Strategic implications of valuation methods

Author's OriginalStrategy is ultimately aimed at creating shareholder value, placing valuation in a central role linking finance and strategy. Focusing on growth options, this paper uses a unique "perfect information" model to examine, from a strategy point of view, the relationship between the market value of the firm and its intrinsic, or DCF, value. Although the research is at the level of the firm, the results have implications at the level of individual strategies and projects, since a firm can be conceptualized as a collection of projects. The findings highlight the relationship between the value of growth options and macroeconomic conditions, industry characteristics, and firm-specific factors. A revised version of this paper has since been published in the journal Advances in Strategic Management. Please use this version in your citations.Alessandri, T. M., Lander, D. M., & Bettis, R. A. (2007), Strategic Implications of Valuation: Evidence from Valuing Growth Options, in Professor Brian Silverman (ed.) Real Options Theory. Advances in Strategic Management, 24, 459-48

Discovery of the optical counterpart and early optical observations of GRB990712

We present the discovery observations of the optical counterpart of the gamma-ray burster GRB990712 taken 4.16 hours after the outburst and discuss its light curve observed in the V, R and I bands during the first ~35 days after the outburst. The observed light curves were fitted with a power-law decay for the optical transient (OT), plus an additional component which was treated in two different ways. First, the additional component was assumed to be an underlying galaxy of constant brightness. The resulting slope of the decay is 0.97+/-0.05 and the magnitudes of the underlying galaxy are: V = 22.3 +/- 0.05, R = 21.75 +/- 0.05 and I = 21.35 +/- 0.05. Second, the additional component was assumed to be a galaxy plus an underlying supernova with a time-variable brightness identical to that of GRB980425, appropriately scaled to the redshift of GRB990712. The resulting slope of the decay is similar, but the goodness-of-fit is worse which would imply that either this GRB is not associated with an underlying supernova or the underlying supernova is much fainter than the supernova associated with GRB980425. The galaxy in this case is fainter: V = 22.7 +/- 0.05, R = 22.25 +/- 0.05 and I = 22.15 +/- 0.05; and the OT plus the underlying supernova at a given time is brighter. Measurements of the brightnesses of the OT and the galaxy by late-time HST observation and ground-based observations can thus assess the presence of an underlying supernova.Comment: To appear in Ap

Broadband Multi-wavelength Properties of M87 during the 2017 Event Horizon Telescope Campaign

Abstract: In 2017, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration succeeded in capturing the first direct image of the center of the M87 galaxy. The asymmetric ring morphology and size are consistent with theoretical expectations for a weakly accreting supermassive black hole of mass ∼6.5 × 109 M ⊙. The EHTC also partnered with several international facilities in space and on the ground, to arrange an extensive, quasi-simultaneous multi-wavelength campaign. This Letter presents the results and analysis of this campaign, as well as the multi-wavelength data as a legacy data repository. We captured M87 in a historically low state, and the core flux dominates over HST-1 at high energies, making it possible to combine core flux constraints with the more spatially precise very long baseline interferometry data. We present the most complete simultaneous multi-wavelength spectrum of the active nucleus to date, and discuss the complexity and caveats of combining data from different spatial scales into one broadband spectrum. We apply two heuristic, isotropic leptonic single-zone models to provide insight into the basic source properties, but conclude that a structured jet is necessary to explain M87’s spectrum. We can exclude that the simultaneous γ-ray emission is produced via inverse Compton emission in the same region producing the EHT mm-band emission, and further conclude that the γ-rays can only be produced in the inner jets (inward of HST-1) if there are strongly particle-dominated regions. Direct synchrotron emission from accelerated protons and secondaries cannot yet be excluded