Operations Research (OR) is a fast-evolving field, which is having a significant impact on its neighbouring disciplines of Business Analytics and Data Science, and on contemporary business and management practices. This handbook provides a comprehensive and cutting edge collection of studies in the area. Views differ on what should be included within the scope of OR. The editors of this volume have taken the view that an inclusive stance is the most helpful, both for theory and practice. Real-world problems often require consideration from both ‘softer’ and ‘harder’ perspectives and need consideration of both predictive and prescriptive problems. In accordance with this inclusive approach to OR, the book is divided into six parts, covering Discrete Optimization, Continuous Optimization, Heuristic Search Optimization, Forecasting, Simulation and Prediction, Problem Structuring and Behavioural OR, and finally some recent OR Applications. This wide-ranging handbook includes a culturally diverse collection of authors, with different perspectives and backgrounds around Operations Research. It will be of tremendous value to researchers, students and practitioners in the field of OR

Here is the first systematic handbook treatment of quantitative modeling natural resource problems, their allocated efficient use, and societal and economic impact. Andrés Weintraub is the very top person in Natural Resource research. He has selected co-editors who are at the top of the sub-fields in natural resources: agriculture, fisheries, forestry, and mining. The book covers these areas with contributions from researchers on, among others, modeling natural research problems, quantifying data, and developing algorithms.

This handbook covers various areas of Higher Education (HE) in which operations research/management science (OR/MS) techniques are used. Key examples include: international comparisons, university rankings, and rating academic efficiency with Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA); formulating academic strategy with balanced scorecard; budgeting and planning with linear and quadratic models; student forecasting; E-learning evaluation; faculty evaluation with questionnaires and multivariate statistics; marketing for HE; analytic and educational simulation; academic information systems; technology transfer with systems analysis; and examination timetabling. Overviews, case studies and findings on advanced OR/MS applications in various functional areas of HE are included.

The scope of this book is Operations Research methods in Agriculture and a thorough discussion of derived applications in the Agri-food industry. The book summarizes current research and practice in this area and illustrates the development of useful approaches to deal with actual problems arising in the agriculture sector and the agri-food industry. This book is intended to collect in one volume high quality chapters on Methods and Applications in Agriculture and Agri-food industry considering both theoretical issues and application results. Methods applied to problems in agriculture and the agri-food industry include, but are not restricted to, the following themes: Dynamic programming Multi-criteria decision methods Markov decision processes Linear programming Stochastic programming Parameter estimation and knowledge acquisition Learning from data Simulation Descriptive and normative decision tree techniques, including: agent modelling and simulation, and state of the art surveys Each chapter includes some standard and traditional methodology but also some recent research advances. All the applications presented in the chapters have been inspired and motivated by the demands from the agriculture and food production areas.

The Palgrave Handbook of Research Design in Business and Management uses a new state-of-the-art research design typology model to guide researchers in creating the blueprints for their experiments. By focusing on theory and cutting-edge empirical best-practices, this handbook utilizes visual techniques to appease all learning styles.

This Handbook takes an econometric approach to the foundations of economic performance analysis. The focus is on the measurement of efficiency, productivity, growth and performance. These concepts are commonly measured residually and difficult to quantify in practice. In real-life applications, efficiency and productivity estimates are often quite sensitive to the models used in the performance assessment and the methodological approaches adopted by the analysis. The Palgrave Handbook of Performance Analysis discusses the two basic techniques of performance measurement – deterministic benchmarking and stochastic benchmarking – in detail, and addresses the statistical techniques that connect them. All chapters include applications and explore topics ranging from the output/input ratio to productivity indexes and national statistics.

This handbook provides the first comprehensive overview of the fast-evolving alternative finance space and makes a timely and in-depth contribution to the literature in this area. Bringing together expert contributions in the field from both practitioners and academics, in one of the most dynamic parts of the financial sector, it provides a solid reference for this exciting discipline. Divided into six parts, Section 1 presents a high-level overview of the technologically-enabled finance space. It also offers a historical perspective on technological finance models and outlines different business models. Section 2 analyses digital currencies including guides to bitcoins, other cryptocurrencies, and blockchains. Section 3 addresses alternative payment systems such as digital money and asset tokenization. Section 4 deals with crowdfunding models from both a theoretical perspective and from a regulatory perspective. Section 5 discusses data-driven business models and includes a discussion of neural networks and deep learning. Finally, Section 6 discusses welfare implications of the technological finance revolution. This collection highlights the most current developments to date and the state-of-the-art in alternative finance, while also indicating areas of further potential. Acting as a roadmap for future research in this innovative and promising area of finance, this handbook is a solid reference work for academics and students whilst also appealing to industry practitioners, businesses and policy-makers.