IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ris/actuec/v63y1987i2p256-281.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Investissement en incertitude : extension du problème de la taille optimale d’une usine

Author

Listed:
  • Dionne, Georges

    (Centre de recherche sur les transports, Université de Montréal)

  • Pellerin, Marc

    (Ministère des Finances du Québec)

Abstract

In this article, we present a problem of investment under uncertainty. When the managers make investment decisions they do not know the market (sales opportunities); however they know the price and the a priori distribution of sales. We compare the behavior of risk averse firms to that of risk neutral firms. One interesting result in that risk neutral firms are not indifferent to the introduction of risk and to the change in risk. We present many extensions of the initial problem. Two of them are the consideration of market studies and the change of the a priori distribution of sales. Dans cet article, nous présentons un problème de choix d’investissement en incertitude. Au moment de prendre leurs décisions, les administrateurs ne connaissent pas la taille du marché (volume des ventes) mais connaissent le prix de vente du produit et la distribution a priori du niveau des ventes. Nous comparons le comportement des entreprises neutres au risque à celui des entreprises riscophobes. Un résultat intéressant est que les entreprises neutres au risque ne sont pas indifférentes à l’introduction et à la variation du risque. Nous présentons plusieurs extensions au problème initial dont la prise en compte de la valeur d’une étude de marché et le changement de la distribution a priori des ventes.

Suggested Citation

  • Dionne, Georges & Pellerin, Marc, 1987. "Investissement en incertitude : extension du problème de la taille optimale d’une usine," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 63(2), pages 256-281, juin et s.
    • Handle: RePEc:ris:actuec:v:63:y:1987:i:2:p:256-281
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/601422ar
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Leland, Hayne E, 1972. "Theory of the Firm Facing Uncertain Demand," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(3), pages 278-291, June.
    2. Katz, Eliakim, 1985. "Relative Risk Aversion in Comparative Statics: Reply," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(1), pages 286-287, March.
    3. Briys, Eric & Eeckhoudt, Louis, 1985. "Relative Risk Aversion in Comparative Statics: Comment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(1), pages 281-283, March.
    4. Powell, Warren & Winston, Clifford, 1983. "A numerical investigation of the impact of uncertain demand and varying risk preferences on the pricing and capacity decisions of transportation firms: The case of airlines," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 17(6), pages 471-490, December.
    5. Baron, David P, 1971. "Demand Uncertainty in Imperfect Competition," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 12(2), pages 196-208, June.
    6. Hey, John D, 1985. "Relative Risk Aversion in Comparative Statics: Comment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(1), pages 284-285, March.
    7. Dionne, G. & Eeckhoudt, L., 1985. "Increasing Risk and Self-Protection Activities," Cahiers de recherche 8529, Universite de Montreal, Departement de sciences economiques.
    8. Sandmo, Agnar, 1971. "On the Theory of the Competitive Firm under Price Uncertainty," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 61(1), pages 65-73, March.
    9. Eeckhoudt, Louis & Hansen, Pierre, 1983. "Micro-economic applications of marginal changes in risk," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 167-176, July.
    10. Keeler, Emmett B & Newhouse, Joseph P & Phelps, C E, 1977. "Deductibles and the Demand for Medical Care Services: The Theory of a Consumer Facing a Variable Price Schedule under Uncertainty," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 45(3), pages 641-655, April.
    11. Edwin S. Mills, 1959. "Uncertainty and Price Theory," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 73(1), pages 116-130.
    12. Meyer, Jack & Ormiston, Michael B., 1983. "The comparative statics of cumulative distribution function changes for the class of risk averse agents," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 153-169, October.
    13. Rothschild, Michael & Stiglitz, Joseph E., 1970. "Increasing risk: I. A definition," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 2(3), pages 225-243, September.
    14. Eeckhoudt, L. & Hansen, P., 1984. "Mean-Preserving Changes in Risk with Tail-Dominance," Cahiers de recherche 8413, Universite de Montreal, Departement de sciences economiques.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Hennessy, David A., 1993. "Applications of contingent claims theory to microeconomic problems," ISU General Staff Papers 1993010108000011822, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    2. Horowitz, I. & Thompson, P., 1995. "The sophisticated decision maker: All work and no pay?," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 1-11, February.
    3. Fraser, Robert W, 1985. "Uncertainty and the Theory of Mark-up Pricing," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(1), pages 55-64, January.
    4. Paulsson, Thomas & Sproule, Robert, 2002. "Stochastically dominating shifts and the competitive firm," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 141(1), pages 107-112, August.
    5. Dionne, Georges & Harrington, Scott, 2017. "Insurance and Insurance Markets," Working Papers 17-2, HEC Montreal, Canada Research Chair in Risk Management.
    6. Thomas Eichner & Andreas Wagener, 2002. "Increases in Risk and the Welfare State," CESifo Working Paper Series 685, CESifo.
    7. Yasunori Ishii, 2000. "International cournol duopoly and R&D subsidies under demand uncertainly," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 72(2), pages 203-222, June.
    8. Eeckhoudt, Louis & Gollier, Christian & Schlesinger, Harris, 1997. "The no-loss offset provision and the attitude towards risk of a risk-neutral firm," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 207-217, August.
    9. Dana G. Popescu & Sridhar Seshadri, 2013. "Demand Uncertainty and Excess Supply in Commodity Contracting," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(9), pages 2135-2152, September.
    10. Asplund, Marcus, 2002. "Risk-averse firms in oligopoly," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 20(7), pages 995-1012, September.
    11. Chao-cheng Mai, 1984. "Demand Function and Location Theory of the Firm Under Price Uncertainty," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 21(4), pages 459-464, November.
    12. Wang, Shinn-Shyr & Stiegert, Kyle W., 2006. "The Duopolistic Firm with Endogenous Risk Control: Case of Persuasive Advertising and Product Differentiation," Staff Paper Series 496, University of Wisconsin, Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    13. Mirman, Leonard J. & Santugini, Marc, 2013. "Firms, shareholders, and financial markets," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 53(2), pages 152-164.
    14. Meunier, Guy, 2013. "Risk aversion and technology mix in an electricity market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 866-874.
    15. Guy Meunier, 2014. "Risk Aversion and Technology Portfolios," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 44(4), pages 347-365, June.
    16. John C. Quiggin & Jock R. Anderson, 1979. "Stabilisation And Risk Reduction In Australian Agriculture," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 23(3), pages 191-206, December.
    17. Trabelsi, Mohamed Ali, 2008. "Les nouveaux modèles de décision dans le risque et l’incertain : quel apport ? [The new models of decision under risk or uncertainty: What approach?]," MPRA Paper 83347, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2008.
    18. Hurley, Terrance M., 2016. "Slutsky, Let Me Introduce You to Arrow-Pratt: Competitive Price Effects with Uncertain Production," Staff Papers 250204, University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics.
    19. Hennessy, David A., 1997. "Stochastic technologies and the adoption decision," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 437-453, December.
    20. Wang, Shinn-Shyr & Stiegert, Kyle W., 2006. "The Duopolistic Firm with Endogenous Risk Control: Case of Persuasive Advertising and Product Differentiation," Staff Papers 12606, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.

    More about this item

    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:ris:actuec:v:63:y:1987:i:2:p:256-281. 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: Benoit Dostie (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/scseeea.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.