Resources Repository
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ReviewPublication 2016Remembering Howard Raiffa
Howard Raiffa (1924-2016) had a profound influence on all aspects of the decision sciences and on …
Howard Raiffa (1924-2016) had a profound influence on all aspects of the decision sciences and on the fields of systems analysis and operations research. He guided the introduction of the decision sciences into numerous fields such as business, medicine, public health, the environmental sciences, and law, and was instrumental in building world-recognized institutions such as the Kennedy School at Harvard and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis near Vienna, Austria. This article is a thoughtful tribute by…
Decision Theory | Decision Analysis | Business/Industry | Economics/Finance | Preferences/Values | Operations Research | Health/Medicine | Military/Defense | North America -
ArticlePublication 2007Decision Analysis: A Personal Account of How It Got Started and Evolved
In this chapter, Howard Raiffa discusses the evolution of decision analysis and his personal involvement …
In this chapter, Howard Raiffa discusses the evolution of decision analysis and his personal involvement in its development. He describes the early days of Operations Research (OR) in the late 1940s with its approach to complex, strategic decision making. After reading John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern’s Theory of Games and Economic Behavior (1947) and Abraham Wald’s two books (1947, 1950), he became involved in statistical decision theory. A few years later, after reading Leonard…
Decision Theory | Decision Analysis | Business/Industry | Economics/Finance | Probability/Bayes | Preferences/Values | Operations Research | Energy/Engineering | Health/Medicine -
ReviewPublication 1982Decision Analysis: An Overview
This article, written for the non-decision analyst, describes what decision analysis is, what it can …
This article, written for the non-decision analyst, describes what decision analysis is, what it can and cannot do, why one should care to do this, and how one does it. Keeney describes decision analysis as "a formalization of common sense for decision problems which are too complex for informal use of common sense." He provides a more technical definition also, describing decision analysis as "a philosophy, articulated by a set of logical axioms, and a methodology…
Decision Theory | Decision Analysis | Business/Industry | Economics/Finance | Preferences/Values | Policy/Regulation | Energy/Engineering | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Military/Defense | Science/Technology -
ArticlePublication 2023Benefits and Costs of COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates
Written mid-pandemic, this article evaluates the direct costs and health benefits of requiring COVID-19 vaccinations …
Written mid-pandemic, this article evaluates the direct costs and health benefits of requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for U.S. federal employees and healthcare and private sector workers. These mandates were controversial and some were halted by litigation. If they had been implemented as intended, the net benefits would depend on the course of the pandemic. If a more transmissible variant (such as Omicron) emerges, the net benefits may be large. If the pandemic instead fades, the benefits…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Business/Industry | Economics/Finance | Mathematical Models | State-Transition | Infectious Diseases | Policy/Regulation | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | North America -
ArticlePublication 2022Vaccinations versus Lockdowns to Prevent COVID-19 Mortality
This analysis estimated the costs associated with preventing Covid-19 deaths by vaccinations versus lockdowns. Publicly …
This analysis estimated the costs associated with preventing Covid-19 deaths by vaccinations versus lockdowns. Publicly available datasets from the Israeli Ministry of Health were used to model the parameters of the pandemic in Israel. The Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker was used for quantitative data on government policies. Data on the Israeli economy were taken from the Central Bureau of Statistics. The models demonstrate that the first lockdown prevented 1022 COVID-19 deaths at the cost…
Decision Theory | Decision Analysis | Economics/Finance | Costing Methods | Health Outcomes | State-Transition | Infectious Diseases | Policy/Regulation | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Middle East & North Africa -
OrganizationWeb Portal 2024Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis
The Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis (SBCA), founded in 2007, works to improve the theory and …
The Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis (SBCA), founded in 2007, works to improve the theory and practice of benefit-cost analysis and support evidence-based policy decisions. It addresses policy areas including public health, transportation, criminal justice, education, energy, environmental quality, homeland security, and poverty. Members include scholars and practitioners from around the world, who work in government, academia, nonprofits and private industry. Its members represent numerous disciplines such as economics, law, engineering, public policy, decision science, and…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Business/Industry | Economics/Finance | Preferences/Values | Priority Setting/Ethics | Costing Methods | Social Determinants | Environmental Health | Policy/Regulation | Climate/Environment | Energy/Engineering | Education/Labor | Food/Agriculture | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Military/Defense | Science/Technology | Global | Critical Thinking/Analysis -
OrganizationWeb Portal 2024Society for Judgment and Decision-Making
The Society for Judgment and Decision Making is an interdisciplinary academic organization dedicated to the …
The Society for Judgment and Decision Making is an interdisciplinary academic organization dedicated to the study of normative, descriptive, and prescriptive theories of judgments and decisions. Its members include psychologists, economists, organizational researchers, decision analysts, and other decision researchers. Online resources include links to publications, teaching resources, course syllabi, blogs and PhD Programs all related to Judgment and Decision Making. The Society's primary event is its Annual Meeting at which Society members present their research.…
Decision Psychology | Decision Theory | Business/Industry | Preferences/Values | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Global -
OrganizationWeb Portal 2024MCDM
Founded in 1998 out of a special interest group on multi-criteria decision making, The International Society …
Founded in 1998 out of a special interest group on multi-criteria decision making, The International Society for Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) develops, tests, evaluates and applies methodologies for solving multiple criteria decision making problems. They foster interaction and research in the scientific field of multiple criteria decision making, and work with other organizations in the study of management from a quantitative perspective. Resources available from MCDM include conferences, lists of software used for multi-criteria decision making…
Decision Analysis | Business/Industry | Economics/Finance | Priority Setting/Ethics | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Technology Assessment | Health Systems | Policy/Regulation | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Global -
ReviewPublication 2011Simulation Models of Obesity: A Review of the Literature
Simulation models combine information from a variety of sources to provide a useful tool for …
Simulation models combine information from a variety of sources to provide a useful tool for examining how the effects of obesity unfold over time and impact population health. They can aid in the understanding of the complex interaction of the drivers of diet and activity and their relation to health outcomes. This paper provided an overview of different types of simulation models used to evaluate the potential impact of policies to address the obesity epidemic.…
Decision Analysis | Calibration/Validation | Economics/Finance | Mathematical Models | State-Transition | Microsimulation | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Child/Nutrition | Chronic Disease/Risk | Food/Agriculture | Health/Medicine