This book treats the subject of global optimization with minimal restrictions on the behavior on the objective functions. In particular, optimal conditions were developed for a class of noncontinuous functions characterized by their having level sets that are robust. The integration-based approach contrasts with existing approaches which require some degree of convexity or differentiability of the objective function. Some computational results on a personal computer are presented.

In engineering and economics a certain vector of inputs or decisions must often be chosen, subject to some constraints, such that the expected costs arising from the deviation between the output of a stochastic linear system and a desired stochastic target vector are minimal. In many cases the loss function u is convex and the occuring random variables have, at least approximately, a joint discrete distribution. Concrete problems of this type are stochastic linear programs with recourse, portfolio optimization problems, error minimization and optimal design problems. In solving stochastic...

Bernard ROY Professor, University of Paris-Dauphine Director of LAMSADE 11 is not unusual for a dozen or so loosely related working papers to be published in book form as the natural outgrowth of a scientific gathering. Although many a volu- me of collected papers has come into point in this way, the homogeneity of the arti- cles included will often be more apparent than real. As the reader will quickly ob- serve, such is not the case with the present volume. As one can judge from its ti- tle, 1t is in fact an outcome of an ed~torial project by J. Kacprzyk and M. Roubens. T~ey asked...

This book aims to include the effects of a progressive personal tax into the deterministic dynamic theory of the firm. To this end the author investigates the impact of a progressive personal tax on the optimal dividend, financing and investment policy of a shareholder-controlled, value-maximising firm. More specifically, the principal aim is the justification of the thesis that during each stage of their evolution, firms will be controlled by investors in different tax brackets. With this aim in mind, the author develops a dynamic equilibrium and portfolio theory under certainty, which...

In each chapter of this volume some specific topics in the econometric analysis of time series data are studied. All topics have in common the statistical inference in linear models with correlated disturbances. The main aim of the study is to give a survey of new and old estimation techniques for regression models with disturbances that follow an autoregressive-moving average process. In the final chapter also several test strategies for discriminating between various types of autocorrelation are discussed. In nearly all chapters it is demonstrated how useful the simple geometric...

This book is an outgrowth of years of teaching and doing re search at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), in the area of economic growth. Although there have been several books on this topic published in the last eight years, I have been dis satisfied with them for several reasons. First, books such as those by Wan, Burmeister and Dobell are uneven in their technical difficulty and, while they are excellent, are apparently difficult for first year graduate students and advanced undergraduates. Solow's expository book, on the other hand, is at the other ex treme. Furthermore, many...

Nachdem in den letzten Jahren das Konzept der stochasti schen Dominanz fur univariate Prospekte breite Anwendung in der Entscheidungsanalyse gefunden hat, scheint es an der Zeit zu sein, dies auch fur multivariate und allge meinere Prospekte zu versuchen. Die vorliegende Monogra phie behandelt die Theorie der stochastischen Dominanz fur univariate und besonders fur multivariate Prospekte sowie fur Prospekte in allgemeineren Raumen. Fur eine groBe Anzahl okonomisch relevanter Nutzenklassen werden die Dominanzrelationen durch Bedingungen an die Wahrschein lichkeitsverteilungen der Prospekte...

The seminar for which the proceedings are published here evolved from a cooperative research program on bilinear systems and applications to immunology at the Oregon State University and at the University of Rome. The topics include more general forms of variable structure systems which may be divided into categories of mathematical system theory, economic applications and biological applications. Throughout the seminar there was emphasis on the integration of theory and app- cation. In most cases, theoretical derivations are motivated by their need to solve practical problems. In reading the...