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Researcher

Tine Compernolle

  • Research Expertise:Prof. dr. Tine Compernolle is FED-tWIN researcher. She currently holds a tenure track position at the University of Antwerp (50%) and is senior researcher at the Geological Survey of Belgium, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS-GSB). My research activities focus on strategic decision making under uncertainty. I adopt the real options approach and integrate principles of game theory to analyze investment decision under multiple sources of uncertainty, while taking into account the value of flexibility. Because firms do not operate in isolation, also interactions of different economic actors with a cooperative or competitive framework need to be addressed. I adopt these real option games in the field of environmental economics and more particularly on subsurface developments, in close collaboration with scientists in the field of geology and hydrogeology. Central research question is how to develop the subsurface in a sustainable way. Geological resources play a crucial role in every-day life. The subsurface provides multiple services and a variety of activities takes place at varying depths. In Flanders for instance, the Campine Basin is used for the seasonal storage of natural gas and this basin is currently also the sole target resource for direct use of geothermal energy production in Flanders. At more shallow depths, groundwater is being extracted and used for the production of drinking water, in the agricultural sector or in other industries. Because the number of geological formations suited for these activities is limited and because the subsurface is a complex and interlinked system, competition between subsurface uses is already taking place and is likely to increase. Subsurface activities do not operate in isolation. Past activities (like mining) have left imprints that dictate current subsurface utilizations and present subsurface activities will leave imprints that will dictate the options for future subsurface utilization. Also, different subsurface activities are operating simultaneously. Real options games traditionally cover only one perspective: the economic perspective. Besides (hydro)geological aspects, we also aim to integrate above-ground environmental impacts as well as social aspects like environmental justice and stakeholder perceptions. With these research activities we aim to get insights about (i) the geological and economic boundary conditions that determine the selection of subsurface development options, (2) the environmental economic costs and benefits associated with interfering subsurface activities, (iii) the options that can be considered as most valuable to manage the risk of negatively interfering subsurface activities, (iv) about how to plan simultaneously or consecutively operating subsurface activities such that the subsurface can be developed at the highest expected reward and the lowest expected economic and environmental risks, and (v) about how to distribute subsurface resources equitably within and across generations. The application of real option games is not only relevant in the field of environmental economics. I also develop real option games in the field of urban planning (in close collaboration with Prof. Dr. Tom Coppens) and transport economics (in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Bruno de Borger).
  • Keywords:UNCERTAINTY MANAGEMENT, REAL OPTIONS, MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH, ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS, SUSTAINABILITY, Economics and applied economics
  • Disciplines:Applied economics, Management, Mathematical and quantitative methods, Other economics and business, Agricultural and natural resource economics, environmental and ecological economics
  • Research techniques:- real options theory - game theory - Environmental life cycle analysis - Cost effectiveness analysis - Multi-criteria Decision Assessment
  • Users of research expertise:Potential users: - policy makers in the field of Environment (groundwater, energy, natural environment) - policy makers in the field of Planning (both above-ground as well as subsurface planning)