IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ormnsc/v55y2009i11p1877-1896.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Valuing Modularity as a Real Option

Author

Listed:
  • Andrea Gamba

    (School of Business, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052; and Department of Economics, University of Verona, 37129 Verona, Italy)

  • Nicola Fusari

    (University of Lugano, 6900 Lugano, Switzerland; and Swiss Finance Institute, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland)

Abstract

We provide a general valuation approach for capital budgeting decisions involving the modularization in the design of a system. Within the framework developed by Baldwin and Clark (Baldwin, C. Y., K. B. Clark. 2000. Design Rules: The Power of Modularity. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA), we implement a valuation approach using a numerical procedure based on the least-squares Monte Carlo method proposed by Longstaff and Schwartz (Longstaff, F. A., E. S. Schwartz. 2001. Valuing American options by simulation: A simple least-squares approach. Rev. Financial Stud. 14(1) 113-147). The approach is accurate, general, and flexible.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrea Gamba & Nicola Fusari, 2009. "Valuing Modularity as a Real Option," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(11), pages 1877-1896, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:55:y:2009:i:11:p:1877-1896
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.1090.1070
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1090.1070
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/mnsc.1090.1070?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bruce Kogut & Nalin Kulatilaka, 2001. "Capabilities as Real Options," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(6), pages 744-758, December.
    2. repec:bla:jfinan:v:43:y:1988:i:5:p:1235-56 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Trigeorgis, Lenos, 1993. "The Nature of Option Interactions and the Valuation of Investments with Multiple Real Options," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 28(1), pages 1-20, March.
    4. Breen, Richard, 1991. "The Accelerated Binomial Option Pricing Model," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 26(2), pages 153-164, June.
    5. Boyle, Phelim P & Evnine, Jeremy & Gibbs, Stephen, 1989. "Numerical Evaluation of Multivariate Contingent Claims," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 2(2), pages 241-250.
    6. Martzoukos, Spiros H. & Trigeorgis, Lenos, 2002. "Real (investment) options with multiple sources of rare events," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 136(3), pages 696-706, February.
    7. Geske, Robert, 1979. "The valuation of compound options," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 63-81, March.
    8. Geske, Robert, 1977. "The Valuation of Corporate Liabilities as Compound Options," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(4), pages 541-552, November.
    9. Andrea Gamba & Lenos Trigeorgis, 2007. "An Improved Binomial Lattice Method for Multi-Dimensional Options," Applied Mathematical Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(5), pages 453-475.
    10. Broadie, Mark & Detemple, Jerome, 1996. "American Option Valuation: New Bounds, Approximations, and a Comparison of Existing Methods," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 9(4), pages 1211-1250.
    11. Longstaff, Francis A & Schwartz, Eduardo S, 2001. "Valuing American Options by Simulation: A Simple Least-Squares Approach," University of California at Los Angeles, Anderson Graduate School of Management qt43n1k4jb, Anderson Graduate School of Management, UCLA.
    12. Lars Stentoft, 2004. "Assessing the Least Squares Monte-Carlo Approach to American Option Valuation," Review of Derivatives Research, Springer, vol. 7(2), pages 129-168, August.
    13. Longstaff, Francis A & Schwartz, Eduardo S, 2001. "Valuing American Options by Simulation: A Simple Least-Squares Approach," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 14(1), pages 113-147.
    14. Gamba, Andrea & Tesser, Matteo, 2009. "Structural estimation of real options models," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 798-816, April.
    15. Andrea Gamba & Gordon A. Sick & Carmen Aranda León, 2008. "Investment under Uncertainty, Debt and Taxes," Economic Notes, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, vol. 37(1), pages 31-58, February.
    16. Gollier, Christian & Proult, David & Thais, Francoise & Walgenwitz, Gilles, 2005. "Choice of nuclear power investments under price uncertainty: Valuing modularity," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 667-685, July.
    17. Geske, Robert & Johnson, Herb E, 1984. "The American Put Option Valued Analytically," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 39(5), pages 1511-1524, December.
    18. Manuel Moreno & Javier Navas, 2003. "On the Robustness of Least-Squares Monte Carlo (LSM) for Pricing American Derivatives," Review of Derivatives Research, Springer, vol. 6(2), pages 107-128, May.
    19. Rodrigues, Artur & Armada, Manuel J. Rocha, 2007. "The valuation of modular projects: A real options approach to the value of splitting," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 205-227.
    20. Paul A. Samuelson, 1973. "Proof That Properly Discounted Present Values of Assets Vibrate Randomly," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 4(2), pages 369-374, Autumn.
    21. Lars Stentoft, 2004. "Convergence of the Least Squares Monte Carlo Approach to American Option Valuation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(9), pages 1193-1203, September.
    22. Cox, John C. & Ross, Stephen A. & Rubinstein, Mark, 1979. "Option pricing: A simplified approach," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 229-263, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mo, Jianlei & Schleich, Joachim & Fan, Ying, 2018. "Getting ready for future carbon abatement under uncertainty – Key factors driving investment with policy implications," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 453-464.
    2. Michail Chronopoulos & Verena Hagspiel & Stein-Erik Fleten, 2017. "Stepwise investment and capacity sizing under uncertainty," OR Spectrum: Quantitative Approaches in Management, Springer;Gesellschaft für Operations Research e.V., vol. 39(2), pages 447-472, March.
    3. Pascal Létourneau & Lars Stentoft, 2019. "Bootstrapping the Early Exercise Boundary in the Least-Squares Monte Carlo Method," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-21, December.
    4. Mo, Jianlei & Cui, Lianbiao & Duan, Hongbo, 2021. "Quantifying the implied risk for newly-built coal plant to become stranded asset by carbon pricing," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    5. Ritu Agarwal & Amrit Tiwana, 2015. "Editorial—Evolvable Systems: Through the Looking Glass of IS," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 26(3), pages 473-479, September.
    6. Mombello, Bruno & Olsina, Fernando & Pringles, Rolando, 2023. "Valuing photovoltaic power plants by compound real options," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    7. Daniel Gull, 2011. "Valuation of Discount Options in Software License Agreements," Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, Springer;Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), vol. 3(4), pages 221-230, August.
    8. Brauneis, Alexander & Mestel, Roland & Palan, Stefan, 2013. "Inducing low-carbon investment in the electric power industry through a price floor for emissions trading," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 190-204.
    9. Zixuan Zhang & Michail Chronopoulos & Dimitrina S. Dimitrova & Ioannis Kyriakou, 2024. "Risk assessment and optimal scheduling of serial projects," OR Spectrum: Quantitative Approaches in Management, Springer;Gesellschaft für Operations Research e.V., vol. 46(3), pages 709-736, September.
    10. David A. Broniatowski, 2018. "Building the tower without climbing it: Progress in engineering systems," Systems Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(3), pages 259-281, May.
    11. Amrit Tiwana & Benn Konsynski & Ashley A. Bush, 2010. "Research Commentary ---Platform Evolution: Coevolution of Platform Architecture, Governance, and Environmental Dynamics," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 21(4), pages 675-687, December.
    12. Trigeorgis, Lenos & Tsekrekos, Andrianos E., 2018. "Real Options in Operations Research: A Review," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 270(1), pages 1-24.
    13. Suvankar Ghosh & O. Felix Offodile, 2016. "A real options model of phased migration to cellular manufacturing," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(3), pages 894-906, February.
    14. David A. Broniatowski, 2017. "Flexibility Due to Abstraction and Decomposition," Systems Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(2), pages 98-117, March.
    15. Jiaqi Jiang & Yun Feng, 2023. "Optimal hedging in the presence of internal flexibility," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(4), pages 4557-4571, October.
    16. Rainer Andergassen & Luigi Sereno, 2012. "Valuation of N-stage Investments Under Jump-Diffusion Processes," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 39(3), pages 289-313, March.
    17. Jafarizadeh, Babak, 2012. "Information acquisition as an American option," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 807-816.
    18. repec:grz:wpsses:2011-01 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Spiros H. Martzoukos & Nayia Pospori & Lenos Trigeorgis, 2024. "Corporate investment decisions with switch flexibility, constraints, and path-dependency," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 62(3), pages 1223-1250, April.
    20. Juan Pineiro-Chousa & Marcos Vizcaíno-González, 2020. "A mathematical model for the role of third party funding in reputation building of academic institutions," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 365-377, April.
    21. Pineiro-Chousa, Juan & Vizcaíno-González, Marcos, 2016. "A quantum derivation of a reputational risk premium," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 304-309.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Minqiang Li, 2010. "A quasi-analytical interpolation method for pricing American options under general multi-dimensional diffusion processes," Review of Derivatives Research, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 177-217, July.
    2. Lim, Terence & Lo, Andrew W. & Merton, Robert C. & Scholes, Myron S., 2006. "The Derivatives Sourcebook," Foundations and Trends(R) in Finance, now publishers, vol. 1(5–6), pages 365-572, April.
    3. Locatelli, Giorgio & Mancini, Mauro & Lotti, Giovanni, 2020. "A simple-to-implement real options method for the energy sector," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    4. Nelson Areal & Artur Rodrigues & Manuel Armada, 2008. "On improving the least squares Monte Carlo option valuation method," Review of Derivatives Research, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 119-151, March.
    5. Guglielmo Maria Caporale & Mario Cerrato, 2008. "Chebyshev polynomial approximation to approximate partial differential equations," Working Papers 2008_16, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    6. Mombello, Bruno & Olsina, Fernando & Pringles, Rolando, 2023. "Valuing photovoltaic power plants by compound real options," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    7. Lars Stentoft, 2013. "American option pricing using simulation with an application to the GARCH model," Chapters, in: Adrian R. Bell & Chris Brooks & Marcel Prokopczuk (ed.), Handbook of Research Methods and Applications in Empirical Finance, chapter 5, pages 114-147, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Zhongkai Liu & Tao Pang, 2016. "An efficient grid lattice algorithm for pricing American-style options," International Journal of Financial Markets and Derivatives, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 5(1), pages 36-55.
    9. Cassimon, D. & Engelen, P.J. & Thomassen, L. & Van Wouwe, M., 2007. "Closed-form valuation of American call options on stocks paying multiple dividends," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 4(1), pages 33-48, March.
    10. Berridge, S.J. & Schumacher, J.M., 2002. "An Irregular Grid Approach for Pricing High Dimensional American Options," Discussion Paper 2002-99, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    11. Katarzyna Toporek, 2012. "Simple is better. Empirical comparison of American option valuation methods," Ekonomia journal, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw, vol. 29.
    12. Manuel Moreno & Javier Navas, 2003. "On the Robustness of Least-Squares Monte Carlo (LSM) for Pricing American Derivatives," Review of Derivatives Research, Springer, vol. 6(2), pages 107-128, May.
    13. Fabozzi, Frank J. & Paletta, Tommaso & Tunaru, Radu, 2017. "An improved least squares Monte Carlo valuation method based on heteroscedasticity," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 263(2), pages 698-706.
    14. Zhu, Lei & Zhang, ZhongXiang & Fan, Ying, 2015. "Overseas oil investment projects under uncertainty: How to make informed decisions?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 742-762.
    15. Chuang-Chang Chang & Jun-Biao Lin & Wei-Che Tsai & Yaw-Huei Wang, 2012. "Using Richardson extrapolation techniques to price American options with alternative stochastic processes," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 39(3), pages 383-406, October.
    16. Jeechul Woo & Chenru Liu & Jaehyuk Choi, 2024. "Leave‐one‐out least squares Monte Carlo algorithm for pricing Bermudan options," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(8), pages 1404-1428, August.
    17. Philipp N. Baecker, 2007. "Real Options and Intellectual Property," Lecture Notes in Economics and Mathematical Systems, Springer, number 978-3-540-48264-2, December.
    18. Mark Broadie & Jerome B. Detemple, 2004. "ANNIVERSARY ARTICLE: Option Pricing: Valuation Models and Applications," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(9), pages 1145-1177, September.
    19. S. Alonso & V. Azofra & G. De La Fuente, 2014. "What do you do when the binomial cannot value real options? The LSM model," Cogent Economics & Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(1), pages 1-17, December.
    20. Weihan Li & Jin E. Zhang & Xinfeng Ruan & Pakorn Aschakulporn, 2024. "An empirical study on the early exercise premium of American options: Evidence from OEX and XEO options," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(7), pages 1117-1153, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    real options; modularity; least-squares Monte Carlo;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G3 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:55:y:2009:i:11:p:1877-1896. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.