The ECOMAC project (Eco-management Accounting as a Tool of Environmental Man agement) has provided a framework for linking environmental management with man agement accounting. It was funded in Theme 4, 'Human Dimensions of Environmental Change' in the EU Environment and Climate Research Programme. The project is of high policy relevance by contributing to the on-going debate on eco management accounting, reporting and indicators. It is also an area needing further re search. I would like to thank the research team, companies that participated as associated con tractors, and the advisory panel. Jonathan Parker DG XII/D-5, European Commission Theme on Human Dimensions of Environmental Change 7 Preface The ECOMAC project This document is the final report on the project 'Eco-management accounting as a tool of environmental managemenf (ECOMAC). This research project was conducted under the Environment and Climate Programme (Human Dimension of Environmental Change) of the European Commission (DG XII). The ECOMAC project investigated how companies are using or intend to use environ mental costs and benefits figures in support of their decisions, and what they have been doing to remedy the limitations of conventional management accounting in this area. The research was largely explorative in nature, but the project also produced a structured overview of the subject and made suggestions and recommendations as to how compa nies could improve their own environmental accounting."

Cost analysis and estimating is a vital part of the running of all organizations, both commercial and government. This volume comprises the proceedings of the 1992 conference of the Society for Cost Estimating and Analysis. Individual chapters are written by experts in their respective fields. Consequently, the volume as a whole provides an invaluable and up-to-date survey of the field.

This book provides an introduction to probability theory and its applications. The emphasis is on essential probabilistic reasoning, which is illustrated with a large number of samples. The fourth edition adds material related to mathematical finance as well as expansions on stable laws and martingales.

From the reviews: "Almost thirty years after its first edition, this charming book continues to be an excellent text for teaching and for self study." -- STATISTICAL PAPERS

This book covers a highly relevant and timely topic that is of wide interest, especially in finance, engineering and computational biology. The introductory material on simulation and stochastic differential equation is very accessible and will prove popular with many readers. While there are several recent texts available that cover stochastic differential equations, the concentration here on inference makes this book stand out. No other direct competitors are known to date. With an emphasis on the practical implementation of the simulation and estimation methods presented, the text will be useful to practitioners and students with minimal mathematical background. What's more, because of the many R programs, the information here is appropriate for many mathematically well educated practitioners, too.

The study of copulas and their role in statistics is a new but vigorously growing field. In this book the student or practitioner of statistics and probability will find discussions of the fundamental properties of copulas and some of their primary applications. The applications include the study of dependence and measures of association, and the construction of families of bivariate distributions. This book is suitable as a text or for self-study.

Sampling-based computational methods have become a fundamental part of the numerical toolset of practitioners and researchers across an enormous number of different applied domains and academic disciplines. This book provides a broad treatment of such sampling-based methods, as well as accompanying mathematical analysis of the convergence properties of the methods discussed. The reach of the ideas is illustrated by discussing a wide range of applications and the models that have found wide usage. The first half of the book focuses on general methods; the second half discusses model-specific algorithms. Exercises and illustrations are included.

Dramatically improve inventory accuracy with bestselling author Steven Bragg's step-by-step guidelines
Inventory Accounting is a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to setting up an inventory accounting system and keeping it running at maximum efficiency. This hands-on book provides accounting professionals with essential information on how to:
* Set up an accounting system that efficiently handles accumulating inventory costs, summarizing accounts, and standard journal entries used to record transactions
* Use best practices to increase the efficiency of inventory-tracking and costing functions
* Install unique controls to combat inventory fraud
* Implement a step-by-step checklist of activities for inventory counting procedures
* Save hours of valuable time researching various GAAP reference manuals
* Adapt inventory tracking and costing systems to accommodate a variety of manufacturing systems
Spanning the entire spectrum of inventory accounting, Inventory Accounting deftly explores every facet of the field to help professionals eliminate inaccuracies from their inventory accounting systems.

From the reviews: "While this book is oriented toward students of physics, it could well be appreciated by a wider mathematical audience [ ] The text offers a rare opportunity to have a unified and modern treatment of stochastic processes in physics and finance." Bulletin of Mathematics Books

The book gives a comprehensive overview of modern non-life actuarial science. It starts with a verbal description (i.e. without using mathematical formulae) of the main actuarial problems to be solved in non-life practice. Then in an extensive second chapter all the mathematical tools needed to solve these problems are dealt with - now in mathematical notation. The rest of the book is devoted to the exact formulation of various problems and their possible solutions. Being a good mixture of practical problems and their actuarial solutions, the book addresses above all two types of readers: firstly students (of mathematics, probability and statistics, informatics, economics) having some mathematical knowledge, and secondly insurance practitioners who remember mathematics only from some distance. Prerequisites are basic calculus and probability theory.

This book examines non-Gaussian distributions. It addresses the causes and consequences of non-normality and time dependency in both asset returns and option prices. The book is written for non-mathematicians who want to model financial market prices so the emphasis throughout is on practice. There are abundant empirical illustrations of the models and techniques described, many of which could be equally applied to other financial time series.

This book describes the modelling of prices of ?nancial assets in a simple d- crete time, discrete state, binomial framework. By avoiding the mathematical technicalitiesofcontinuoustime?nancewehopewehavemadethematerial accessible to a wide audience. Some of the developments and formulae appear here for the ?rst time in book form. We hope our book will appeal to various audiences. These include MBA s- dents, upperlevelundergraduatestudents, beginningdoctoralstudents, qu- titative analysts at a basic level and senior executives who seek material on new developments in ?nance at an accessible level. The basic building block in our book is the one-step binomial model where a known price today can take one of two possible values at a future time, which might, for example, be tomorrow, or next month, or next year. In this simple situation "risk neutral pricing" can be de?ned and the model can be applied to price forward contracts, exchange rate contracts and interest rate derivatives. In a few places we discuss multinomial models to explain the notions of incomplete markets and how pricing can be viewed in such a context, where unique prices are no longer available. The simple one-period framework can then be extended to multi-period m- els.TheCox-Ross-RubinsteinapproximationtotheBlackScholesoptionpr- ing formula is an immediate consequence. American, barrier and exotic - tions can all be discussed and priced using binomial models. More precise modelling issues such as implied volatility trees and implied binomial trees are treated, as well as interest rate models like those due to Ho and Lee; and Black, Derman and Toy.

Interest Rate Models: an Infinite Dimensional Stochastic Analysis Perspective studies the mathematical issues that arise in modeling the interest rate term structure. These issues are approached by casting the interest rate models as stochastic evolution equations in infinite dimensional function spaces. The book is comprised of three parts. Part I is a crash course on interest rates, including a statistical analysis of the data and an introduction to some popular interest rate models. Part II is a self-contained introduction to infinite dimensional stochastic analysis, including SDE in Hilbert spaces and Malliavin calculus. Part III presents some recent results in interest rate theory, including finite dimensional realizations of HJM models, generalized bond portfolios, and the ergodicity of HJM models.

An innovative guide that identifies what distinguishes the best financial risk takers from the rest

From 1987 to 1992, a small group of Wall Street quants invented an entirely new way of managing risk to maximize success: risk management for risk-takers. This is the secret that lets tiny quantitative edges create hedge fund billionaires, and defines the powerful modern global derivatives economy. The same practical techniques are still used today by risk-takers in finance as well as many other fields. "Red-Blooded Risk" examines this approach and offers valuable advice for the calculated risk-takers who need precise quantitative guidance that will help separate them from the rest of the pack.

While most commentators say that the last financial crisis proved it's time to follow risk-minimizing techniques, they're wrong. The only way to succeed at anything is to manage true risk, which includes the chance of loss. "Red-Blooded Risk" presents specific, actionable strategies that will allow you to be a practical risk-taker in even the most dynamic markets.Contains a secret history of Wall Street, the parts all the other books leave outIncludes an intellectually rigorous narrative addressing what it takes to really make it in any risky activity, on or off Wall StreetAddresses essential issues ranging from the way you think about chance to economics, politics, finance, and lifeWritten by Aaron Brown, one of the most calculated and successful risk takers in the world of finance, who was an active participant in the creation of modern risk management and had a front-row seat to the last meltdownWritten in an engaging but rigorous style, with no equationsContains illustrations and graphic narrative by renowned manga artist Eric Kim

There are people who disapprove of every risk before the fact, but never stop anyone from doing anything dangerous because they want to take credit for any success. The recent financial crisis has swelled their ranks, but in learning how to break free of these people, you'll discover how taking on the right risk can open the door to the most profitable opportunities.

The book focuses on applications of belief functions to business decisions. Section I introduces the intuitive, conceptual and historical development of belief functions. Three different interpretations (the marginally correct approximation, the qualitative model, and the quantitative model) of belief functions are investigated, and rough set theory and structured query language (SQL) are used to express belief function semantics. Section II presents applications of belief functions in information systems and auditing. Included are discussions on how a belief-function framework provides a more efficient and effective audit methodology and also the appropriateness of belief functions to represent uncertainties in audit evidence. The third section deals with applications of belief functions to mergers and acquisitions; financial analysis of engineering enterprises; forecast demand for mobile satellite services; modeling financial portfolios; and economics.

In recent years portfolio optimization and construction methodologies have become an increasingly critical ingredient of asset and fund management, while at the same time portfolio risk assessment has become an essential ingredient in risk management. This trend will only accelerate in the coming years. This practical handbook fills the gap between current university instruction and current industry practice. It provides a comprehensive computationally-oriented treatment of modern portfolio optimization and construction methods using the powerful NUOPT for S-PLUS optimizer.

In times of globalization, competition and economic and technological progress, the permanent improvement of the planning, coordination and control system of companies is a major task of Controlling. This book presents a concise concept for the design of a ratio and management report system for each functional part of the company. It addresses as well practitioners who seek decision support in their day-to-day business, as scientists and students who want to obtain information about the state of the art of Management Control and Controllership.

In August, 1976 the research seminar 'Decision-making in business' was organized at Nijenrode, The Netherlands School of Business. More than fifty scientists and practitioners from nine countries presented research papers in one of the six discussion groups. Some of them also presented some of their ideas in front of a large mixed audience at a one-day symposium. Many of the papers presented at Nijenrode were of such a high quality that the decision to publish a selection of them was an easy one. At the same time the new series Nijenrode studies in business was initiated. All who were involved, the policy committee of the N ijenrode studies, the advisory and editorial board of the series, the publisher, and the organizing committee of the seminar and symposium, acclaimed the idea of publishing three volumes in the new series. A collection of eleven papers could be grouped under the title Trends in managerial andfinancial accounting. Another collection will be published as volume 2 of this series under the title TI'ends in financial decision-making, while volume 3 will consist of papers exploring the theme Trends in business ethics. The books are intended for those who are interested in new developments in the decision-making area. They are especially suitable for graduate or advanced undergraduate courses: volume 1 in managerial or financial accounting courses; volume 2 in courses on managerial finance, capital budgeting or decision making; and volume 3 in courses on business ethics or related fields."

This is a management oriented book about efficiency, quality and effectiveness designed for an audience of management practitioners, scholars, and students. The integrative approach developed in this book contains new ideas regarding quality and efficiency-based effective management. These ideas lend themselves to managerial applications. This work is not meant to provide an exhaustive account of the measurement, and applications of effectiveness, quality, and efficiency concepts. With the exception of the treatment of conventional productivity concepts and measurements in Chapter 2, and of production flexibility in Chapter 5, the discussion in this book is largely non-teclmical. Among management practitioners, the book may be of particular interest to managers with broad strategic orientations in the fields of production management, quality management, marketing, and management of human resources. The academic audience is likely to include scholars and students interested in strategic planning, applied productivity analysis, quality management, marketing management, and management of human resources. The book could also be used as a supplementary text to or part of the readings in basic and advanced courses in strategic management, production management, and quality management. Concepts and dimensions of efficiency, quality, and effectiveness, as used throughout this book, are introduced in Chapter 1. The intricate sets of relationships among effectiveness, quality, and efficiency are explored.

Volatility forecasting is crucial for option pricing, risk management and portfolio management. This book gives clear and practical guidance on how to model and forecast volatility using only volatility models that have been tested for their forecasting performance. The book focuses on describing, evaluating and comparing research in volatility forecasting and provides some background on volatility definition, estimation and some principles on forecasts evaluation. The book covers both time series econometric volatility models and implied volatility model based on Black-Scholes and continuous time stochastic volatility option pricing models.

"The present book by Professor Ser-Huang Poon surveys this literature carefully and provides a very useful summary of the results available. By so doing, she allows any interested worker to quickly catch up with the field and also to discover the areas that are still available for further exploration."
--Sir Clive W. J. Granger, University of California in San Diego

"Professor Poon exposes in her book current state-of-the-art volatility forecasting methods. Beginning with a description of various conditional volatility models, be it discrete or continuous, the link with option pricing models is well established. The book proceeds with surveying the current volatility literature: what type of volatility should be used to price options, how can volatility of various assets be predicted, how volatility can be used within a value-at-risk setting. This well written book should be useful both for the practitioner and the academic/student interested in volatility."
--Professor Michael Rockinger, FAME and University of Lausanne, Switzerland

Incorporates the many tools needed for modeling and pricing in finance and insurance
Introductory Stochastic Analysis for Finance and Insurance introduces readers to the topics needed to master and use basic stochastic analysis techniques for mathematical finance. The author presents the theories of stochastic processes and stochastic calculus and provides the necessary tools for modeling and pricing in finance and insurance. Practical in focus, the book's emphasis is on application, intuition, and computation, rather than theory.
Consequently, the text is of interest to graduate students, researchers, and practitioners interested in these areas. While the text is self-contained, an introductory course in probability theory is beneficial to prospective readers.
This book evolved from the author's experience as an instructor and has been thoroughly classroom-tested. Following an introduction, the author sets forth the fundamental information and tools needed by researchers and practitioners working in the financial and insurance industries:
* Overview of Probability Theory
* Discrete-Time stochastic processes
* Continuous-time stochastic processes
* Stochastic calculus: basic topics
The final two chapters, Stochastic Calculus: Advanced Topics and Applications in Insurance, are devoted to more advanced topics. Readers learn the Feynman-Kac formula, the Girsanov's theorem, and complex barrier hitting times distributions. Finally, readers discover how stochastic analysis and principles are applied in practice through two insurance examples: valuation of equity-linked annuities under a stochastic interest rate environment and calculation of reserves for universal life insurance.
Throughout the text, figures and tables are used to help simplify complex theory and pro-cesses. An extensive bibliography opens up additional avenues of research to specialized topics.
Ideal for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students, this text is recommended for one-semester courses in stochastic finance and calculus. It is also recommended as a study guide for professionals taking Causality Actuarial Society (CAS) and Society of Actuaries (SOA) actuarial examinations.

This book studies pricing financial derivatives with a partial differential equation approach. The treatment is mathematically rigorous and covers a variety of topics in finance including forward and futures contracts, the Black-Scholes model, European and American type options, free boundary problems, lookback options, interest rate models, interest rate derivatives, swaps, caps, floors, and collars. Each chapter concludes with exercises.

Michael C. Munnix analyses the statistical dependencies in financial markets and develops mathematical models using concepts and methods from physics. The author focuses on aspects that played a key role in the emergence of the recent financial crisis: estimation of credit risk, dynamics of statistical dependencies, and correlations on small time-scales. He visualizes the findings for various large-scale empirical studies of market data. The results give novel insights into the mechanisms of financial markets and allow conclusions on how to reduce financial risk significantly.

The Bachelier Society for Mathematical Finance held its first World Congress in Paris last year, and coincided with the centenary of Louis Bacheliers thesis defence. In his thesis Bachelier introduces Brownian motion as a tool for the analysis of financial markets as well as the exact definition of options. The thesis is viewed by many the key event that marked the emergence of mathematical finance as a scientific discipline. The prestigious list of plenary speakers in Paris included two Nobel laureates, Paul Samuelson and Robert Merton, and the mathematicians Henry McKean and S.R.S. Varadhan. Over 130 further selected talks were given in three parallel sessions. .

Discover the interplay between strategy and risk in this insightful new resource from two experts in the financial industry who have applied their knowledge to multiple industries In The Two Headed Coin, accomplished authors James L. Darroch and David Wm. Finnie deliver an insightful exploration of the interplay between strategy and risk that underlies the operational framework of successful organizations. You'll learn which risks are fundamental to the strategic positioning and goals of your organization and which are not. You'll also discover the importance of an independent risk function, e, g., the CRO, and its invaluable role as part of the strategic process. You'll also find: A thorough discussion of the notion of competitive advantage and how it relates to risk An exploration of consumer perception and reputation as an asset to be managed How to use scenario planning and real options to provide a framework for managing uncertainty How a focus on culture and ethics can minimize the risk of large losses due to adverse behaviors Perfect for risk management and strategy professionals The Two Headed Coin will also earn a place in the libraries of executives and managers who wish to improve their ability to integrate strategic and risk thinking to create competitive advantage.

Statistical Tools for Finance and Insurance" "presents ready-to-use solutions, theoretical developments and method construction for many practical problems in quantitative finance and insurance. Written by practitioners and leading academics in the field, this book offers a unique combination of topics from which every market analyst and risk manager will benefit.

Features of the significantly enlarged and revised second edition: Offers insight into new methods and the applicability of the stochastic technologyProvides the tools, instruments and (online) algorithms for recent techniques in quantitative finance and modern treatments in insurance calculationsCovers topics such as
- expected shortfall for heavy tailed and mixture distributions*
- pricing of variance swaps*
- volatility smile calibration in FX markets
- pricing of catastrophe bonds and temperature derivatives*
- building loss models and ruin probability approximation
- insurance pricing with GLM*
- equity linked retirement plans*(new topics in the second edition marked with*)Presents extensive examples