Quasi-Option Value Under Ambiguity

Rea! investments involving irreversibility and ambiguity embed a positive quasi-option value under ambiguity (q.o.v.a.), which modifies the evaluation ofan investment decision involving depletion ofnatural resources by increasing the value of delaying. Q.o.v.a. depends on the specific decision-maker attitude towards ambiguity, expressed by a capacity on the state space. An empirica! measure of q.o. v .a. is pointed out. Exploiting the properties of a capacity and its conjugate, the relationship has been established between the upper and lower Choquet integrai with respect to a subadditive capacity and the bid and ask price ofthe underlying asset (output) ofthe investment decision. The empirica! measure of q.o.v.a. is defined as the upper bound ofthe opportunity value. As an example, q.o.v.a. is applied to evaluate an off-shore petroleum lease under ambiguity. Citation: