This paper analyzes the behavior of a firm that chooses both the scale and timing of its investment. Sensitivity analysis shows that greater demand volatility is associated with the firm investing in larger increments, less frequently. This is in contrast to the conventional wisdom, which is...

We present a model featuring irreversible investment, economies of scale, uncertain future demand and capital prices, and a regulator who sets the firm’s output price according to the cost structure of a hypothetical replacement firm. We show that a replacement firm has a fundamental cost...

This paper considers the extent to which the standard argument, that the disproportionate excess burden of taxation suggests the use of tax-smoothing in the face of future cost increases, is modified by uncertainty regarding the future. The role of uncertainty and risk aversion are examined...

Slides from the presentation by Professor Lewis Evans on Infrastructure Investment and Uncertainty, presented at the IIPS/Motu Workshop, victoria University on July 13, 2010.

This study is motivated by the apparent reluctance of Australian urban water entities to adopt the user pays pricing formula despite strong encouragement by Australian Governments to do so. Elements of contingency theory political cost theory and transaction cost economics are employed in...