A company has to decide whether to invest money in the development of a microbiological product. The

Question:

A company has to decide whether to invest money in the development of a microbiological product. The company's research director has estimated that there is a 60% chance that a successful development could be achieved in two years. However, if the product had not been successfully developed at the end of this period, the company would abandon the project, which would lead to a loss in present value terms of $3 million. Present value is designed to take the company's time preference for money into account. In the event of a successful development a decision would have to be made on the scale of production. The returns generated would depend on the level of sales which could be achieved over the period of the product's life. For simplicity, these have been categorized as either high or low. If the company opted for large volume production and high sales were achieved, then net returns with a present value of $6 million would be obtained. However, large-scale production followed by low sales would lead to net returns with a present value of only $1 million. On the other hand, if the company decided to invest only in small-scale production facilities then high sales would generate net returns with a present value of $4 million and low sales would generate net returns with a present value of$2 million. The company's marketing manager estimates that there is a 75% chance that high sales could be achieved.
(a) Construct a decision tree to represent the company's decision problem.
Fantastic news! We've Found the answer you've been seeking!

Step by Step Answer:

Related Book For  book-img-for-question

Microeconomics

ISBN: 978-0073375854

2nd edition

Authors: Douglas Bernheim, Michael Whinston

Question Posted: