This volume engages the profound impact upon economics and related disciplines by the growth and improvements in information systems. Contributors survey many of the most significant issues in economics and our progress on them. The chapters in this volume focus on various individual interrelated subjects regarding the economics of information systems: the adoption and diffusion of information technologies; the pricing of data communications; the ways firms organize and transform themselves as information is better captured and disseminated within and across firms and customers; the means and tactics firms us to compete with each other; the manner in which firms interact with and distribute goods to customers; the methods and mechanisms for anonymous and infrequent interactions between users, firms, and customers in far reaching locations; and the type and use of information on customers and their behavior. These issues span areas of economics and disciplines within business schools. The volume provides a survey of our current state of knowledge in theses areas, while simultaneously framing the most fruitful directions for future research.
*The Handbooks in Information Systems is a comprehensive survey of the field of Information Systems
*Each individual Volume gives the state-of-the-art of a sub-field of the Information Systems area
*Volumes are divided into Chapters written by leading experts in the field

This volume contains a selection of papers presented at the first conference of the Society for Computational Economics held at ICC Institute, Austin, Texas, May 21-24, 1995. Twenty-two papers are included in this volume, devoted to applications of computational methods for the empirical analysis of economic and financial systems; the development of computing methodology, including software, related to economics and finance; and the overall impact of developments in computing. The various contributions represented in the volume indicate the growing interest in the topic due to the increased availability of computational concepts and tools and the necessity of analyzing complex decision problems. The papers in this volume are divided into four sections: Computational methods in econometrics, Computational methods in finance, Computational methods for a social environment and New computational methods.GBP/LISTGBP

Over the past two decades, many advances have been made in the decision support system (DSS) field. They range from progress in fundamental concepts, to improved techniques and methods, to widespread use of commercial software for DSS development. Still, the depth and breadth of the DSS field continues to grow, fueled by the need to better support decision making in a world that is increasingly complex in terms of volume, diversity, and interconnectedness of the knowledge on which decisions can be based. This continuing growth is facilitated by increasing computer power and decreasing per-unit computing costs. But, it is spearheaded by the multifaceted efforts of DSS researchers. The collective work of these researchers runs from the speculative to the normative to the descriptive. It includes analysis of what the field needs, designs of means for meeting recognized needs, and implementations for study. It encompasses theoretical, empirical, and applied orientations. It is concerned with the invention of concepts, frameworks, models, and languages for giving varied, helpful perspectives. It involves the discovery of principles, methods, and techniques for expeditious construction of successful DSSs. It aims to create computer-based tools that facilitate DSS development. It assesses DSS efficacy by observing systems, their developers, and their users. This growing body of research continues to be fleshed out and take shape on a strong, but still-developing, skeletal foundation.

New Directions in Computational Economics brings together for the first time a diverse selection of papers, sharing the underlying theme of application of computing technology as a tool for achieving solutions to realistic problems in computational economics and related areas in the environmental, ecological and energy fields. Part I of the volume addresses experimental and computational issues in auction mechanisms, including a survey of recent results for sealed bid auctions. The second contribution uses neural networks as the basis for estimating bid functions for first price sealed bid auctions. Also presented is the smart market' computational mechanism which better matches bids and offers for natural gas. Part II consists of papers that formulate and solve models of economics systems. Amman and Kendrick's paper deals with control models and the computational difficulties that result from nonconvexities. Using goal programming, Nagurney, Thore and Pan formulate spatial resource allocation models to analyze various policy issues. Thompson and Thrall next present a rigorous mathematical analysis of the relationship between efficiency and profitability. The problem of matching uncertain streams of assets and liabilities is solved using stochastic optimization techniques in the following paper in this section. Finally, Part III applies economic concepts to issues in computer science in addition to using computational techniques to solve economic models.

New Directions in Computational Economics brings together for the first time a diverse selection of papers, sharing the underlying theme of application of computing technology as a tool for achieving solutions to realistic problems in computational economics and related areas in the environmental, ecological and energy fields. Part I of the volume addresses experimental and computational issues in auction mechanisms, including a survey of recent results for sealed bid auctions. The second contribution uses neural networks as the basis for estimating bid functions for first price sealed bid auctions. Also presented is the `smart market' computational mechanism which better matches bids and offers for natural gas. Part II consists of papers that formulate and solve models of economics systems. Amman and Kendrick's paper deals with control models and the computational difficulties that result from nonconvexities. Using goal programming, Nagurney, Thore and Pan formulate spatial resource allocation models to analyze various policy issues. Thompson and Thrall next present a rigorous mathematical analysis of the relationship between efficiency and profitability. The problem of matching uncertain streams of assets and liabilities is solved using stochastic optimization techniques in the following paper in this section. Finally, Part III applies economic concepts to issues in computer science in addition to using computational techniques to solve economic models.

Researchers and practitioners interested in the current De- cision Support System (DSS) and the shape of future DSS are the intended audience of this book. There is a particular, recurring emphasis on the adaptation of artificial intelli- gence techniques for use in the DSS world. The chapters are organized in two major sections, the first dealing with the- oretical topics and the second with applications.

This volume contains a selection of papers presented at the first conference of the Society for Computational Economics held at ICC Institute, Austin, Texas, May 21-24, 1995. Twenty-two papers are included in this volume, devoted to applications of computational methods for the empirical analysis of economic and financial systems; the development of computing methodology, including software, related to economics and finance; and the overall impact of developments in computing. The various contributions represented in the volume indicate the growing interest in the topic due to the increased availability of computational concepts and tools and the necessity of analyzing complex decision problems. The papers in this volume are divided into four sections: Computational methods in econometrics, Computational methods in finance, Computational methods for a social environment and New computational methods.GBP/LISTGBP

Over the past two decades, many advances have been made in the decision support system (DSS) field. They range from progress in fundamental concepts, to improved techniques and methods, to widespread use of commercial software for DSS development. Still, the depth and breadth of the DSS field continues to grow, fueled by the need to better support decision making in a world that is increasingly complex in terms of volume, diversity, and interconnectedness of the knowledge on which decisions can be based. This continuing growth is facilitated by increasing computer power and decreasing per-unit computing costs. But, it is spearheaded by the multifaceted efforts of DSS researchers. The collective work of these researchers runs from the speculative to the normative to the descriptive. It includes analysis of what the field needs, designs of means for meeting recognized needs, and implementations for study. It encompasses theoretical, empirical, and applied orientations. It is concerned with the invention of concepts, frameworks, models, and languages for giving varied, helpful perspectives. It involves the discovery of principles, methods, and techniques for expeditious construction of successful DSSs. It aims to create computer-based tools that facilitate DSS development. It assesses DSS efficacy by observing systems, their developers, and their users. This growing body of research continues to be fleshed out and take shape on a strong, but still-developing, skeletal foundation.