Investment under Uncertainty

Investment under Uncertainty PDF Author: Robert K. Dixit
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400830176
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 484

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Book Description
How should firms decide whether and when to invest in new capital equipment, additions to their workforce, or the development of new products? Why have traditional economic models of investment failed to explain the behavior of investment spending in the United States and other countries? In this book, Avinash Dixit and Robert Pindyck provide the first detailed exposition of a new theoretical approach to the capital investment decisions of firms, stressing the irreversibility of most investment decisions, and the ongoing uncertainty of the economic environment in which these decisions are made. In so doing, they answer important questions about investment decisions and the behavior of investment spending. This new approach to investment recognizes the option value of waiting for better (but never complete) information. It exploits an analogy with the theory of options in financial markets, which permits a much richer dynamic framework than was possible with the traditional theory of investment. The authors present the new theory in a clear and systematic way, and consolidate, synthesize, and extend the various strands of research that have come out of the theory. Their book shows the importance of the theory for understanding investment behavior of firms; develops the implications of this theory for industry dynamics and for government policy concerning investment; and shows how the theory can be applied to specific industries and to a wide variety of business problems.

Investment under Uncertainty

Investment under Uncertainty PDF Author: Robert K. Dixit
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400830176
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 484

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Book Description
How should firms decide whether and when to invest in new capital equipment, additions to their workforce, or the development of new products? Why have traditional economic models of investment failed to explain the behavior of investment spending in the United States and other countries? In this book, Avinash Dixit and Robert Pindyck provide the first detailed exposition of a new theoretical approach to the capital investment decisions of firms, stressing the irreversibility of most investment decisions, and the ongoing uncertainty of the economic environment in which these decisions are made. In so doing, they answer important questions about investment decisions and the behavior of investment spending. This new approach to investment recognizes the option value of waiting for better (but never complete) information. It exploits an analogy with the theory of options in financial markets, which permits a much richer dynamic framework than was possible with the traditional theory of investment. The authors present the new theory in a clear and systematic way, and consolidate, synthesize, and extend the various strands of research that have come out of the theory. Their book shows the importance of the theory for understanding investment behavior of firms; develops the implications of this theory for industry dynamics and for government policy concerning investment; and shows how the theory can be applied to specific industries and to a wide variety of business problems.

Uncertain Futures

Uncertain Futures PDF Author: Jens Beckert
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192552759
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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Book Description
Uncertain Futures considers how economic actors visualize the future and decide how to act in conditions of radical uncertainty. It starts from the premise that dynamic capitalist economies are characterized by relentless innovation and novelty and hence exhibit an indeterminacy that cannot be reduced to measurable risk. The organizing question then becomes how economic actors form expectations and make decisions despite the uncertainty they face. This edited volume lays the foundations for a new model of economic reasoning by showing how, in conditions of uncertainty, economic actors combine calculation with imaginaries and narratives to form fictional expectations that coordinate action and provide the confidence to act. It draws on groundbreaking research in economic sociology, economics, anthropology, and psychology to present theoretically grounded empirical case studies. These demonstrate how grand narratives, central bank forward guidance, economic forecasts, finance models, business plans, visions of technological futures, and new era stories influence behaviour and become instruments of power in markets and societies. The market impact of shared calculative devices, social narratives, and contingent imaginaries underlines the rationale for a new form of narrative economics.

Risk, Uncertainty and Profit

Risk, Uncertainty and Profit PDF Author: Frank H. Knight
Publisher: Cosimo, Inc.
ISBN: 1602060053
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 401

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Book Description
A timeless classic of economic theory that remains fascinating and pertinent today, this is Frank Knight's famous explanation of why perfect competition cannot eliminate profits, the important differences between "risk" and "uncertainty," and the vital role of the entrepreneur in profitmaking. Based on Knight's PhD dissertation, this 1921 work, balancing theory with fact to come to stunning insights, is a distinct pleasure to read. FRANK H. KNIGHT (1885-1972) is considered by some the greatest American scholar of economics of the 20th century. An economics professor at the University of Chicago from 1927 until 1955, he was one of the founders of the Chicago school of economics, which influenced Milton Friedman and George Stigler.

Return on Sustainability

Return on Sustainability PDF Author: Kevin Wilhelm
Publisher: FT Press
ISBN: 0133442535
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 245

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Book Description
This book highlights the risk of inaction for businesses when it comes to climate change, but also contains best practices to allow them to capitalize on the numerous business opportunities that climate change presents, including increased profitability, enhanced brand value, and improved shareholder relations. The first section contains practical actions and real-world case studies of companies, such as Yakima, Sun Microsystems, and Lockheed Martin, that have successfully improved their climate performances, enhanced brand value, and increased profitability at the same time. The second and third sections of this book focus on the various risks that companies face from potential carbon regulation and the market factors forcing businesses to take action, whether they want to or not. This book provides the steps and strategies necessary to take leadership actions to help business "future-proof" society.

Accounting for Uncertain Educational Outcomes in Estimating the Return to Education

Accounting for Uncertain Educational Outcomes in Estimating the Return to Education PDF Author: Joseph G. Altonji
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Career development
Languages : en
Pages : 36

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Book Description


Uncertain Portfolio Optimization

Uncertain Portfolio Optimization PDF Author: Zhongfeng Qin
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9811018103
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
This book provides a new modeling approach for portfolio optimization problems involving a lack of sufficient historical data. The content mainly reflects the author’s extensive work on uncertainty portfolio optimization in recent years. Considering security returns as different variables, the book presents a series of portfolio optimization models in the framework of credibility theory, uncertainty theory and chance theory, respectively. As such, it offers readers a comprehensive and up-to-date guide to uncertain portfolio optimization models.

Picturing the Uncertain World

Picturing the Uncertain World PDF Author: Howard Wainer
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400832896
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
In his entertaining and informative book Graphic Discovery, Howard Wainer unlocked the power of graphical display to make complex problems clear. Now he's back with Picturing the Uncertain World, a book that explores how graphs can serve as maps to guide us when the information we have is ambiguous or incomplete. Using a visually diverse sampling of graphical display, from heartrending autobiographical displays of genocide in the Kovno ghetto to the "Pie Chart of Mystery" in a New Yorker cartoon, Wainer illustrates the many ways graphs can be used--and misused--as we try to make sense of an uncertain world. Picturing the Uncertain World takes readers on an extraordinary graphical adventure, revealing how the visual communication of data offers answers to vexing questions yet also highlights the measure of uncertainty in almost everything we do. Are cancer rates higher or lower in rural communities? How can you know how much money to sock away for retirement when you don't know when you'll die? And where exactly did nineteenth-century novelists get their ideas? These are some of the fascinating questions Wainer invites readers to consider. Along the way he traces the origins and development of graphical display, from William Playfair, who pioneered the use of graphs in the eighteenth century, to instances today where the public has been misled through poorly designed graphs. We live in a world full of uncertainty, yet it is within our grasp to take its measure. Read Picturing the Uncertain World and learn how.

Uncertain Optimal Control

Uncertain Optimal Control PDF Author: Yuanguo Zhu
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9811321345
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
This book introduces the theory and applications of uncertain optimal control, and establishes two types of models including expected value uncertain optimal control and optimistic value uncertain optimal control. These models, which have continuous-time forms and discrete-time forms, make use of dynamic programming. The uncertain optimal control theory relates to equations of optimality, uncertain bang-bang optimal control, optimal control with switched uncertain system, and optimal control for uncertain system with time-delay. Uncertain optimal control has applications in portfolio selection, engineering, and games. The book is a useful resource for researchers, engineers, and students in the fields of mathematics, cybernetics, operations research, industrial engineering, artificial intelligence, economics, and management science.

Uncertain Futures

Uncertain Futures PDF Author: Edmund Berger
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing
ISBN: 1785355015
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 168

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Book Description
Uncertain Futures: An Assessment of the Conditions of the Present provides a detailed look into the economic and political conditions of our present moment from a Marxist perspective. Key aspects of Marxist economic theory are illustrated in clear ways in order to provide an easy introduction to Marxist thought and their applicability. The book also examines the sluggish recovery from the Great Recession, in the context of the long-term feasibility of sustaining the capitalist system by placing it into a historical framework. It considers the necessity of social democratic reforms while calling for an anarchic re-invigoration of the politics of everyday life.

Currencies After the Crash: The Uncertain Future of the Global Paper-Based Currency System

Currencies After the Crash: The Uncertain Future of the Global Paper-Based Currency System PDF Author: Sara Eisen
Publisher: McGraw Hill Professional
ISBN: 0071784896
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
From the brightest minds in the field—a revealing look at how countries use their currencies to achieve prosperity . . . and the coming repercussions Bloomberg Television's Sara Eisen sheds light on the complex global financial system through this illuminating collection of essays. She hand selected the crème de la crème of authors from the world's most prestigious academic institutions and esteemed professional organizations to share—for the first time in print—their observations and deductions on the topics that matter most to you and your future wealth, including: • THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CURRENCIES AND FINANCIAL CRISES • THE FLAWS WITHIN THE INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE RATE SYSTEM AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES • HOW EMERGING MARKETS FIT INTO THE CURRENT AND FUTURE EXCHANGE RATE FRAMEWORK • THE IMPACT EXCHANGE RATES HAVE ON FREE TRADE AND ECONOMIC GROWTH • WHAT DEFINES A "SAFE HAVEN" CURRENCY AND ITS ROLE • POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS TO THE CURRENT ECONOMIC PROBLEMS "Today's fiat currency system is based upon trust among market participants, politicians, and central bankers--and that trust is assembled around the reserve currency that enjoys an exorbitant privilege. The reserve status is in doubt in a post financial crisis era but alternatives are lacking. . . . This book is a great guide on how the global currency system is morphing into apotential new standard, but not without the necessary volatility."—Ben Emons, Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager, PIMCO