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Journal of Financial Economics Vol. 44 No. 3 1997

Investment in technological innovations: An option pricing approach

Steven R. Grenadier1; Allen M. Weiss2

1 Stanford University · 2 University of Southern California

open access

Abstract

This paper develops a model of the optimal investment strategy for a firm confronted with a sequence of technological innovations. We incorporate many of the most important characteristics of real-world technology markets. For example, we permit innovations to be stochastic in their arrival times and their profitability. We also incorporate learning so that firms adopting current innovations become better able to benefit from future innovations. The model yields four distinct investment strategies. The model is then used to predict actual firm policy. These implications are discussed and compared with observed firm behavior.

DOI
10.1016/s0304-405x(97)00009-3
Volume
44
Issue
3
Pages
397-416
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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