INVESTMENTS AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES: FINANCING, EXTERNALITIES, TIMING AND POLICIES

The adoption of new technologies often represents a critical component of firms' investment policies. Investments into new technologies are typically difficult to reverse and the timing of acquiring a new technology is a key strategic decision for a firm. This research project focuses on a number of important aspects with respect to the organization and financing of R&D investments. Also, the project explores a number of key implications with respect to industrial policy, technology policy as well as competition policy. The project incorporates the following subprojects: I. Technology Policy and the Organization of R&D (with professor Mihkel Tombak, Helsinki School of Economics and Northwestern University) II. Adoption of Uncertain Multi-stage Technology Projects: A Real Options Approach (with Dr Luis Alvarez, University of Turku) III. Strategic Investment Competition: Theory and Empirical Evidence (with professor Mihkel Tombak, Helsinki School of Economics and Northwestern University) IV. Investment, Capital Structure and Complementarities between Debt and New Equity (with professor Mihkel Tombak, Helsinki School of Economics and Northwestern University) V. Entrepreneurship or Employment: External versus Internal Agency Costs (with professor Mihkel Tombak, Helsinki School of Economics and Northwestern University).