Les options réelles : une idée séduisante, un concept utile et multiforme, un instrument facile à créer mais difficile à valoriser

The number of articles on real options arises some questions. Is it possible to employ them in every field? What can we expect of them a valuation method, or a new way of thinking? This text aim to answer to these questions. It gives some precision on the analogy between real and financial options, it shows how the optional valuation gives an answer to the limits of the traditional analysis of investment, it underlines the fact that real options can take very different forms, it exposes the conditions of their existence and the difficulties of their valuation.