Suchergebnisse

ABSTRACTIn many applications involving the construction of efficient sets, the parameters of the alternatives are estimated using small examples. As a result, inefficient alternatives may be included in the sample efficient set and efficient alternatives left out. This paper investigates the effects of estimation risk when there are more than two alternatives and limited information. The study reveals that estimation risk is a severe handicap to the practical implementation of stochastic dominance and mean‐variance efficiency analysis.

AbstractThis paper provides a framework in which warranty policies for non‐repairable items can be evaluated according to risk preferences of both buyers and sellers. In particular, a warranty price schedule is established such that sellers are indifferent among the policies. Given this schedule, a buyer's response is expressed by selecting the price‐warranty combination that minimizes disutility. Within this framework, a warranty can be viewed as an instrumet of risk management that can induce more sales and greater profitability. For given utility functions, analytical results for the development of a price schedule are developed. Numerical results illustrate the substitution effects between warranty terms, prices, and risk parameters.

ABSTRACTCurrent stochastic dominance algorithms use step functions to approximate the cumulative distributions of the alternatives, even when the underlying random variables are known to be continuous. Since stochastic dominance tests require repeated integration of the cumulative distribution functions, a compounding of errors may result from this type of approximation. This article introduces a new stochastic dominance algorithm that approximates the cumulative distribution function by piecewise linear approximations. Comparisons between the new and old algorithms are performed for normally distributed alternatives. In about 95 percent of all cases, the two algorithms produce the same result.