This paper takes a simple life insurance product that pays a benefit upon the death of a person and looks at two separate ways of setting the price, or premium, for the product. The premium is collected only once; on the date that the product is purchased. The first method of pricing uses the...

Longitudinal and repeated measurement data commonly arise in many scientific researchareas. Traditional methods have focused on estimating single mean response as a function ofa time related variable and other covariates in a homogeneous population. However, in manysituations the homogeneity...

This dissertation is comprised of two related tracts: (i) Quantitative Modeling and (ii) Analysis of Asset Flow Differential Equations. In the former a data set of over 100,000 daily closed-end fund prices is analyzed using mixed-effects regressions with the objective of understanding price...

Many medical studies collect biomarker data to gain insight into the biological mechanisms underlying both acute and chronic diseases. These markers may be obtained at a single point in time to aid in the diagnosis of an illness or may be collected longitudinally to provide information on the...

Since the formulation by Black, Scholes, and Merton in 1973 of the first rational option pricing formula which depended only on observable values, the volume of options traded daily on the Chicago Board of Exchange has grown rapidly. In fact, over the past three decades, options have undergone a...

This dissertation investigated the use of various techniques in modeling non-linear change in the context of latent growth modeling. A simulation study was conducted utilizing four between subjects factors: sample size (50, 75, 100, 150, 200, 300 and 500), slope variance (.15, .45 and .75),...