Stochastic Dominance or The Rise and Fall of a Frontier Entrepreneur

Stochastic Dominance: Investment Decision Making under Uncertainty

Author: Haim Levy

This book is devoted to investment decision-making under uncertainty. The book covers three basic approaches to this process:The stochastic dominance approach; the mean-variance approach; and the non-expected utility approach, focusing on prospect theory and its modified version, cumulative prospect theory. These approaches are discussed and compared in this book. In addition, this volume examines cases in which stochastic dominance rules coincide with the mean-variance rule and cases in which contradictions between these two approaches may occur. It then discusses the relationship between stochastic dominance rules and prospect theory, and establishes a new investment decision rule which combines the two and which we call prospect stochastic dominance. Although all three approaches are discussed, most of the book is devoted to the stochastic dominance paradigm. This book is intended for Ph.D students, advanced MBA students specializing in finance, and advanced MA economics students interested in the economics of uncertainty. The book can be used as a supplementary book in post-graduate courses on portfolio selection and investment decision-making under uncertainty.

Table of Contents:

1	On the measurement of risk	7
2	Expected utility theory	25
3	Stochastic dominance decision rules	49
4	Stochastic dominance : the quantile	143
5	Algorithms for stochastic dominance	173
6	Stochastic dominance with specific distributions	197
7	The empirical studies	223
8	Applications of stochastic dominance rules	241
9	Stochastic dominance and risk measures	257
10	Stochastic dominance and diversification	271
11	Decision making and the investment horizon	293
12	The CAPM and stochastic dominance	313
13	Almost stochastic dominance (ASD)	331
14	Non-expected utility and stochastic dominance	353
15	Stochastic dominance and prospect theory	373
16	Future research	395

See also: Developing e Commerce Systems or Playing the Field

The Rise and Fall of a Frontier Entrepreneur: Benjamin Rathbun, Master Builder and Architect

Author: Roger Whitman

This story of intrigue and scandal in the life of an early American businessman set during the raucous Jacksonian era brings to light a nearly forgotten tale of high-stakes intrigue, scandal, and financial ruin during a pivotal moment in the economic history of canaltown Buffalo and its western hinterland. Originally called Queen's Epic by the author, Roger Whitman's work probes beneath the surface of Benjamin Rathbun's startling career to reveal the unsettling social and economic forces that the American commercial revolution unleashed. When Rathbun's vast transportation, construction, and real estate empire finally collapsed under the weight of accumulated debt, shock waves rocked markets in the east. Amidst accusations of fraud, investors and currency speculators ran for cover in what soon became the nationwide Panic of 1837. After several decades of neglect, the manuscript was rediscovered and given a new title by editors Scott Eberle and David A. Gerber, who revived the book and shaped its historiographical context. The biography and history that emerges details a personal struggle to build stability, wealth, and rectitude in the shifting moral and economic sands of the Jacksonian era.