A rationale for the payback criterion
Textbooks on financial management have emphasized the shortcomings of the payback criterion for decades. However, empirical evidence suggests that in actual capital budgeting procedures the payback method is used quite regularly. Mostly, it is implemented supplementary to net present value or internal rate of return, but small companies tend to rely on payback times as single criterion. A convincing theoretical foundation for the observed use of the payback criterion is lacking. Consequently, our goal is to provide such an explanation for the payback criterion’s popularity. We demonstrate from a decision theoretical perspective how relying on payback times simplifies investment decisions in modern organizations. Gathering information from different management levels and ensuring the utilization of individual skills requires a multi-stage capital budgeting process. Accordingly, we consider fundamental organizational features of this process with respect to their impact on the payback method’s use. For this purpose, we built upon almost stochastic dominance (ASD) as modeling device. Firstly, we show that applying his concept allows to include the risk preferences of all relevant decision makers into the analysis. Secondly, we illustrate that the criteria derived from this model help conveying these preferences to those who do the preparatory work preceding the final decision. To some extent, these new criteria are generalizations of payback times. This finding provides a potential explanation for the payback’s persisting prominence.
Year of publication: |
2008-09-28
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Authors: | Jahnke, Hermann ; Simons, Dirk |
Institutions: | Sonderforschungsbereich 504 "Rationalitätskonzepte, Entscheidungsverhalten und ökonomische Modellierung", Abteilung für Volkswirtschaftslehre ; Sonderforschungsbereich 504, University of Mannheim |
Saved in:
freely available
Extent: | application/pdf |
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Series: | |
Type of publication: | Book / Working Paper |
Language: | English |
Notes: | Financial support from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, SFB 504, at the University of Mannheim, is gratefully acknowledged. The text is part of a series sfbmaa Number 08-15 38 pages |
Source: |
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005761209
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