Real Options Valuation : an application to the portuguese real estate market

The contribution of real options analysis on the valuation of Portuguese undeveloped building sites is significant on the decision making regarding the apartment-buildings construction. Using the options model developed by Quigg (1993), and including the necessary readjustments for the Portuguese market, it was found that the scale price elasticity parameter and construction expenditures’ elasticity of scale parameter had a strong impact on building sites’ values. The empirical analysis revealed that the option to defer adds value to undeveloped building sites’ valuations. This fact cannot be ignored when deciding upon an investment’s implementation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

High speed rail transport valuation

The present paper investigates the optimal timing of investment for a high speed rail (HSR) project, in an uncertain environment, using a real options analysis (ROA) framework. It develops a continuous time framework with stochastic demand that allows for the determination of the optimal timing of investment and the value of the option to defer in the overall valuation of the project. The modelling approach used is based on the differential utility provided to railway users by the HSR service.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

High speed rail transport valuation and policy decisions

The present paper investigates the process of decision making regarding the optimal timing to invest in the high speed rail (HSR) project, under uncertainty, using the real options analysis (ROA) framework. It’s developed a continuous time framework that allows a solution to the problem concerning the optimal timing to invest and to value the impact of the option to defer in the overall valuation of the project, with multiple uncertainty factors. Besides considering a stochastic demand, the effect of uncertainty in the investment’s expenditure and over the benefit per user is incorporated in a model with three stochastic variables. The modelling approach used is based on the differential utility provided to railway users by the HSR service.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

High speed rail transport valuation

The present paper investigates the optimal timing of investment for a high speed rail (HSR) project, in an uncertain environment, using a real options analysis (ROA) framework. It develops a continuous time framework with stochastic demand that allows for the determination of the optimal timing of investment and the value of the option to defer in the overall valuation of the project. The modelling approach used is based on the differential utility provided to railway users by the HSR service.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Quality of the Azores destination in the perspective of tourists

Tourism is a growing industry in the Autonomous Region of the Azores. However, little is known about how tourists evaluate this destination, something which certainly constitutes a shortcoming if one takes into consideration that this is a very competitive industry, with new destinations appearing every year and others increasing their market share. This paper focuses on the quality of the Azores destination in the perspective of tourists and, to an extent, has the goal of contributing to reduce this shortcoming. According to our findings, 74% of the tourists interviewed consider the global quality of the Azores destination to be very good or excellent, with the landscape, the climate/weather, the hospitality, the cleanliness and the security being the most highly-rated partial indicators. Additionally, a regression analysis indicates that the evaluation of the global quality of this destination varies according to the individual characteristics of tourists.N/

Tourism development potential in an insular territory : the case of Ribeira Grande in the Azores

The Autonomous Region of the Azores is one of the most sustainable destinations in the world. Being an archipelago comprised of nine small islands, quality and sustainability are critical features in the tourism sector, inducing the need for thorough and technical strategic development processes. Ribeira Grande is an important municipality in the Azores, which envisioned tourism as a strategic sector to develop when the partial liberalization of the air passenger transport sector occurred in 2015. However, this destination had little tourism maturity and competitiveness and required some structural planning work. The development of a strategic plan for tourism for the municipality of Ribeira Grande, including the selection of tourism products, is explained in detail in this article, which highlights the main challenges and results of the process.N/

Evaluation of the surrender and the minimum guaranteed rate of return options in life insurance products

This paper aims to value a Guaranteed Investment Contract (GIC), offered by insurance companies, with a minimum rate of return and an option to surrender the contract (surrender option) at any time before the maturity date. The valuation framework uses a set of different models to value each one of these two options included on a GIC contract commercialized by a Portuguese financial group. We estimate that the surrender option value is around 1.18 percent of the net premium and that the value for the minimum guaranteed rate of return option varies between 0 an 7 percent, according to the used model.N/

Parachute simulation: integration methods

Mass-spring models are frequently employed in parachute simulations due to their simplicity and efficiency. A series of integration methods can be used to solve the dynamic system, however their use presents some difficulties often associated with the stability, accuracy and the computational resources consumption. We compared some of these methods in four different situations: simple pendulum, spring pendulum and two parachute models, and for each system the behavior of the integration methods was different. In the parachute simulations, which are the main objective of this thesis, the Improved Explicit Euler presented the best performance in the first model, although the simulation ended up diverging. For the second model, all of the tested schemes worked.Trabalho de Conclusão de Curso (Graduação)Modelos massa-mola são frequentemente empregados em simulações de paraquedas devido à sua simplicidade e eficiência. Diversos métodos de integração podem ser utilizados para a resolução desses sistemas, entretanto, sua utilização pode acarretar em dificuldades associadas à estabilidade, acurácia e ao consumo de recursos computacionais. Comparamos alguns desses métodos em quatro diferentes situações: um pendulo simples, um pêndulo com mola e dois modelos de paraquedas. E para cada modelo, o comportamento dos métodos de integração mostrou-se diferente. Nas simulações de paraquedas, o principal objetivo deste trabalho, o Método Melhorado de Euler Explícito apresentou a melhor performance no primeiro modelo, apesar de a simulação acabar divergindo. Para o segundo modelo de paraquedas, todos os métodos testados funcionaram

Impacto da inibição do efeito de recência na produção de memórias falsas em listas de associados

O presente estudo tem como objectivo principal avaliar o efeito da inibição [do efeito] da recência na produção de ilusões de memórias com base no procedimento desenvolvido por Roediger e McDermott (1995). Para tal, utilizamos listas de palavras portuguesas associadas a um item crítico (Albuquerque, 2001). Os resultados da realização de uma tarefa distractiva de contagem retrógrada a seguir à apresentação das oito listas de palavras e imediatamente antes da sua evocação revela uma diminuição significativa do número de palavras evocadas e um aumento na produção de evocações falsas do item crítico. O estudo mostrou também que o falso reconhecimento de itens críticos pode ser influenciado pela activação prévia desses itens através de palavras que lhe estão associadas. Os dados são interpretados tendo em conta as duas teorias explicativas principais do fenómeno das ilusões de memórias: a da activação/monitorização e a do traço difuso

Normas de familiaridade subjectiva, concreteza e valência emocional de itens críticos de listas de associados semânticos em língua portuguesa

O presente estudo apresenta dados normativos de familiaridade subjectiva, concreteza e valência emocional de 12 itens críticos de listas de associados semânticos em língua portuguesa (Albuquerque, 2005). Estas normas visam apoiar outros investigadores interessados em estudar o fenómeno de memórias falsas a partir do paradigma Deese-Roediger-McDermott.The current study presents normative data of subjective familiarity, concreteness and emotional valence of 12 critical items of semantic associate words lists in Portuguese (Albuquerque, 2005). With these norms we aim to support the research of others authors interested in studying the false memory effect with the Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm