Analysis of the distribution of the number of bidders in construction contract auctions

The number of bidders, N, involved in a construction procurement auction is known to have an important effect on the value of the lowest bid and the mark-up applied by bidders. In practice, for example, it is important for a bidder to have a good estimate of N when bidding for a current contract. One approach, instigated by Friedman in 1956, is to make such an estimate by statistical analysis and modelling. Since then, however, finding a suitable model for N has been an enduring problem for researchers and, despite intensive research activity in the subsequent 30 years, little progress has been made, due principally to the absence of new ideas and perspectives. The debate is resumed by checking old assumptions, providing new evidence relating to concomitant variables and proposing a new model. In doing this and in order to ensure universality, a novel approach is developed and tested by using a unique set of 12 construction tender databases from four continents. This shows the new model provides a significant advancement on previous versions. Several new research questions are also posed and other approaches identified for future study

The Caravan Rolls On

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68409/2/10.1177_107554707900100103.pd

Locating an obnoxious facility

AbstractWe demonstrate that a formulation of the obnoxious single facility location problem is equivalent to the complex moment problem. The equivalence is understood in the sense that the critical points of the potential function defining the location problem are equal to the zeros of the function defining the complex moment problem

Theory and applications of generalized dynamic programming: An overview

AbstractExtensions of dynamic programming (DP) into generalized preference structures, such as exist in multicriteria optimization, have invariably assumed sufficient structure to ensure the validity of Bellman's “principle of optimality” or the presence of monotonicity, hence ensuring the validity of the functional equations of DP. Often, however, the only reasonable formulation of problem (in terms of the size of the resulting state space) is one for which neither monotonicity nor the (strong) principle of optimality is satisfied. Generalized DP, based on a weaker principle of optimality, is a generalization of DP that produces optimal solutions, even in the absence of monotonicity. It is shown both to subsume conventional DP and to provide an alternative means of implementing Mitten's preference order DP. This paper provides an overview of generalized DP and its applications to date, summarizing our computational experiences in the process

Characterizing Centers of Convex Bodies via Optimization

AbstractGeneral planar center points are defined via optimization theory as the minimizing solutions to particular sums or products of distance functions. A special class of centers using a logarithmic distance functional is then identified. A vector characterization of the points is obtained using elementary techniques. It is shown directly that points which solve similar minimization problems have similar characterizations. Standard algebraic and geometric arguments are used throughout the paper, and results are discussed in R2 and Rn, n≥3. This approach is a natural outgrowth of the recent literature on analytic centers and interior point techniques, and as outlined unifies many of the classic invariant points of polygonal systems

Nutrition planning in developing nations : a bicriterion mathematical programming approach / 287

Includes bibliographical references (p. 37-44)

Properties of sports ranking methods

Ideally, the ranking of sports teams should incorporate information (comprehensiveness) obtained from the outcome of a match, such as the strength of the opponent and schedule. In addition, the ranking method should be fair and not reward teams for poor performance or factors beyond their control, such as the sequence of the matches. We state properties such that if followed, the ranking methods will be fair and comprehensive. We evaluate five popular sports ranking methods and whether or not they adhere to these properties. Further, we identify a ranking method that under reasonably sufficient conditions will satisfy all of the properties