This article proposes a modified method for the construction of diffusion indexes in macroeconomic forecasting using principal component regres- sion. The method aims to maximize the amount of variance of the origi- nal predictor variables retained by the diffusion indexes, by matching the data...

In this paper we discuss several methods to solve large real-world instances of the vehicle and crew scheduling problem. Although, there has been an increased attention to integrated approaches for solving such problems in the literature, currently only small or medium-sized instances can be...

In the classical approach to determine how many spare parts to stock, the spare parts shortage costs or the minimum fill rate are a key factor. A difficulty with this approach lies in the estimation of these shortage costs or the determination of appropriate minimum fill rates. In an attempt to...

In this paper we analyse the optimal claim behaviour of a risk sensitive policy holder having a vehicle damage insurance. It is proved that the optimal decision is of the form: to claim for damages only if its amount exceeds a certain limit. Moreover, we also derive the optimal stopping rule to...

Seasonal adjustment methods transform observed time series data into estimated data, where these estimated data are constructed such that they show no or almost no seasonal variation. An advantage of model-based methods is that these can provide confidence intervals around the seasonally...

The accuracy of real-time forecasts of macroeconomic variables that are subject to revisions may crucially depend on the choice of data used to compare the forecasts against. We put forward a flexible time-varying parameter regression framework to obtain early estimates of the final value of...

In applied economic research computable general equilibrium [CGE] models in which the behavior of economic agents are modeled, are widely used. In many CGE models, the Linear Expenditure System [LES] is used to model behavior of the household sector. The disadvantage of LES is that the Engel...

A duration model based on the time on Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits instead of a model based on the time till re-employment is more relevant from a cost-benefit perspective. The contribution of this paper is to extend the standard (mixed) Proportional Hazard model to account for an upper...

A Q-derived polynomial is a univariate polynomial, defined over the rationals, with the property that its zeros, and those of all its derivatives are rational numbers. There is a conjecture that says that Q-derived polynomials of degree 4 with distinct roots for themselves and all their...

In this note we show that the strong duality theorem of an unconstrained (generalized) geometric programming problem as defined by Peterson (cf.[1]) is actually a special case of a Lagrangian duality result. Contrary to [1] we also consider the case that the set C is compact and convex and in...