Real Options in the Valuation of Intangibles: Managers’ Perception

Abstract

Abstract: The aim of the present is to verify the degree of applicability of the financial valuation method developed by Rodríguez‑Castellanos et al. (2006a, 2007) for the valuation of real option‑based intangibles in the Spanish region of the Basque Country. The field study consisted on a telephone survey of CFOs in a random sample of Basque Country’s firms, selected using segmentation criteria based on size and business sector. Considering the 517 replies received it is stated that, despite three of every four CFOs answering that options were included in their intangibles, approximately one of every five is actually capable of identifying such options. When we consider the difficulties encountered in estimating the model’s parameters, the conclusion is that less than 10% of the region’s firms are likely to be in a position to directly apply the method proposed for the valuation of real option‑based intangibles, which means a preliminary phase of analysis and diagnosis is required before the method can actually be applied in practice. The present paper makes a substantial contribution because it’s the first study that tries to verify the utility of a method for the financial valuation of intangible resources to take into account the associated real options. It could be useful from an academic and managerial point of view.