Risk Acceptability and Cost-Effectiveness of Protective Measures Against Terrorist Threats to Built Infrastructure Considering Multiple Threat Scenarios

Decisions are often needed about the need and/or extent of protective measures against explosive blast loads on built infrastructure. A decision support analysis considers fatality risks and cost-effectiveness of protective measures expressed in terms of expected cost spent on risk reduction per life saved for terrorist threats to infrastructure. The analysis is applicable to any item of infrastructure, but in this paper is applied to casualties arising from building facade glazing damage. Risks may be compared with risk acceptance criteria in the form of quantitative safety goals. The risk acceptability and cost-effectiveness of protective measures includes cost of the protective measures, attack probability,reduction in risk due to protective measures,probability of fatality conditional on successful terrorist attack and number of exposed individuals.

Evaluation of Medical Costs of Kidney Diseases and Risk Factors in Japan

Background: Kidney (renal) diseases and dialysis are among the most costly disorders and represent a worldwide burden. In this study, we evaluate the medical costs for individuals with kidney diseases and risk factors for the diseases in Japan. Data and Methods: The dataset used contained 113,979 medical checkups and 3,172,066 medical cost records obtained from 48,022 individuals in one health insurance society. The sample period was April 2013 to March 2016. We evaluated the distribution of all medical costs, and those of kidney diseases specifically. Then the power transformation Tobit model was used to remove the effects of other variables. Finally, a probit analysis was used to analyze the risk factors. Results: In 0.25% of all cases, individuals were diagnosed with kidney diseases. An individual with kidney disease cost 14.5 times more than those without kidney disease. If the diseases progressed into chronic kidney disease (CKD), the medical costs increased substantially. Even disregarding various characteristics of individuals, this conclusion did not vary. We found important risk factors included diabetes and blood pressure problems. In particular, an individual with both factors had a high probability of developing kidney disease. Conclusion: Kidney diseases are much costlier than other diseases. Screening high-risk individuals, educating patients, and ensuring that treatment begins at an early stage are critically important to controlling medical costs. Limitations: The dataset was observatory, and the sample period was only 3 years.

Cost-benefit analysis of esophageal cancer endoscopic screening in high-risk areas of China

AIM:To estimate the cost-benefit of endoscopic screening strategies of esophageal cancer(EC)in high-risk areas of China. METHODS:Markov model-based analyses were conducted to compare the net present values(NPVs)and the benefit-cost ratios(BCRs)of 12 EC endoscopic screening strategies.Strategies varied according to the targeted screening age,screening frequencies,and follow-up intervals.Model parameters were collected from population-based studies in China,published literatures,and surveillance data. RESULTS:Compared with non-screening outcomes,all strategies with hypothetical 100 000 subjects saved life years.Among five dominant strategies determined by the incremental cost-effectiveness analysis,screening once at age 50 years incurred the lowest NPV(international dollar-I$55 million)and BCR(2.52).Screening six times between 40-70 years at a 5-year interval[i.e., six times(40)f-strategy]yielded the highest NPV(I$99 million)and BCR(3.06).Compared with six times(40)fstrategy,screening thrice between 40-70 years at a 10-year interval resulted in relatively lower NPV,but the same BCR. CONCLUSION:EC endoscopic screening is cost-beneficial in high-risk areas of China.Policy-makers should consider the cost-benefit,population acceptance,and local economic status when choosing suitable screening strategies.

Risk factors for cost-related medication non-adherence among older patients with diabetes

AIM: To assess the risk factors for cost-related medication non-adherence(CRN) among older patients with diabetes in the United States. METHODS: We used data from the 2010 Health and Retirement Study to assess risk factors for CRN including age, drug insurance coverage, nursing home residence, functional limitations, and frequency of hospitalization. CRN was self-reported. We conducted multivariate regression analysis to assess the effect of each risk factor. RESULTS: Eight hundred and seventy-five(18%) of 4880 diabetes patients reported CRN. Age less than 65 years, lack of drug insurance coverage, and frequent hospitalization significantly increased risk for CRN. Limitation in both activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living were also generally associated with increased risk of CRN. Residence in a nursing home and Medicaid coverage significantly reduced risk.CONCLUSION: These results suggest that expandingprescription coverage to uninsured, sicker, and community-dwelling individuals is likely to produce the largest decreases in CRN.

Research on Cost Overrun Risk of Construction Phase of Vietnam Highway International Contracting Project

Recently, the highway construction projects increase rapidly in Vietnam and most of them are international contracting projects. It results serious negative influence on the local government and enterprises that the common cost overrun of projects, and the risk factors of it is different in the different countries, different stages and projects types. So in this paper, we generate an evaluation index system of highway construction projects cost overrun risk in Vietnam in the perspective of different project participants, and also evaluate the effects of these factors in method of regression analysis. The empirical results confirmed 7 main factors that have aggravated cost overrun risk in construction stages, e.g. survey and design scheme risk. In final, the corresponding suggestions are proposed to reduce the project cost overrun risk.

Investment risk of rural family education: From the persepective of educational cost and income

With the implementation of the policy of popularization of education, rural families make the choice of interests and behavior decisions through the calculation of their own benefits and costs, and gradually become the main body of rural education investment decisions. The relationship between educational cost and income plays a major role in the rural family education investment. Based on the current situation of rural education in our country, this paper focuses on the risk of rural education investment and rural education costs and benefits, and then puts forward scientific, operational measures and suggestions.

Seismic Risk Assessment of Buildings in the Extended Urban Region of Athens and Comparison with the Repair Cost

A complete research of seismic risk assessment is presented herein focused on the existing build- ings of the extended urban region of Athens in Greece. The seismic risk assessment is fulfilled by discriminating the current study in two approaches, probable and actual, conducting afterwards between them a comparison analysis. In the first part, a pilot methodology is developed for the seismic loss assessment in monetary terms regarding the buildings damages, consistent with the National Programme for Earthquake Management of Existing Buildings (NPEMEB). The building stock consists of typical building types of Southern Europe and refers to 750,085 buildings (18.80% of buildings in Greece) situated in the entire region of Athens according to the results of the 2000-1 statistical census. A wider research of seismic risk assessment could include direct losses of infrastructures and indirect economic losses. The evaluation of loss due to building damage in a certain region requires an assessment of both seismic hazard and vulnerability of the building stock in the study area. Four different existing damage scenarios are applied for the vulnerability assessment. The results of the seismic risk assessment for the four different aspects of the es- timated damage and the different soil conditions are presented in a map of the study region. The existing vulnerability curves corresponding to defined types of buildings have been derived from the National Technical Chamber of Greece and also from recently developed DPMs. The last DPMs were obtained in a previous research (Eleftheriadou, 2009) from the process of a created damage database after the 7th of September 1999 Parnitha’s earthquake and comprised 180,945 buildings which developed damage of varying degree, type and extent. In the second part of the research, the seismic risk is evaluated from the available data regarding the mean statistical repair/ strengthening or replacement cost for the total number of damaged structures (180,427 buildings) after the same (1999 Parnitha’s) seismic event. Data regarding the compatible (budget approved according to the ministry’s provisions) repair cost has been collected. The structural losses in monetary terms for the 180,427 buildings damaged structures are evaluated equal to 2450.0 Μ€, 1887.8 Μ€ and 2118.9 Μ€ based on the previously mentioned statistical seismic risk data. The statistically derived repair cost for Attica is compared with the results of the economic loss esti- mation for buildings using the aforementioned risk assessment methodology. From the analysis results, the seismic scenario based on the recently developed DPMs (Eleftheriadou, 2009) pre- sented the better correlation (2627.77 M€) with the total statistically evaluated repair cost (2450.02 M€). It is important to stress that the inclusion of the coefficient parameter S overes- timates significantly the seismic losses. The last result should be taken into consideration in future risk researches. The comparison of the estimated economic loss with the statistical repair cost calibrates the reliability of the commonly used risk assessment method and serves in the im- provement of seismic security prioritizing the criteria for seismic rehabilitation programmes of existing buildings.

企业数字化如何影响创新风险?——来自中国制造业的经验证据

数字化赋予传统企业新的发展契机,同时重塑研发流程和重构研发组织带来的双重成本不确定性引发了企业创新风险的变动。基于2011—2020年中国沪深A股制造业上市企业数据,结合面板固定效应模型,实证检验企业数字化对创新风险的影响及作用机制。研究发现:(1)企业数字化对创新风险存在显著的U型影响,即随着企业数字化水平的提高,其对创新风险会产生先抑制后促进的影响;(2)企业数字化对创新风险的影响具有明显的异质性,在国有企业、大型企业、东部和市场化程度较高地区的企业样本中抑制作用更为明显;(3)成本不确定性是企业数字化作用于创新风险的主要机制。企业在数字化前应进行风险评估与规划,在数字化后要根据所处数字化阶段实施差异化的研发支持措施;政府部门应当实施针对性的数字化政策,以有效应对企业数字化引致的创新风险困境。

中国碳排放权交易机制与实践:基于微观企业股权资本成本的视角

碳排放权交易市场作为企业减排增效的重要机制,引发了资本市场投资者对企业碳排放问题的关注,进而可能影响投资者对企业的风险评估与价值判断。手工整理中国各试点碳市场的控排企业名录发现:碳排放权交易机制显著提升了控排企业的权益资本成本,主要机制为投资者碳风险关注,但该市场机制存在明显的效应边界。进一步发现,当碳市场的初始配额实施部分竞价拍卖和非履约主体交易更为活跃,产品市场竞争程度更高和企业所在城市空气污染更为严重,以及企业非财务绩效表现更好时,碳排放权交易机制对企业权益资本成本的提升作用更为明显。研究结论有助于更为全面的评估我国碳市场建设的经济后果,为该低碳环保政策的持续推广提供理论依据与经验参考。

“21世纪海上丝绸之路”:海上风能的宏观与微观等级区划

以风能宏观战略布局、微观精准选址对合理资源等级区划的迫切需求为牵引,本文采用Delphi法,充分考虑资源特征、环境风险、成本效益,对“21世纪海上丝绸之路”(“海上丝路”)及关键海域的风能展开了常规需求、商业开发、应急供电、用电量巨大几种情景下的宏观和微观等级区划。研究结果表明:从“海上丝路”的风能宏观等级区划来看,大部分区域的风能属于较丰富区和丰富区(风能等级期望值大于0.5),索马里近海、马纳尔湾、斯里兰卡东南近海、南海大风区为风能等级的相对大值中心。从斯里兰卡海域的风能微观等级区划来看,相对富集区分布于斯里兰卡和印度半岛之间的海峡、斯里兰卡东南部近海(风能等级期望值在0.7以上);贫乏区为印度半岛东西海岸、斯里兰卡东部近海和西南部近海。

绿色信贷政策的溢出效应--基于审计定价决策视角

绿色信贷在改善企业环境治理行为、推动经济社会绿色发展方面发挥了重要作用。从审计定价视角出发,探讨绿色信贷政策引致的溢出效应。以2012年《绿色信贷指引》的出台作为准自然实验,构建双重差分模型检验该政策的实施对绿色信贷限制企业审计定价的影响。研究发现:绿色信贷政策能显著降低受限企业的审计收费。机制检验表明,绿色信贷政策通过引导受限企业进行绿色转型、降低其环境风险以及环境治理中的代理成本,进而降低其审计费用。企业层面的异质性检验表明,绿色信贷政策降低审计费用的正面效应在国有企业、产能利用率较低以及信息质量较差的企业中更为明显;地区层面异质性检验表明,绿色信贷政策的积极效用在银行业竞争更激烈、市场化程度更高以及政府环境规制更强的地区更为明显。结论丰富了绿色信贷政策实施经济后果的相关研究,并从环境规制视角拓展了审计费用影响因素的文献,同时为进一步修订和完善绿色信贷政策提供了经验证据。

考虑成本风险的装备科研激励约束定价设计

带有激励约束机制的装备科研合同定价模式能够较好地适应因科研项目不确定性所带来的成本风险,而激励系数的确定是其中的关键设计。在总结和比较典型的激励约束定价设计的基础上,针对激励系数设计与科研成本风险分析未能有效结合的问题,基于项目工作分解结构(WBS),采用模拟仿真方法得到项目成本概率分布,考虑成本风险大小给出装备科研价格激励约束原则,结合成本概率分布的分位数选择成本上下限,进而确定激励系数和约束系数。同时,还进行了实例分析,结果验证了研究方法的有效性。

金融科技能够抑制企业过度负债吗?

本文以2011—2021年中国上市公司为研究样本,采用北京大学数字普惠金融指数度量金融科技发展水平,实证检验金融科技对企业过度负债的影响。研究结果表明,金融科技能够助力银行等金融机构提升事前的信息甄别能力和加强事后的债权人监督功能,继而抑制企业过度负债行为。进一步的研究显示,金融科技对企业过度负债行为的抑制作用在国有企业和产品市场竞争程度低的行业企业中更加显著,并且金融科技能够通过抑制过度负债而降低企业债务违约风险。本文不仅在理论上丰富了金融科技影响效应和企业过度负债缓解机制的文献,而且在实践上为利用金融技术进步推动微观企业优化资本结构,助力实体经济高质量发展提供了依据。

企业ESG表现能否提高财务柔性?

在我国积极推进“碳达峰、碳中和”目标的背景下,企业ESG表现能否提高财务柔性,为可持续财务增长创造条件,对于推动企业高质量发展具有重要战略意义。以2009—2021年A股上市公司为研究样本,探讨企业ESG表现对财务柔性的影响及机理。研究发现:从资源流动的视角看,企业ESG表现能够提高财务柔性,且经过一系列稳健性检验后,结果依然成立。机制检验表明:提高的渠道是降低债务融资成本和降低风险承担水平。异质性检验进一步表明这种提高效应在环境不确定程度较低、受到投资者关注度高的企业和非污染行业中更为突出。研究有助于揭示企业ESG表现提高财务柔性的内在逻辑,探究企业如何通过关注环境、社会和治理因素来管理风险并提高财务柔性。

自愿披露客户信息影响了债券违约风险吗?

以2010—2021年沪深A股上市公司发行的公司债为样本,实证检验了自愿披露客户信息对债券违约风险的影响。研究发现,自愿披露客户信息产生的额外风险加剧了债券违约风险,这种影响在高专有成本和高融资约束的企业中表现更为显著,但企业发行的绿色债券并未受到影响。机制检验表明,经营风险增加和机构投资者持股降低是自愿披露客户信息影响债券违约风险的重要途径。研究表明,企业需要慎重考虑披露客户信息带来的风险,审慎制定信息披露策略。

NPV risk simulation of an open pit gold mine project under the O'Hara cost model by using Gas

This paper analyzes an open pit gold mine project based on the O'Hara cost model. Hypothetical data is proposed based on different authors that have studied open pit gold projects, and variations are proposed according to the probability distributions associated to key variables affecting the NPV, like production level, ore grade, price of ore, and others, so as to see what if, in a gold open pit mine project of 3000 metric tons per day of ore. Two case scenarios were analyzed to simulate the NPV, one where there is low certainty data available, and the other where the information available is of high certainty. Results based on genetic algorithm metaheuristic simulations, which combine basically Montecarlo simulations provided by the Palisade Risk software, the O'Hara cost model, net smelter return and financial analysis tools offered by Excel are reported, in order to determine to which variables of the project is more sensitive the NPV.

货币政策不确定性与企业债务成本

降低企业债务融资成本是促进实体经济高质量发展的重要举措。选取2007—2020年A股非金融上市公司数据,系统考察货币政策不确定性对企业债务成本的影响。研究结果表明,货币政策不确定性与企业债务成本显著正相关。影响机制分析发现,债务违约概率是货币政策不确定性影响企业债务成本的中间变量,即货币政策不确定性上升会增加企业债务违约概率,从而导致企业债务成本上升。异质性分析发现,货币政策不确定性对非国有企业、小规模企业及非周期性行业企业债务成本的正向影响更加明显。研究表明降低货币政策不确定性对于缓解企业债务成本压力具有重要作用。

基于ECSDNN的航空安全事件风险等级预测

航空安全事件风险等级预测是主动风险管理的重要手段。考虑海量航空安全事件数据呈现的高维复杂、类不平衡等特性,提出一种基于集成代价敏感深度神经网络(ECSDNN)的航空安全事件风险等级预测方法。采用分类型属性嵌入特征编码和数值型属性拼接的方法实现航空安全事件数据的特征表示;综合考虑错分比例和固定代价设计代价敏感矩阵和代价敏感损失函数,构建基于代价敏感深度神经网络(CSDNN)的基分类器模型;采用硬投票方法,集成多个参数不同、性能各异的基分类器,构建航空安全事件风险等级预测模型。在航空安全事件报告系统(ASRS)数据集上的实验结果表明:相比基准算法,所提ECSDNN模型的预测准确率提升了4.51%;相比单个CSDNN基分类器,所提ECSDNN模型的预测准确率提升了3.17%。验证了基于ECSDNN的航空安全事件风险等级预测方法的有效性。