Western science has developed powerful techniques for modeling and aiding important social decisions. One such technique is risk assessment. The relationship of risk to cultural context is apparent in a number of its facets, including its dependence on values and the (potential) clash between...

Traditional theories of finance posit that the pricing of securities in financial markets should be done according to the quality of their underlying technical fundamentals. However, research on financial markets has tended to indicate that factors other than technical fundamentals are often...

Financial advisors are continually faced with the challenge of evaluating the quality of financial investments. Previous research has indicated that even among researchers of financial markets, diverse views exist about the meaning of risk and its relationship to returns. A survey study of 265...

Forecasters often need to estimate uncertain quantities, but with limited time and resources. Decomposition is a method for dealing with such problems by breaking down (decomposing) the estimation task down into a set of components that can be more readily estimated, and then combining the...

In 1973, the Ford Motor Company introduced to the American automobile-buying public the Ford Pinto. Weighing 2000 pounds and costing only $2,000, it was shepherded from the drawing board to production in only 34 weeks, somewhat of a record in the automobile business where two-year lead times are...

Over the past two decades one of the most dramatic phenomenon on the social scene has been the rise of broad, public involvement in decision making about complex technologies, including those that protect society from natural hazards such as floods. Spawned by national legislation that required...

“Baby boomers” comprise a significant portion of the U.S. population, and the leading-edge of this group will begin retirement within a decade. These individuals, in the age range of 45 to 55 years, are currently at or near the peak of their income-earning ability and are in a stage of life...