The business environment, particularly after the continuing oil crises of the seventies, can be characterized as evolving rapidly in complex and often unpre dictable ways. Such things as high interest and inflation rates, fluctuating ex change rates, volatile commodity markets, and increasing political turmoil have led to a situation in which explicit consideration of environmental dynamics is becoming much more important for successful business planning than was true in the past. Companies are finding that it is no longer possible to conduct "busi ness as usual" under these changing circumstances. Rather, decision makers are having to be more cognizant of the many sources of uncertainty that could have serious impacts on the continued prosperity of the firm, as well as of actions that can be taken so that the company can thrive in spite of these greater uncertainties. Businesses have responded to these challenges by giving more thorough con sideration to strategic issues. Whereas in the past the steady progression of mar kets and technology was taken for granted, the uncertainties associated with increased worldwide competition, as well as with other exogenous factors, have vii viii INTRODUCTION forced companies to think more about flexibility. This involves not only how best to exploit profitable current options, but also how to position themselves at present to be able to respond appropriately to threats and opportunities as they arise in the future. Unfortunately, in this redirection of outlook, the fmance profession has not kept pace.

How should firms decide whether and when to invest in new capital equipment, additions to their workforce, or the development of new products? Why have traditional economic models of investment failed to explain the behavior of investment spending in the United States and other countries? In this book, Avinash Dixit and Robert Pindyck provide the first detailed exposition of a new theoretical approach to the capital investment decisions of firms, stressing the irreversibility of most investment decisions, and the ongoing uncertainty of the economic environment in which these decisions are made. In so doing, they answer important questions about investment decisions and the behavior of investment spending. This new approach to investment recognizes the option value of waiting for better (but never complete) information. It exploits an analogy with the theory of options in financial markets, which permits a much richer dynamic framework than was possible with the traditional theory of investment. The authors present the new theory in a clear and systematic way, and consolidate, synthesize, and extend the various strands of research that have come out of the theory. Their book shows the importance of the theory for understanding investment behavior of firms; develops the implications of this theory for industry dynamics and for government policy concerning investment; and shows how the theory can be applied to specific industries and to a wide variety of business problems.

Capital investment decisions are a constant challenge to all levels of financial managers. Capital Budgeting: Theory and Practice shows you how to confront them using state-of-the-art techniques. Broken down into four comprehensive sections, Capital Budgeting: Theory and Practice explores and illustrates all aspects of the capital budgeting decision process. Pamela Peterson and Frank Fabozzi examine the critical issues and limitations of capital budgeting techniques with an in-depth analysis of: Classifying capital budgeting proposals Determining the relevant cash flows for capital budgeting proposals Assessing the economic value of a capital budgeting proposal using different techniques Incorporating risk into the capital budgeting decision Evaluating whether to lease or borrow-to-buy Capital Budgeting: Theory and Practice provides the knowledge, insight, and advice that will allow you to handle one of the most important aspects of your firm's financial management. Advanced enough for practitioners yet accessible enough for the novice, Capital Budgeting: Theory and Practice is your complete guide to understanding and benefiting from the essential techniques of capital budgeting.

This book is an introduction-level text that reviews, discusses, and integrates both theoretical and practical corporate analysis and planning. The field can be divided into five parts: (1) Information and Methodology for Financial Analysis; (2) Alternative Finance Theories and Cost of Capital; (3) Capital Budgeting and Leasing Decisions; (4) Corporate Policies and their Interrelationships; (5) Financial Planning and Forecasting.The theories used and discussed in this book can be grouped into the following classical theoretical areas of corporate finance: (1) Pre-M&M Theory, (2) M&M Theory, (3) CAPM, and (4) Option Pricing Theory (OPT). The interrelationships among these theories are carefully analyzed. Real world examples are used to enrich the learning experience; and alternative planning and forecasting models are used to show how the interdisciplinary approach can be used to make meaningful financial-management decisions.In this third edition, we have extensively updated and expanded the topics of financial analysis, planning and forecasting. New chapters were added, and some chapters combined to present a holistic view of the subject and much of the data revised and updated.

Corporate finance is concerned with how to make capital investment decisions (capital budgeting); how to finance company activities, including new investments; and how to make dividend payment decisions. This book will lecture on important topics for corporate finance, which will cover methods, theory, and policy decisions. The topics which will be addressed in this book include how streams of cash flows are valued, how financial managers evaluate investment opportunities, how financial statements are used to evaluate a company's financial condition and its market value, how a manager chooses between mutually exclusive opportunities, and how they evaluate different types of investment. This book will also discuss the treatment of risk when evaluating a project and the required returns on a project. Alternative sources of funds used to finance new projects, which include internal and external sources of funds, will be theoretically and empirically demonstrated. Lastly, long-term financial planning will be discussed.

Donald R. Lessard provides a thorough and detailed introduction to the Adjusted Present Value (APV) method for evaluating international projects. APV is an essential tool for assessing investment opportunities and risk in a global market, and Lessard's clear and accessible writing makes this book an invaluable resource for business leaders and investors. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.