Research Areas

Infrastructure Finance, Risk and Decision Analysis Under Uncertainty, Stochastic/Econometric Models, Asset Management.

Ph.D. (Infrastructure Finance Risk Management/ Civil Eng.), Columbia University
M.Sc. (Quantitative Finance & R.M.), Universita' L. Bocconi, Italy
M.Sc. (Civil Eng.), University of Texas at Austin
Laurea in Ingegneria Civile, Universita' di Palermo, Italy

Executive Director: Center of Global Infrastructure Valuation and Risk Analysis (GINEVRA Center)

Nicola Chiara specializes in the areas of Risk and Decision Analysis, Infrastructure Finance (Stochastic/Econometric models and Stochastic Optimization/Monte Carlo Simulation). His research interests include project risk analysis and project credit risk analysis; investigation of risk mitigation instruments for infrastructure project finance; option theory and its application in complex infrastructure and engineering systems; risk assessment in asset management and project management of engineering systems; and risk mitigation contracts in project management.

He is a member of the Global Association of Risk Professionals and American Society of Civil Engineers.

PAPERS

Infrastructure Project Finance / Financial Risk Management/ Computational Finance

Working Papers

Chiara, N. (2009). Basel II Accord and Project Finance

Chiara, N., Dong F. Vecer J. (2009). Pricing Multiple-Exercise Credit Default Swap

Chiara, N. and Dong F. (2009). Measuring Credit Risk in Project Finance

Dong F. and Chiara N. (2009). Stochastic Capital Structure Optimization in Project Financing

Selected Published/Submitted Peer-reviewed Journal Papers

Chiara, N. (2009). Parametric Monte Carlo Method To Price High-dimensional and Path-Independent Multiple-exercise Real Options, submitted

Dong F. and Chiara, N. (2009). Copula-Based Portfolio Credit Risk Assessment in Project Finance, submitted

Chiara, N. and Dong F. (2009). Commodity Risk Management: Pricing Swing Options via Bi-Boundary Monte Carlo Method, submitted

Chiara, N. and Kokkaew N. (2009). Alternative to Government Revenue Guarantees: The Dynamic Revenue Insurance Contracts, submitted

Kokkaew N.and Chiara, N. (2009). Modeling Construction Completion Risk in BOT Project Finance, submitted

Dong, F., Chiara N., Vecer J. (2009). "Valuing Callable and Putable Revenue-Performance-Linked Project Backed Securities", International Journal of Theoretical and Applied Finance, forthcoming

Chiara, N. and Kokkaew N. (2009). "Risk Analysis of Contractual Flexibility in BOT Negotiations: a Quantitative Approach using Risk Flexibility Theory", International Journal of Engineering and Management, 1(1), 71-79.

Chiara, N. and Garvin, J. M. (2008). Variance Models for Project Financial Risk Analysis with Applications to Greenfield BOT Highway Projects, Journal of Construction Management and Economics 2 6(Sept 2008), 925-939

Chiara, N., J. Garvin, and Vecer J. (2007). Valuing Simple Multiple-Exercise Real Options in Infrastructure Projects, ASCE Journal of Infrastructure Systems 13(2), 97-104.

Chiara, N. and Garvin, J. M. (2007). Utilizing Real Options for Revenue Risk Mitigation in Transportation Project Financing, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 1993, 1-8.

Graduate Students

PhD Students

Wei Wang
Nakhon Kokkaew
Cengiz Ucbenli
Feng Dong
Gregory Fitch
Amy Tang
Azadeh Sharif
Mehdi Tavakolan