Risk, Uncertainty, and Profit is a groundbreaking work of economic theory, distinguishing between risk, which is by nature measurable and quantifiable, and uncertainty, which can be neither be measured nor quantified. We begin with an analysis of the functions of profit, risk and uncertainty in the economy. Frank H. Knight introduces his work with a discussion on profit and how there are conflicts about its nature between various economic theorists. As the title implies, the author's chief concern is the interplay between making a profit, incurring risk, and determining if there is uncertainty. Risks are different from uncertainty in that they can be measured and protected against. For example a location chosen for a factory or farm may have a measured risk of flooding in a given year. Businesses, insurers and investors alike can be made aware of this, and behave according to the quantified risk.

Business analytics has grown to be a key topic in business curricula, and there is a need for stronger quantitative skills and understanding of fundamental concepts. This book is intended to present key concepts related to quantitative analysis in business. It is targeted to business students, undergraduate and graduate, taking an introductory core course. Topics covered include knowledge management, visualization, sampling and hypothesis testing, regression (simple, multiple, and logistic), as well as optimization modeling. It concludes with a brief overview of data mining. Concepts are demonstrated with worked examples.