Nowadays railway companies are confronted with high infrastructure maintenance costs. Therefore good strategies are needed to carry out these maintenance activities in a most cost effective way. In this paper we solve the preventive maintenance scheduling problem (PMSP) using genetic algorithms,...

With the advent of advanced data collection techniques, there is an increased interest in using econometric models to support decisions in marketing. Due to the sometimes specific nature of variables in marketing, the discipline uses econometric models that are rarely, if ever, used elsewhere....

Many companies collect stated preference data (SP) like intentions and satisfaction as well as revealed preference data (RP) like actual purchasing behavior. It seems relevant to examine the predictive usefulness of this information for future revealed preferences, that is, customer behavior. In...

Experts may have domain-specific knowledge that is not included in a statistical model and that can improve forecasts. While one-step-ahead forecasts address the conditional mean of the variable, model-based forecasts for longer horizons have a tendency to convert to the unconditional mean of a...

In business and in macroeconomics it is common practice to use econo- metric models to generate forecasts. These models can take any degree of sophistication. Sometimes it is felt by an expert that the model-based fore- cast needs adjustment. This paper makes a plea for a formal approach to such...

The Amazon rainforest is one of the world’s greatest natural wonders and holds great importance and significance for the world’s environmental balance. Around 60% of the Amazon rainforest is located in the Brazilian territory. The two biggest states of the Amazon region are...