IMF Working Papers

Fixed Investment and Capital Flows: A Real Options Approach

By Jorge A Chan-Lau, Peter B. Clark

August 1, 1998

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Jorge A Chan-Lau, and Peter B. Clark Fixed Investment and Capital Flows: A Real Options Approach, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 1998) accessed November 8, 2024
Disclaimer: This Working Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF.The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate

Summary

This paper draws a link between international capital flows and the real options approach to investment by extending a model of real estate investment. It explains gradual investment, investment booms, and investment during recessions and emphasizes sunk costs, uncertainty, and the value of waiting. The optimal waiting time increases as foreign borrowing becomes more expensive because higher returns are required to cover the sunk costs of investing. The lower the initial level of profitability, the more likely investment will be sequential; conversely, a relatively high initial rate of return will be associated with simultaneous investment.

Subject: Balance of payments, Capital flows, Competition, Emerging and frontier financial markets, Financial institutions, Financial markets, Foreign direct investment, Stocks

Keywords: Asia and Pacific, Borrowing cost, Capital flows, Capital stock, Competition, Cost of capital, Emerging and frontier financial markets, Foreign direct investment, Interest rate, Interest rate spread, Investment activity, Investment boom, Investment decision, Irreversible investment, Present discounted value, Rate of return, Stocks, Strategic behavior, WP

Publication Details

  • Pages:

    28

  • Volume:

    ---

  • DOI:

    ---

  • Issue:

    ---

  • Series:

    Working Paper No. 1998/125

  • Stock No:

    WPIEA1251998

  • ISBN:

    9781451937398

  • ISSN:

    1018-5941

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