This book focuses on the assessment of different coal gasification technologies for the utilization of Russian coals with analyses of economically feasible process chains for preparation of marketable products from high-ash coals. The work presented is important in view of the general competitiveness that marks the future of coal in the world. As the cheapest form of fuel (in comparable terms) coal will undoubtedly be in demand resources in the world. The book consists of parts which include an overview about the major coal characteristics, detailed discussion of fundamental aspects of gasification technologies and gasifiers, an introduction into annex concepts, an overview about different technologies of syngas utilization, technical and economic assessment of several coal-to-liquid and coal-to-chemicals routes, and feasibility demonstration for selected process chains. This book is addressed to the management and engineers of Russian coal companies and scientific staff of Russian research institutions working in the field of coal utilization.

This essay collection focuses on the relationship between continuous time models and Autoregressive Conditionally Heteroskedastic (ARCH) models and applications. For the first time, Modelling Stock Market Volatility provides new insights about the links between these two models and new work on practical estimation methods for continuous time models. Featuring the pioneering scholarship of Daniel Nelson, the text presents research about the discrete time model, continuous time limits and optimal filtering of ARCH models, and the specification and estimation of continuous time processes. This work will lead to a rapid growth in their empirical application as they are increasingly subjected to routine specification testing.
Key Features
* Provides for the first time new insights on the links between continuous time and ARCH models
* Collects seminal scholarship by some of the most renowned researchers in finance and econometrics
* Captures complex arguments underlying the approximation and proper statistical modelling of continuous time volatility dynamics

Covers the key issues required for students wishing to understand and analyse the core empirical issues in economics. It focuses on descriptive statistics, probability concepts and basic econometric techniques and has an accompanying website that contains all the data used in the examples and provides exercises for undertaking original research.

Markov networks and other probabilistic graphical modes have recently received an upsurge in attention from Evolutionary computation community, particularly in the area of Estimation of distribution algorithms (EDAs). EDAs have arisen as one of the most successful experiences in the application of machine learning methods in optimization, mainly due to their efficiency to solve complex real-world optimization problems and their suitability for theoretical analysis. This book focuses on the different steps involved in the conception, implementation and application of EDAs that use Markov networks, and undirected models in general. It can serve as a general introduction to EDAs but covers also an important current void in the study of these algorithms by explaining the specificities and benefits of modeling optimization problems by means of undirected probabilistic models. All major developments to date in the progressive introduction of Markov networks based EDAs are reviewed in the book. Hot current research trends and future perspectives in the enhancement and applicability of EDAs are also covered. The contributions included in the book address topics as relevant as the application of probabilistic-based fitness models, the use of belief propagation algorithms in EDAs and the application of Markov network based EDAs to real-world optimization problems. The book should be of interest to researchers and practitioners from areas such as optimization, evolutionary computation, and machine learning.

The role of franchising on industry evolution is explored in this book both in terms of the emergence of franchising and its impact on industry structure. Examining literature and statistical information the first section provides an overview of franchising. The Role of Franchising on Industry Evolution then focuses on two core elements; the emergence or franchising and the contextual drivers prompting its adoption, and the impact of franchising on industry-level structural changes. Through two industry case studies, the author demonstrates how franchising has the ability to fundamentally transform an industry's structure from one of fragmentation to one of consolidation.

This book discusses the developments in trade theories, including new-new trade models that account for firm level trade flows, trade growth accounting using inverse gravity models (including distortions in gravity models), the impact of trade liberalization under the aegis of regional and multilateral liberalization efforts of economies using partial and general equilibrium analysis, methodologies of constructing ad valorem equivalents of non-tariff barriers, volatility spillover effects of financial and exchange rate markets. The main purpose of the book is to guide researchers working in the area of international trade, especially focused on empirical analysis of trade policy issues by updating their knowledge on issues related to trade theory, empirical methods, and their applications. The book would prove useful for policy makers, academicians, and researchers.

This proceedings volume presents new methods and applications in applied economic research with an emphasis on advances in panel data analysis. Featuring papers presented at the 2017 International Conference on Applied Economics (ICOAE) held at Coventry University, this volume provides current research on econometric panel data methodologies as they are applied in microeconomics, macroeconomics, financial economics and agricultural economics. International Conference on Applied Economics (ICOAE) is an annual conference that started in 2008 designed to bring together economists from different fields of applied economic research in order to share methods and ideas. Applied economics is a rapidly growing field of economics that combines economic theory with econometrics to analyse economic problems of the real world usually with economic policy interest. In addition, there is growing interest in the field for panel data estimation methods, tests and techniques. This volume makes a contribution in the field of applied economic research in this area. Featuring country specific studies, this book will be of interest to academics, students, researchers, practitioners, and policy makers in applied economics and economic policy.

The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is a prominent and powerful tool for making decisions in situations involving multiple objectives. Models, Methods, Concepts and Applications of the Analytic Hierarchy Process, 2nd Edition applies the AHP in order to solve problems focused on the following three themes: economics, the social sciences, and the linking of measurement with human values. For economists, the AHP offers a substantially different approach to dealing with economic problems through ratio scales. Psychologists and political scientists can use the methodology to quantify and derive measurements for intangibles. Meanwhile researchers in the physical and engineering sciences can apply the AHP methods to help resolve the conflicts between hard measurement data and human values. Throughout the book, each of these topics is explored utilizing real life models and examples, relevant to problems in today's society. This new edition has been updated and includes five new chapters that includes discussions of the following: - The eigenvector and why it is necessary - A summary of ongoing research in the Middle East that brings together Israeli and Palestinian scholars to develop concessions from both parties - A look at the Medicare Crisis and how AHP can be used to understand the problems and help develop ideas to solve them.

This book offers hands-on statistical tools for business professionals by focusing on the practical application of a single-equation regression. The authors discuss commonly applied econometric procedures, which are useful in building regression models for economic forecasting and supporting business decisions. A significant part of the book is devoted to traps and pitfalls in implementing regression analysis in real-world scenarios. The book consists of nine chapters, the final two of which are fully devoted to case studies. Today's business environment is characterised by a huge amount of economic data. Making successful business decisions under such data-abundant conditions requires objective analytical tools, which can help to identify and quantify multiple relationships between dozens of economic variables. Single-equation regression analysis, which is discussed in this book, is one such tool. The book offers a valuable guide and is relevant in various areas of economic and business analysis, including marketing, financial and operational management.

This work is an examination of borderless markets where national boundaries are no longer the only relevant criteria in making international marketing, economic planning, and business decisions. Understanding political and nonpolitical borders is especially important for products and industries that are culture bound and those that require local adaptation. National culture is one critical factor that affects economic development, demographic behavior, and general business policies around the world. Over 75,000 statistics are provided for over 230 national groups covering a number of social, economic, and business variables. A significant review of literature is also included.

Stokes discusses--and illustrates with output from actual problems--a number of applied econometric techniques, including OLS specification tests, recursive residual analysis, limited dependent variable models, error component models, and others. His book is clearly written and copiously illustrated with equations, with follow-up analysis to show how models are built and some of their limitations. His B34S DEGREESDTM software is available and allows readers to do further research with a large number of datasets distributed with the program. A necessary resource for applied econometrics researchers in economics, finance, and in health, energy, and labor economics.

This work illustrates the use of model specification and diagnostic tests applied to a variety of econometric modeling techniques. For each technique discussed the basic mathematical models are outlined. A sample problem is discussed and estimated using the B34S DEGREESDTM Data Analysis System. The output of the program is displayed in the text and discussed. Where appropriate, output from the RATS DEGREESDTM software is displayed. Follow-up models are estimated and discussed. The examples selected are taken from a variety of sources and reflect actual applied research. Complete data are given in the text to enable the reader to use these problems with other programs and techniques. It is the author's experience that applied econometric techniques are best learned by running actual problems. Since most users experiment with a limited number of techniques, their experience is limited. This book discusses a broad range of techniques and shows how they are interrelated. DEGREESL DEGREESL The techniques discussed include the following: simple, one-equation OLS and GLS models with continuous variables on the left-hand side, which are tested with recursive residual and BLUS residual techniques. Another class of models includes restrictions on the left-hand side variables. Models studied and illustrated with data include probit, logit, multinomial logit, and ordered probit models. Other techniques discussed and illustrated include two-stage least squares, limited information maximum likelihood, three-stage least squares, iterative three-stage least squares, error component models and Markov probability models, which are illustrated with a model of OPEC production dynamics.

ARIMA and transfer function models are shown to be generalizations of the single-equation model, while VAR and VARMA models are shown to be a time series generalization of three-stage least squares and full information maximum likelihood models. VAR models are viewed in the frequency domain for added insight, and extensive nonlinearity tests are developed and applied. More specialized techniques include state space models, optimal control analysis, nonlinear analysis, and the QR approach to computation. An important feature of the book is the emphasis on nonlinear model building. The Hinich nonlinear testing approach is discussed and integrated into the OLS, times series, and nonlinear estimation procedures. The MARS and PISPLINE methods of analysis are illustrated with models that failed linearity tests when estimated with linear methods. The purpose of the monograph is to illustrate the above techniques, using actual research data. To facilitate the calculations, the B34S DEGREESDTM Data Analysis System was developed. Sample output for all procedures discussed in the text has been provided so that the availability of the B34S DEGREESDTM program is DEGREESInot DEGREESR required in order to benefit from this book. While the book is self-contained, interested readers can obtain the B34S DEGREESDTM Data Analysis program and do further research with the datasets discussed in the book which are supplied with the software.

The proliferation of the internet has often been referred to as the fourth technological revolution. This book explores the diffusion of radical new communication technologies, and the subsequent transformation not only of products, but also of the organisation of production and business methods.

This work is an examination of borderless markets where national boundaries are no longer the relevant criteria in making international marketing, economic planning, and business decisions. Understanding nonpolitical borders is especially important for products and industries that are culture bound and those that require local adaptation. Religion is one critical factor that affects economic development, demographic behavior, and general business policies around the world. Over 26,000 statistics are provided for over 70 religious groups covering a number of social, economic, and business variables. A significant review of literature is also included.

This book treats the notion of morphisms in spatial analysis, paralleling these concepts in spatial statistics (Part I) and spatial econometrics (Part II). The principal concept is morphism (e.g., isomorphisms, homomorphisms, and allomorphisms), which is defined as a structure preserving the functional linkage between mathematical properties or operations in spatial statistics and spatial econometrics, among other disciplines. The purpose of this book is to present selected conceptions in both domains that are structurally the same, even though their labelling and the notation for their elements may differ. As the approaches presented here are applied to empirical materials in geography and economics, the book will also be of interest to scholars of regional science, quantitative geography and the geospatial sciences. It is a follow-up to the book "Non-standard Spatial Statistics and Spatial Econometrics" by the same authors, which was published by Springer in 2011.

This book reviews the three most popular methods (and their extensions) in applied economics and other social sciences: matching, regression discontinuity, and difference in differences. The book introduces the underlying econometric/statistical ideas, shows what is identified and how the identified parameters are estimated, and then illustrates how they are applied with real empirical examples. The book emphasizes how to implement the three methods with data: many data and programs are provided in the online appendix. All readers--theoretical econometricians/statisticians, applied economists/social-scientists and researchers/students--will find something useful in the book from different perspectives.

This book presents the works and research findings of physicists, economists, mathematicians, statisticians, and financial engineers who have undertaken data-driven modelling of market dynamics and other empirical studies in the field of Econophysics. During recent decades, the financial market landscape has changed dramatically with the deregulation of markets and the growing complexity of products. The ever-increasing speed and decreasing costs of computational power and networks have led to the emergence of huge databases. The availability of these data should permit the development of models that are better founded empirically, and econophysicists have accordingly been advocating that one should rely primarily on the empirical observations in order to construct models and validate them. The recent turmoil in financial markets and the 2008 crash appear to offer a strong rationale for new models and approaches. The Econophysics community accordingly has an important future role to play in market modelling. The Econophys-Kolkata VIII conference proceedings are devoted to the presentation of many such modelling efforts and address recent developments. A number of leading researchers from across the globe report on their recent work, comment on the latest issues, and review the contemporary literature.

This work is an examination of borderless markets where national boundaries are no longer the relevant criteria in making international marketing, economic planning, and business decisions. Understanding nonpolitical borders is especially important for products and industries that are culture bound and those that require local adaptation. Ethnic culture is one critical factor that affects economic development, demographic behavior, and general business policies around the world. Over 120,000 statistics are provided for over 400 ethnic groups covering a number of social, economic, and business variables. A significant review of literature is also included.

Stochastic Averaging and Extremum Seeking treats methods inspired by attempts to understand the seemingly non-mathematical question of bacterial chemotaxis and their application in other environments. The text presents significant generalizations on existing stochastic averaging theory developed from scratch and necessitated by the need to avoid violation of previous theoretical assumptions by algorithms which are otherwise effective in treating these systems. Coverage is given to four main topics. Stochastic averaging theorems are developed for the analysis of continuous-time nonlinear systems with random forcing, removing prior restrictions on nonlinearity growth and on the finiteness of the time interval. The new stochastic averaging theorems are usable not only as approximation tools but also for providing stability guarantees. Stochastic extremum-seeking algorithms are introduced for optimization of systems without available models. Both gradient- and Newton-based algorithms are presented, offering the user the choice between the simplicity of implementation (gradient) and the ability to achieve a known, arbitrary convergence rate (Newton). The design of algorithms for non-cooperative/adversarial games is described. The analysis of their convergence to Nash equilibria is provided. The algorithms are illustrated on models of economic competition and on problems of the deployment of teams of robotic vehicles. Bacterial locomotion, such as chemotaxis in E. coli, is explored with the aim of identifying two simple feedback laws for climbing nutrient gradients. Stochastic extremum seeking is shown to be a biologically-plausible interpretation for chemotaxis. For the same chemotaxis-inspired stochastic feedback laws, the book also provides a detailed analysis of convergence for models of nonholonomic robotic vehicles operating in GPS-denied environments. The book contains block diagrams and several simulation examples, including examples arising from bacterial locomotion, multi-agent robotic systems, and economic market models. Stochastic Averaging and Extremum Seeking will be informative for control engineers from backgrounds in electrical, mechanical, chemical and aerospace engineering and to applied mathematicians. Economics researchers, biologists, biophysicists and roboticists will find the applications examples instructive.

This book provides a quantitative framework for the analysis of conflict dynamics and for estimating the economic costs associated with civil wars. The author develops modified Lotka-Volterra equations to model conflict dynamics, to yield realistic representations of battle processes, and to allow us to assess prolonged conflict traps. The economic costs of civil wars are evaluated with the help of two alternative methods: Firstly, the author employs a production function to determine how the destruction of human and physical capital stocks undermines economic growth in the medium term. Secondly, he develops a synthetic control approach, where the cost is obtained as the divergence of actual economic activity from a hypothetical path in the absence of civil war. The difference between the two approaches gives an indication of the adverse externalities impinging upon the economy in the form of institutional destruction. By using detailed time-series regarding battle casualties, local socio-economic indicators, and capital stock destruction during the Greek Civil War (1946-1949), a full-scale application of the above framework is presented and discussed.

This handbook presents a systematic overview of approaches to, diversity, and problems involved in interdisciplinary rating methodologies. Historically, the purpose of ratings is to achieve information transparency regarding a given body's activities, whether in the field of finance, banking, or sports for example. This book focuses on commonly used rating methods in three important fields: finance, sports, and the social sector. In the world of finance, investment decisions are largely shaped by how positively or negatively economies or financial instruments are rated. Ratings have thus become a basis of trust for investors. Similarly, sports evaluation and funding are largely based on core ratings. From local communities to groups of nations, public investment and funding are also dependent on how these bodies are continuously rated against expected performance targets. As such, ratings need to reflect the consensus of all stakeholders on selected aspects of the work and how to evaluate their success. The public should also have the opportunity to participate in this process. The authors examine current rating approaches from a variety of proposals that are closest to the public consensus, analyzing the rating models and summarizing the methods of their construction. This handbook offers a valuable reference guide for managers, analysts, economists, business informatics specialists, and researchers alike.

This book is devoted to biased sampling problems (also called choice-based sampling in Econometrics parlance) and over-identified parameter estimation problems. Biased sampling problems appear in many areas of research, including Medicine, Epidemiology and Public Health, the Social Sciences and Economics. The book addresses a range of important topics, including case and control studies, causal inference, missing data problems, meta-analysis, renewal process and length biased sampling problems, capture and recapture problems, case cohort studies, exponential tilting genetic mixture models etc. The goal of this book is to make it easier for Ph. D students and new researchers to get started in this research area. It will be of interest to all those who work in the health, biological, social and physical sciences, as well as those who are interested in survey methodology and other areas of statistical science, among others.

The Analytic Network Process (ANP), developed by Thomas Saaty in his work on multicriteria decision making, applies network structures with dependence and feedback to complex decision making. This new edition of Decision Making with the Analytic Network Process is a selection of the latest applications of ANP to economic, social and political decisions, and also to technological design. The ANP is a methodological tool that is helpful to organize knowledge and thinking, elicit judgments registered in both in memory and in feelings, quantify the judgments and derive priorities from them, and finally synthesize these diverse priorities into a single mathematically and logically justifiable overall outcome. In the process of deriving this outcome, the ANP also allows for the representation and synthesis of diverse opinions in the midst of discussion and debate. The book focuses on the application of the ANP in three different areas: economics, the social sciences and the linking of measurement with human values. Economists can use the ANP for an alternate approach for dealing with economic problems than the usual mathematical models on which economics bases its quantitative thinking. For psychologists, sociologists and political scientists, the ANP offers the methodology they have sought for some time to quantify and derive measurements for intangibles. Finally the book applies the ANP to provide people in the physical and engineering sciences with a quantitative method to link hard measurement to human values. In such a process, one is able to interpret the true meaning of measurements made on a uniform scale using a unit.

Hardbound. A comprehensive reference work for teaching at graduate level and research in empirical finance. The chapters cover a wide range of statistical and probabilistic methods applied to a variety of financial methods and are written by internationally renowned experts.