Nested words introduced by Alur and Madhusudan are used to capture structures with both linear and hierarchical order, e.g. XML documents, without losing valuable closure properties. Furthermore, Alur and Madhusudan introduced automata and equivalent logics for both finite and infinite nested words, thus extending Büchi’s theorem to nested words. Recently, average and discounted computations of...

For general state and action space Markov decision processes, we present sufficient conditions for convergence of both the optimal discounted cost value function and policies to the corresponding objects for the average costs per unit time. We extend Schäl’s [24] assumptions, guaranteeing the existence of a solution to the average cost optimality inequalities for compact action sets, to non-com...

We analyze an infinite horizon, single-product, periodic review model in which pricing and production/inventory decisions are made simultaneously. Demands in different periods are identically distributed random variables that are independent of each other, and their distributions depend on the product price. Pricing and ordering decisions are made at the beginning of each period, and all shorta...

Recent literature on testing experts shows that it is difficult, and often impossible, to determine whether an expert knows the stochastic process that generates data. Despite this negative result, we show that often exist contracts that allow a decision maker to attain the first-best payoff in the following sense: in the case in which the expert knows the stochastic process, the decision maker...

We analyze an infinite horizon, single product, periodic review model in which pricing and production/inventory decisions are made simultaneously. Demands in different periods are identically distributed random variables that are independent of each other and their distributions depend on the product price. Pricing and ordering decisions are made at the beginning of each period and all shortage...

1. F-Chart Method 1.1. Performance and Design of Liquid-Based Solar Heating Systems 1.1.1. Storage Capacity Correction 1.1.2. Collector Flow Rate Correction 1.1.3. Load Heat Exchanger Size Correction 1.2. Performance and Design of Air-Based Solar Heating Systems 1.2.1. Pebble Bed Storage Size Correction 1.2.2. Air Flow Rate Correction 1.3. Performance and Design of Solar Service Water Systems 1...

Reward from a particular action is seldom immediate, and the influence of such delayed outcome on choice decreases with delay. It has been postulated that when faced with immediate and delayed rewards, decision makers choose the option with maximum temporally discounted value. We examined the preference of monkeys for delayed reward in an intertemporal choice task and the neural basis for real-...

We propose and axiomatize probability adjusted rank-discounted critical-level generalized utilitarianism (PARDCLU). We thus generalize rank-discounted utilitarianism (RDU) to variable population and uncertainty and thereby take important steps towards preparing RDU for practical use, e.g. for evaluation of climate policies and other policy issues with long-run consequences. We illustrate how PA...

We study a discounted maxmin control problem with general state space. The controller is unsure about his model in the sense that he also considers a class of approximate models as possibly true. The objective is to choose a maxmin strategy that will work under a range of different model specifications. This is done by dynamic programming techniques. Under relatively weak conditions, we show th...

The real options approach is used to explain discounted utility anomalies as artifacts of the optimizing behavior of an individual with standard preferences, who perceives the utility from consumption in the future as uncertain. For this individual, waiting is valuable because uncertainty is revealed over time. The fair price (or compensation) that the individual agrees to pay (or accept) today...