The management of financial risks, which is a branch of financial theory, is defined as a process that begins with risk factors identification, continues with measurement of risk and concludes with the coverage of that risk. This work focuses on the second phase of management process, namely the...

It is often asserted that the application of mean–variance analysis assumes normal (Gaussian) return distributions or quadratic utility functions. This common mistake confuses sufficient versus necessary conditions for the applicability of modern portfolio theory. If one believes (as does the...

A robust estimation procedure for mixture linear regression models is proposed by assuming that the error terms follow a Laplace distribution. Using the fact that the Laplace distribution can be written as a scale mixture of a normal and a latent distribution, this procedure is implemented by an...

Brazil is among the world’s largest grain producers and exporters. Its high productivity is the result of its technology in tropical agriculture, the way Brazilian farmers apply these technologies in their farms and Brazil’s particular production conditions. The literature offers few...