Almost Stochastic Dominance for Most Risk-Averse Decision Makers

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-184
Author(s):  
Chunling Luo ◽  
Chin Hon Tan

In this paper, we propose a new concept of almost second-degree stochastic dominance (ASSD), which we term almost risk-averse stochastic dominance (ARSD). Compared with existing ASSD conditions, ARSD can exclude extremely risk-averse utility functions. Hence, ARSD is able to reveal clear preferences of most risk-averse decision makers in practice, which are otherwise unable to be revealed. The simple closed-form of ARSD not only makes it easy to use in practice but also provides a clear insight into the preferences of decision makers and the difference in expected values and stochastic dominance violations. Moreover, we show that ARSD can be inferred based on mean and variance alone, and thus it is applicable even when distribution information is incomplete.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi-Chieh Huang ◽  
Kamhon Kan ◽  
Larry Y. Tzeng ◽  
Kili C. Wang

Knowing how small a violation of stochastic dominance rules would be accepted by most individuals is a prerequisite to applying almost stochastic dominance criteria. Unlike previous laboratory-experimental studies, this paper estimates an acceptable violation of stochastic dominance rules with 939,690 real world data observations on a choice of deductibles in automobile theft insurance. We find that, for all policyholders in the sample who optimally chose a low deductible, the upper bound estimate of the acceptable violation ratio is 0.0014, which is close to zero. On the other hand, considering that most decision makers, such as 99% (95%) of the policyholders in the sample, optimally chose the low deductible, the upper bound estimate of the acceptable violation ratio is 0.0405 (0.0732). Our results provide reference values for the acceptable violation ratio for applying almost stochastic dominance rules. This paper was accepted by Manel Baucells, decision analysis.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 77
Author(s):  
Ing. Jakub Blaťák

Risk is an omnipresent effect in every area of human activity. Ignoring it can cause serious problems. This article is about eliminating risk in public contracts using the design-build method as a possible solution to reduce risk. First, we need to compare the standard method of design-bid-build with its alternative, design-build. Two methods are used in this article to analyse risk – the main method is RIPRAN. The evaluated results provided by the RIPRAN method are processed by research data using a scoring method with a risk map. The analysis is going to detect the difference between the DBB and DB methods, primarily in appearance and its impact on the realization of the whole construction.  The comparison identifies numerous contractual topics and risks included in both and gives deeper insight into risk management, both for the contracting party and also for public procurement. Applying risk analysis strategies and tools to the process will help decision-makers evaluate and select the most suitable delivery method consistently and defensibly. This paper gives generic risk factors related to both project types.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony KOLA-OLUSANYA

As soon as decision makers are expected to make differences towards sustainable future, young adults’ ability to make informed and sound decisions is considered essential towards securing our planet. This study provides an insight into young adults’ knowledge of key environment and sustainability issues. To answer the key research questions, data were obtained using a qualitative phenomenographic research approach and collected through 18 face-to-face in-depth interviews with research participants. The findings of this study suggest that young adults lived experiences that play a huge role in their level of awareness of topical environmental and sustainability issues critical to humanity’s future on earth. 


Author(s):  
Francesco Galofaro

AbstractThe paper presents a semiotic interpretation of the phenomenological debate on the notion of person, focusing in particular on Edmund Husserl, Max Scheler, and Edith Stein. The semiotic interpretation lets us identify the categories that orient the debate: collective/individual and subject/object. As we will see, the phenomenological analysis of the relation between person and social units such as the community, the association, and the mass shows similarities to contemporary socio-semiotic models. The difference between community, association, and mass provides an explanation for the establishment of legal systems. The notion of person we inherit from phenomenology can also be useful in facing juridical problems raised by the use of non-human decision-makers such as machine learning algorithms and artificial intelligence applications.


Author(s):  
Andreas Müller ◽  
Shivesh Kumar

AbstractDerivatives of equations of motion (EOM) describing the dynamics of rigid body systems are becoming increasingly relevant for the robotics community and find many applications in design and control of robotic systems. Controlling robots, and multibody systems comprising elastic components in particular, not only requires smooth trajectories but also the time derivatives of the control forces/torques, hence of the EOM. This paper presents the time derivatives of the EOM in closed form up to second-order as an alternative formulation to the existing recursive algorithms for this purpose, which provides a direct insight into the structure of the derivatives. The Lie group formulation for rigid body systems is used giving rise to very compact and easily parameterized equations.


2011 ◽  
Vol 133 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Raed I. Bourisli ◽  
Adnan A. AlAnzi

This work aims at developing a closed-form correlation between key building design variables and its energy use. The results can be utilized during the initial design stages to assess the different building shapes and designs according to their expected energy use. Prototypical, 20-floor office buildings were used. The relative compactness, footprint area, projection factor, and window-to-wall ratio were changed and the resulting buildings performances were simulated. In total, 729 different office buildings were developed and simulated in order to provide the training cases for optimizing the correlation’s coefficients. Simulations were done using the VisualDOE TM software with a Typical Meteorological Year data file, Kuwait City, Kuwait. A real-coded genetic algorithm (GA) was used to optimize the coefficients of a proposed function that relates the energy use of a building to its four key parameters. The figure of merit was the difference in the ratio of the annual energy use of a building normalized by that of a reference building. The objective was to minimize the difference between the simulated results and the four-variable function trying to predict them. Results show that the real-coded GA was able to come up with a function that estimates the thermal performance of a proposed design with an accuracy of around 96%, based on the number of buildings tested. The goodness of fit, roughly represented by R2, ranged from 0.950 to 0.994. In terms of the effects of the various parameters, the area was found to have the smallest role among the design parameters. It was also found that the accuracy of the function suffers the most when high window-to-wall ratios are combined with low projection factors. In such cases, the energy use develops a potential optimum compactness. The proposed function (and methodology) will be a great tool for designers to inexpensively explore a wide range of alternatives and assess them in terms of their energy use efficiency. It will also be of great use to municipality officials and building codes authors.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1956 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 959-978
Author(s):  
Hugh W. Josephs

In this work the author has attempted to gain insight into the significance of iron depletion by the use of 4 simple calculations, justification for which is found in recent articles. These are: (a) iron with which the infant is born; (b) iron retained from the food; (c) iron being used by the tissues and therefore unavailable for hemoglobin, and (d) iron combined with the total mass of hemoglobin. With these 4 figures it is possible to estimate the iron still potentially available for use (the "reserves" or "stones"). When the difference between a + b and c + d has reached about zero, depletion is considered to exist. The following characteristics of depletion may be emphasized: Depletion is the result of gain in weight and maximum possible usage of iron. It is therefore a normal result of growth and need not be associated with anemia. As soon as depletion has occurred, the organism is thereafter dependent on current absorption of iron. This is ordinarily sufficient, even with a diet of milk alone, to maintain an adequate concentration of hemoglobin after about 8 to 10 months of age. Severe anemia due to depletion alone is practically confined to premature babies whose relative gain in weight is rapid. Severe anemia in other than premature babies is the result of a number of factors by which iron becomes unavailable or is actually diverted from hemoglobin to storage. Response to iron medication is considerably better in infants with depletion than in those in whom some factor is present that interferes with iron utilization, and which is not connected by the mere giving of iron. The dependence on current absorption, whether the result of depletion or non-availability, introduces a certain precariousness which is apparently characteristic of this time of life. The organism gets along from day to day if nothing happens, but may not be able to meet an emergency, whether this appears as a rapid gain in weight, or a necessity to repair damage done by severe infection. If we consider iron deficiency as the cause of anemia, we can think of deficiency as due to a number of factors of which depletion is only one. The development and characteristics of depletion have been considered in this paper; other factors in iron deficiency will be considered in subsequent papers.


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