Economic development and social welfare depend on the existence of effective and efficient infrastructure systems, particularly in health, energy, transportation and water, many of which are developed and managed through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs). However, empirical evidence suggests some pitfalls in the use of these PPP arrangements. This book addresses these issues, focusing on mostly three key questions: How to improve the robustness of the decision-making process leading to the option of PPP? How to improve contract management as the longest phase of the process? How can contracts be improved to accommodate uncertainty and avoid harmful renegotiations? The authors explore the concept of flexible contracts, the uncertainty modeling for improving the robustness of the decision-making process, and develop an overall framework for effective contract management, along with a comprehensive analysis of current renegotiation patterns. The ultimate goal is to improve the contractual performance, as well as the overall infrastructure management and social welfare.

This book provides a theoretical basis for understanding the phenomenon of renegotiations in Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). It analyzes the case of transport projects, and provides empirical evidence from a variety of real-world projects. What drives renegotiations? Why are some projects more likely to be renegotiated than others? What are the outcomes? How can we improve the performance of renegotiation processes? These questions form the core of discussion in this book. PPPs are a procurement model for the delivery of infrastructure and public services that have experienced significant growth over the last three decades, particularly in terms of the development of transportation projects. The empirical evidence suggests that most PPP projects are inevitably renegotiated, i.e., the original contract needs to be adapted to new and unforeseen circumstances. The impacts of these changes on the welfare of the respective stakeholders are frequently asymmetric. Most academic research and professional guidelines are focused on PPP contract design and preparation of the procurement process, and very little has been published on the management and, mainly, the process of renegotiating that will - in all likelihood - occur. This book fills this gap in the academic discussion. Several country-based analyses and case studies from Europe and the Americas provide the reader with practical applications of the theory.

There is a growing interest in Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), particularly in infrastructure and public services. Under the scope of PPPs, renegotiations are becoming more relevant, as empirical evidence suggests that most PPP projects are inevitably renegotiated, i.e., the original contract needs to be adapted to new and unforeseen circumstances. Renegotiations have a substantial impact on the contract and performance of a PPP and usually represent significant costs for users and taxpayers. However, very little is known about the management and, mainly, the process of renegotiating that will, very likely, occur. This book provides a set of case-studies of PPP renegotiations in the transport sector. The authors illustrate the Portuguese experience, a country that has been using PPP extensively, particularly in transport. The case studies provide an extensive and detailed analysis on each aspect of the project and the renegotiation. What drives renegotiations? Why are some projects more renegotiated than others? What are the results? How can the performance of renegotiation processes be improved? These and other questions provide the basis for the discussions in this book. The novelty and value of the book come mainly from the extent of information available. Each case-study deals with these questions in much more detail than what is common in the case-studies approach.

There is a growing interest in Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), particularly in infrastructure and public services. Under the scope of PPPs, renegotiations are becoming more relevant, as empirical evidence suggests that most PPP projects are inevitably renegotiated, i.e., the original contract needs to be adapted to new and unforeseen circumstances. Renegotiations have a substantial impact on the contract and performance of a PPP and usually represent significant costs for users and taxpayers. However, very little is known about the management and, mainly, the process of renegotiating that will, very likely, occur. This book provides a set of case-studies of PPP renegotiations in the transport sector. The authors illustrate the Portuguese experience, a country that has been using PPP extensively, particularly in transport. The case studies provide an extensive and detailed analysis on each aspect of the project and the renegotiation. What drives renegotiations? Why are some projects more renegotiated than others? What are the results? How can the performance of renegotiation processes be improved? These and other questions provide the basis for the discussions in this book. The novelty and value of the book come mainly from the extent of information available. Each case-study deals with these questions in much more detail than what is common in the case-studies approach. 

Economic development and social welfare depend on the existence of effective and efficient infrastructure systems, particularly in health, energy, transportation and water, many of which are developed and managed through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs). However, empirical evidence suggests some pitfalls in the use of these PPP arrangements. This book addresses these issues, focusing on mostly three key questions: How to improve the robustness of the decision-making process leading to the option of PPP? How to improve contract management as the longest phase of the process? How can contracts be improved to accommodate uncertainty and avoid harmful renegotiations? The authors explore the concept of flexible contracts, the uncertainty modeling for improving the robustness of the decision-making process, and develop an overall framework for effective contract management, along with a comprehensive analysis of current renegotiation patterns. The ultimate goal is to improve the contractual performance, as well as the overall infrastructure management and social welfare.

In many past and recent earthquakes it has been shown that the local conditions and, in particular, the local geology have a great influence on the observed seismic ground motion and, consequently, on the damage distribution in housing, industrial stock, and life-lines. Seismic microzoning is the usual procedure to have these local effects taken into account for engineering design and land-use planning, being a useful tool for earthquake risk mitigation. This volume presents a collection of papers mainly originated from a workshop on Seismic Microzoning, organized during the 23rd General Assembly of the European Geophysical Society (EGS) in Nice, France in April 1998. The workshop dealt with various geophysical tools for analysing the effects of the local soils of subsurface geology on seismic ground motion, namely the methods using experimental data such as microtremors, and the theoretical/numerical 1-D and 2-D modelling methods. Additional contributions discussing techniques for characterising soil properties, microzoning applications to several urban areas, and others were added to the volume to broaden this important topic.

This book provides a theoretical basis for understanding the phenomenon of renegotiations in Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). It analyzes the case of transport projects, and provides empirical evidence from a variety of real-world projects. What drives renegotiations? Why are some projects more likely to be renegotiated than others? What are the outcomes? How can we improve the performance of renegotiation processes? These questions form the core of discussion in this book. PPPs are a procurement model for the delivery of infrastructure and public services that have experienced significant growth over the last three decades, particularly in terms of the development of transportation projects. The empirical evidence suggests that most PPP projects are inevitably renegotiated, i.e., the original contract needs to be adapted to new and unforeseen circumstances. The impacts of these changes on the welfare of the respective stakeholders are frequently asymmetric. Most academic research and professional guidelines are focused on PPP contract design and preparation of the procurement process, and very little has been published on the management and, mainly, the process of renegotiating that will - in all likelihood - occur. This book fills this gap in the academic discussion. Several country-based analyses and case studies from Europe and the Americas provide the reader with practical applications of the theory.

Apply C++ to programming problems in the financial industry using this hands-on book, updated for C++20. It explains those aspects of the language that are more frequently used in writing financial software, including the Standard Template Library (STL), templates, and various numerical libraries. Practical C++20 Financial Programming also describes many of the important problems in financial engineering that are part of the day-to-day work of financial programmers in large investment banks and hedge funds. The author has extensive experience in the New York City financial industry that is now distilled into this handy guide. Focus is on providing working solutions for common programming problems. Examples are plentiful and provide value in the form of ready-to-use solutions that you can immediately apply in your day-to-day work. You'll see examples of matrix manipulations, curve fitting, histogram generation, numerical integration, and differential equation analysis, and you'll learn how all these techniques can be applied to some of the most common areas of financial software development. These areas include performance price forecasting, optimizing investment portfolios, and more. The book style is quick and to-the-point, delivering a refreshing view of what one needs to master in order to thrive as a C++ programmer in the financial industry. What You Will Learn Cover aspects of C++ especially relevant to financial programming Write working solutions to commonly encountered problems in finance Design efficient, numerical classes for use in finance, as well as to use those classes provided by Boost and other libraries Who This Book Is For Those who are new to programming for financial applications using C++, but should have some previous experience with C++.

Objective-C Programmer's Reference provides the tools necessary to write software in Objective-C--the language of choice for developing iOS and OS X applications. Author Carlos Oliveira begins from the basic building blocks of the language. He shows how to create correct and efficient applications by applying your knowledge of object-oriented and structured programming. This book: * Takes you quickly through fundamental concepts such as interfaces and class implementations. * Provides a concise reference to the Foundation Framework that is all-important when programming in Objective-C. * Highlights key differences between Objective-C and other popular languages such as Java or Python. * Provides the fundamentals of Cocoa and Cocoa Touch, which are the standard for OS X and iOS development. Objective-C Programmer's Reference makes extensive use of concepts already mastered by developers who are fluent in other languages such as C++, Java, Perl, and Python. The author's approach is logical and structured, and even novice developers will have an easy time absorbing the most important topics necessary to program in Objective-C.Objective-C Programmer's Reference is a book for professional developers in Objective-C, or those who are moving to Objective-C from other languages. The book is written for readers who lack the time to invest in more traditional books, which usually spend hundreds of pages to explain concepts that are part of the working programmer's standard vocabulary. What you'll learn * Grasp the basic syntax of the Objective-C language. * Create classes and methods in Objective-C. * Apply Objective-C's message-passing mechanism to simplify your code and avoid deep class hierarchies. * Store and access dynamic data through Objective-C's built-in, key-value system. * Make effective use of container classes such as arrays and dictionaries with their immutable and mutable versions. * Create simple applications for iPhones, iPads, Macbooks, and other iOS and Mac OS X devices. Who this book is for Objective-C Programmer's Reference is for programmers in Objective-C who are looking for a handy reference to keep them on top of their game.The book is also designed for programmers moving to Objective-C from some other language, especially from another C-like language such as Java or C#, providing just that additional bit that is needed to transfer their expertise into Objective-C and get a leg up on creating applications for the iOS and OS X platforms underlying Apple's hugely successful devices such as the iPhone, iPad, and Macbook.