Modelling and Decisions in Economics

Franz Ferschl is seventy. According to his birth certificate it is true, but it is unbelievable. Two of the three editors remembers very well the Golden Age of Operations Research at Bonn when Franz Ferschl worked together with Wilhelm Krelle, Martin Beckmann and Horst Albach. The importance of this fruitful cooperation is reflected by the fact that half of the contributors to this book were strongly influenced by Franz Ferschl and his colleagues at the University of Bonn. Clearly, Franz Ferschl left his traces at all the other places of his professional activities, in Vienna and Munich. This is demonstrated by the present volume as well. Born in 1929 in the Upper-Austrian Miihlviertel, his scientific education brought him to Vienna where he studied mathematics. In his early years he was attracted by Statistics and Operations Research. During his employment at the Osterreichische Bundeskammer fUr Gewerbliche Wirtschaft in Vienna he prepared his famous book on queueing theory and stochastic processes in economics. This work has been achieved during his scarce time left by his duties at the Bundeskammer, mostly between 6 a.m. and midnight. All those troubles were, however, soon rewarded by the chair of statistics at Bonn University. As a real Austrian, the amenities of the Rhineland could not prevent him from returning to Vienna, where he took the chair of statistics.

Franz Ferschl is seventy. Two of the three editors remembers very well the Golden Age of Operations Research at Bonn when Franz Ferschl worked together with Wilhelm Krelle, Martin Beckmann and Horst Albach. Clearly, Franz Ferschl left his traces at all the other places of his professional activities, in Vienna and Munich.

1: Decision Theory.- Some Ideas on Economics and Ethics.- Ethics and Operations Research.- How to Measure Risk?.- On the Question of Speculation in Favour of or gainst the Euro before its Start.- Resolving the Ellsberg Paradox by Assuming hat People Evaluate Repetitive Sampling.- 2: Statistics and Econometrics.- Maximum Likelihood Estimation for the AR-VARCH Model: A New Approach.- A Note on the Herfmdahl Index of Concentration.- A Generalization and Optimization of a Measure f Diversity.- A Subjective Bayes Approach to the Queueing ystem M/Ek/c.- Cooperation as the Stimulating Power for the ustrian Automobile Industry - Results of an Empirical Study.- 3: Operations Research.- Lot Sizing and Queueing Models Some Remarks on KARMARKAR'S Model.- Analysis of MRP Policies with Recovery Options.- Bidding for Research Funds.- Separate versus Joint Inventories when Customer Demands are Stochastic.- Optimal Macroeconomic Policies with and without the Monetary Instrument.- Dynamic Economic Models of Optimal Law Enforcement.- List of Contributors.