether or not an analytic solution exists. Tests show that the generalized LSM produces similar results to the analytic valuation of fuzzy real options, when this is possible. To facilitate parameter estimation for the fuzzy real options model, another numerical method is proposed to represent the likelihood of contamination of a brownfield using fuzzy boundaries. Linguistic quantifiers and ordered weighted averaging (OWA) techniques are utilized to determine the likelihood of pollution at sample locations based on multiple environmental indicators, acting as a fuzzy deduction rule to calculate the triangle membership functions of the fuzzy parameters. Risk preferences of DMs are expressed as different ''ORness'' levels of OWA operators, which affect likelihood estimates. When the fuzzy boundaries of a brownfield are generated by interpolation of sample points, the parameters of fuzzy real options, drift rate and volatility, can be calculated as fuzzy numbers. Hence, this proposed method can act as an intermediary between DMs and the fuzzy real options models, making this model much easier to apply. The values of DMs to a brownfield can be input to the graph model for conflict resolution (GMCR) to identify possible resolutions during brownfield redevelopment negotiation among all possible states, or combinations of DMs' choices. Major redevelopment policies are studied using a brownfield redevelopment case, Ralgreen Community in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. The fuzzy preference framework and probability-based comparison method to rank fuzzy variables are employed to integrate fuzzy real options and GMCR. Insights into this conflict and general policy suggestions are provided. A potential negotiation support system (NSS) implementing these numerical methods is discussed in the context of negotiating brownfield redevelopment projects. The NSS combines the computational modules, decision support system (DSS) prototypes, and geographic information systems (GIS), and message systems. A public-private partnership (PPP) will be enhanced through information sharing, scenario generation, and conflict analysis provided by the NSS, encouraging more efficient brownfield redevelopment and leading to greater regional sustainability. The integrated usage of fuzzy real options, OWA, and GMCR takes advantage of fuzziness and randomness, making better evaluation technique available in a multiple DMs negotiation setting. Decision techniques expand their range from decision analysis, multiple criteria analysis, to a game-theoretic approach, contributing to a big picture on decision making under uncertainty. When these methods are used to study brownfield redevelopment, we found that creating better business opportunities, such as allowing land use change to raise net income, are more important in determining equilibria than remediation cost refunding. Better redevelopment policies can be proposed to aid negotiations among stakeholders.