STABILITY OF THE UTILITY MAXIMIZATION PROBLEM WITH RANDOM ENDOWMENT IN INCOMPLETE MARKETS

We perform a stability analysis for the utility maximization problem in a general semimartingale model where both liquid and illiquid assets (random endowments) are present. Small misspecifications of preferences (as modeled via expected utility), as well as views of the world or the market model (as modeled via subjective probabilities) are considered. Simple sufficient conditions are given for the problem to be well posed, in the sense that the optimal wealth and the marginal utility‐based prices are continuous functionals of preferences and probabilistic views.     

Wirtschaftslehre der Unternehmung in Hauptgedanken ihrer theoretischen Begründung

Ohne ZusammenfassungGewidmet der Tschechischen Technischen Hochschule in Prag — dieser ältesten öffentlichen ingenieurwissenschaftlichen Schule Europas —zum 250-jährigen Jubiläum (1707 bis 1957) im festen Glauben an eine baldige Vereinigung aller Prager Hochschulen technischer Richtung in das organische Ganzeder Technischen Universität und in der Überzeugung von der Notwendigkeit der wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Fakultät als eines unabtrennbaren Bestandteiles dieser Universität.     

Using artificial neural network and multivariate analysis techniques to evaluate road operating conditions

Regional paved roads are low volume roads with a prevalence of heavy traffic. In the world, these roads concern about 80% of the total road network; however, the traffic that affects these roads is about 20%. Since regional roads are characterized by weak demand, budget for their management/maintenance is very low. This produces considerable difficulties in the choice of strategies for maintenance planning and scheduling. For this reason, the recurring topics of research in this field deal with typical roads issues and aim to develop low cost tools and methods. The study proposes a decision support system to evaluate regional paved roads operating condition in relation to the hydrogeological situation. In particular, the system allows to evaluate in a quick and easy manner, the operating conditions of the road, through low-cost tools (i.e. using low economic resources). This is very useful in the case of LVRs because administrations for these roads have a limited budget. The procedure is developed on a regional paved roads network based on more than 80 roads located in Southern Italy. Data is collected by direct surveys in the field and is integrated with cartography and information available in road agency records. From data analysis, obtained using two different techniques, an easy and quick use procedure is made. In particular, Model 1 is built through multivariate analysis and Model 2 using the artificial neural network (ANN) technique. The results show the validity of the two models in Regional paved roads operating conditions estimation in relation to hydrogeological situations of sites. Both models show good reliability. In particular, the first model (Model 1) is characterized by a high level of significance (p < 0.01) and by a coefficient of determination equal to 0.82. Comparative tests between the second model (Model 2) on which standard tests cannot be performed for obvious reasons, and the first model (Model 1). The results show that the ANN model (model 2), characterized by lower residual, simulates more accurately than the second (Model 1).     

Credit supply and corporate innovation

We present evidence that banking development plays a key role in technological progress. We focus on manufacturing firms' innovative performance, measured by patent-based metrics, and employ exogenous variations in banking development arising from the staggered deregulation of banking activities across US states during the 1980s and 1990s. We find that interstate banking deregulation had significant beneficial effects on the quantity and quality of innovation activities, especially for firms highly dependent on external capital and located closer to entering banks. Furthermore, we find that these results are strongly driven by a greater ability of deregulated banks to geographically diversify credit risk.     

Conceptual and mathematical model for quality improvement in health care

Numerous studies have shown that implemented models for quality assurance or improvement in healthcare facilities differ, even those models that are based on the same guidelines, i.e. standards, regulations or concepts. The cause of diversity in implemented quality models could be found in the process of translating guidelines into the implemented model for quality assurance or improvements in healthcare facilities, while neglecting processes of healthcare facilities that are not clinical processes, but still responsible for the quality of healthcare services. Therefore, this research recommends a conceptual model that should be a link between guidelines, implemented models and mathematical models derived from the conceptual model, which could provide a means of evaluating quality values of any part of the healthcare organization.     

A study on the competitive strategy of the universal postal service provider

We analysed how the universal postal service providers could employ their specificities to achieve an advantage over the growing competition. The basic input for the model is expert opinions. We interviewed 18 experts in five stages. As a multiple criteria decision support method, we used an analytic hierarchy process. Further, we proposed a geometric method for determining the business area where a company should focus its biggest attention to achieve the best result. By implementing the proposed model, a company should obtain two types of business directions, the first related to the proposed activities and the second to the business areas. To demonstrate the applicability of the proposed methodology, we tested and verified it in the case of the Serbian universal postal service provider which is a state-owned company called the Post of Serbia.