3,198,794 research outputs found

    Cost goals

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    Cost goal activities for the point focusing parabolic dish program are reported. Cost goals involve three tasks: (1) determination of the value of the dish systems to potential users; (2) the cost targets of the dish system are set out; (3) the value side and cost side are integrated to provide information concerning the potential size of the market for parabolic dishes. The latter two activities are emphasized

    The valuation of market information from livestock selling complexes

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    The efficient operation of livestock markets is contingent upon producers accessing relevant market information which assists adjustment to production and distribution. This article provides an analysis of the value of market information gleaned by producers attending public livestock auctions. The article uses the Travel Cost Method to quantify the value of this information and notes the limitations of applying the Travel Cost Method in this context.Agribusiness, Livestock Production/Industries,

    Cost, value and effectiveness of librray and information service

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    Several things conspired to encourage me to attempt this thesis: ā€¢My job as a library manager during an economic recession forced me to take an interest in the costing and valuation of library services. I attended courses, seminars and workshops on the subject; but although I learned a great deal I found that could not progress beyond a certain point. The work done in the area seemed a confused jumble of theoretical ideas from librarians and information scientists, contributions from economists which seemed to illuminate parts of the area, and the occasional intrusion of very down to earth but apparently effective ideas from practising librarians. I needed a bird's eye view of evaluation to understand it. ā€¢ The realisation that the business of cost, value and effectiveness is becoming a theoretical sub-discipline of library and information studies, and will be treated as such by educators and practitioners unless it can be seen as part of the very practical business of resource management. ā€¢ A point made by Oldman (1976) about there being two approaches to the management of library resources: listening to the users and trying to fulfil their needs, and investing the resources available in a responsible manner. What is needed is an amalgam of the two approaches, she maintains. ā€¢ A question from a student: "How can the library user influence the effectiveness of library services?

    Quantum measurement and the first law of thermodynamics: the energy cost of measurement is the work value of the acquired information

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    The energy cost of measurement is an interesting fundamental question, and may have profound implications for quantum technologies. In the context of Maxwell's demon, it is often stated that measurement has no minimum energy cost, while information has a work value, even though these statements can appear contradictory. However, as we elucidate, these statements do no refer to the cost paid by the measuring device. Here we show that it is only when a measuring device has access to a zero temperature reservoir - that is, never - that the measurement requires no energy. All real measuring devices pay the cost that a heat engine pays to obtain the work value of the information they acquire.Comment: 4 pages, revtex4-1. v2: added a referenc

    Adoption of a cleaner technology by a monopoly under incomplete information

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    We consider a monopolistic firm producing a good while polluting. This firm can adopt a cleaner technology within a finite time by incurring an investment cost decreasing exponentially with the adoption date. The firm is induced to adopt the cleaner technology at the socially optimal date by an appropriate innovation subsidy. In the incomplete information context, the firm has private information concerning the cost of acquiring new technology. Interestingly, the regulator can induce the firm to reveal the true value of its private information by a contract consisting of an adoption date which is increasing with the value of the innovation cost parameter announced by the firm, and a R&D subsidy which is decreasing with the value of the innovation cost parameter announced by the firm. Nevertheless, the socially optimal adoption date of incomplete information is delayed with respect to the complete information one.cleaner technology, adoption date, R&D subsidy, incomplete information.

    Ignorance can be evolutionarily beneficial

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    Information is increasingly being viewed as a resource used by organisms to increase their fitness. Indeed, it has been formally shown that there is a sensible way to assign a reproductive value to information and it is non-negative. However, all of this work assumed that information collection is cost-free. Here, we account for such a cost and provide conditions for when the reproductive value of information will be negative. In these instances, counter-intuitively, it is in the interest of the organism to remain ignorant. We link our results to empirical studies where Bayesian behaviour appears to break down in complex environments and provide an alternative explanation of lowered arousal thresholds in the evolution of sleep.Comment: 5 pages, submitte

    Determination of the bundle price for digital information goods

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    The fast emergence of Internet as a media to distribute digital information goods created many new opportunities for the packaging and pricing of these goods. The pricing of information goods introduces a challenge since the cost structure of information goods differs from that of conventional physical goods in that they can be costly to introduce but are relatively cheap to reproduce. The bundling strategy for digital information goods helps producers to extract more value from customers and can result in cost savings due to the presence of economies of scale. This study aims to determine the optimum price a producer of digital information goods has to charge for a bundle in order to maximize his gross margin. The bundle pricing model is constructed for both uniform and exponential distributions of the fraction of information goods in the bundle that has positive value for the customers

    Modeling payback from research into the efficacy of left-ventricular assist devices as destination therapy

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    Objectives: Ongoing developments in design have improved the outlook for left-ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation as a therapy in end-stage heart failure. Nevertheless, early cost-effectiveness assessments, based on first-generation devices, have not been encouraging. Against this background, we set out (i) to examine the survival benefit that LVADs would need to generate before they could be deemed cost-effective; (ii) to provide insight into the likelihood that this benefit will be achieved; and (iii) from the perspective of a healthcare provider, to assess the value of discovering the actual size of this benefit by means of a Bayesian value of information analysis. Methods: Cost-effectiveness assessments are made from the perspective of the healthcare provider, using current UK norms for the value of a quality-adjusted life-year (QALY). The treatment model is grounded in published analyses of the Randomized Evaluation of Mechanical Assistance for the Treatment of Congestive Heart Failure (REMATCH) trial of first-generation LVADs, translated into a UK cost setting. The prospects for patient survival with second-generation devices is assessed using Bayesian prior distributions, elicited from a group of leading clinicians in the field. Results: Using established thresholds, cost-effectiveness probabilities under these priors are found to be low (.2 percent) for devices costing as much as Ā£60,000. Sensitivity of the conclusions to both device cost and QALY valuation is examined. Conclusions: In the event that the price of the device in use would reduce to Ā£40,000, the value of the survival information can readily justify investment in further trials

    Bayesian value-of-infomation analysis: an application to a policy model of Alzheimer's disease

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    A framework is presented that distinguishes the conceptually separate decisions of which treatment strategy is optimal from the question of whether more information is required to inform this choice in the future. The authors argue that the choice of treatment strategy should be based on expected utility, and the only valid reason to characterize the uncertainty surrounding outcomes of interest is to establish the value of acquiring additional information. A Bayesian decision theoretic approach is demonstrated through a probabilistic analysis of a published policy model of Alzheimerā€™s disease. The expected value of perfect information is estimated for the decision to adopt a new pharmaceutical for the population of patients with Alzheimerā€™s disease in the United States. This provides an upper bound on the value of additional research. The value of information is also estimated for each of the model inputs. This analysis can focus future research by identifying those parameters where more precise estimates would be most valuable and indicating whether an experimental design would be required. We also discuss how this type of analysis can also be used to design experimental research efficiently (identifying optimal sample size and optimal sample allocation) based on the marginal cost and marginal benefit of sample information. Value-of-information analysis can provide a measure of the expected payoff from proposed research, which can be used to set priorities in research and development. It can also inform an efficient regulatory framework for new healthcare technologies: an analysis of the value of information would define when a claim for a new technology should be deemed substantiated and when evidence should be considered competent and reliable when it is not cost-effective to gather any more information
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