Incorporating statistical model error into the calculation of acceptability prices of contingent claims

The determination of acceptability prices of contingent claims requires the choice of a stochastic model for the underlying asset price dynamics. Given this model, optimal bid and ask prices can be found by stochastic optimization. However, the model for the underlying asset price process is typically based on data and found by a statistical estimation procedure. We define a confidence set of possible estimated models by a nonparametric neighborhood of a baseline model. This neighborhood serves as ambiguity set for a multi-stage stochastic optimization problem under model uncertainty. We obtain distributionally robust solutions of the acceptability pricing problem and derive the dual problem formulation. Moreover, we prove a general large deviations result for the nested distance, which allows to relate the bid and ask prices under model ambiguity to the quality of the observed data.Comment: 27 pages, 2 figure

Recruitment on Paper, Recruitment on the Web: An Examination of the Rhetorical Strategies used in each Medium

This study examines the rhetoric of college and university recruitment on paper and on the Internet. In particular, the centers on the difference between the two media in relation to their readers, writers, and final texts. A triangulated research approach was used: text analysis, interviews with writers and readers, and reader surveys that include open- and closed-ended questions. The printed and electronic recruitment materials of three peer institutions of the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) formed the basis of the research. Those institutions included the University of Northern Iowa (UNI), the University of Texas at San Antonia (UTSA), and the University of the North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC). The research revealed that writers of recruitment messages approach their tasks differently, depending on the medium they work in. Printed and electronic text, while essentially the same in content, is presented within the boundaries or possibilities of its medium

A Note on Non-Degenerate Integer Programs with Small Sub-Determinants

The intention of this note is two-fold. First, we study integer optimization problems in standard form defined by $A \in\mathbb{Z}^{m\times{}n}$ and present an algorithm to solve such problems in polynomial-time provided that both the largest absolute value of an entry in $A$ and $m$ are constant. Then, this is applied to solve integer programs in inequality form in polynomial-time, where the absolute values of all maximal sub-determinants of $A$ lie between $1$ and a constant

The Moral Idea of a University: A Case Study

A common moral idea is necessary for not only providing shape to a particular college or university community but also for the cultivation of the virtues amongst students. However, what are the characteristics of an institution that models this type of approach? In order to answer this question, this article describes what we believe is the best exemplar from our study of 156 different Christian colleges and universities. Such a determination was made based upon an analysis of documents (academic catalogs, admissions view books, and student handbooks) gathered from all 156 institutions and then site visits made to nine institutions that demonstrated a significant level of investment in moral education. Ultimately, we argue that the moral idea of a university, particularly in the Christian sense, is viable if individual institutions are willing to establish practices that support the narratives afforded to them by their respective traditions

The effect of lens-induced anisometropia on sterolocalization

Little research has been done to study the effect of anisometropia on the ability of subjects to localize an object in space using binocular depth cues. Rendering a patient artificially anisometropic is similar to prescribing an unbalanced refraction or inducing anisometropia in a monovision contact lens fit. We investigated the effect of induced anisometropia on stereolocalization. Spectacle lenses were used to create the anisometropic conditions and all subjects were pretested for isometropia while wearing their best distance refractive corrections. Thirty-eight subjects judged the distance of a floating vectographic Quoit\u27s Ring target under varying amounts of anisometropia in a featureless field. The amounts of anisometropia induced ranged between 0.50 D and 1.75 D. The results indicate that there is no statistically significant difference in the ability to stereolocalize with up to 1.00 D of anisometropia, however, beyond this limit a statistically significant decrease in performance clearly exists