this paper investigates the performances of artificial neural networks approximation, the translog and the fourier flexible functional forms for the cost function, when different production technologies are used. using simulated data bases, the author provides a comparison in terms of capability to reproduce input demands and in terms of the corresponding input elasticities of substitution esti...

existed electricity grids deliver produced power to the consumer passing through transmission and distribution grids. according to high losses of these grids in transmission level and inexistence of bilateral interaction for simultaneous information exchange, a concept of smart grids were made by capabilities such as consciously participation of consumers in the smart electricity grids, an amou...

Multi-echelon inventory systems are one of the most important and attractive areas in modelling supply chain management so that several researches and studies have been done about. In this paper, the total cost function of a two-echelon inventory system with central warehouse and many identical retailers controlled by continuous review inventory policy is estimated. We have assumed the demand i...

This paper aims to provide the software estimation research community with a better understanding of the meaning of, and relationship between, two statistics that are often used to assess the accuracy of predictive models: the mean magnitude relative error, MMRE, and the number of predictions within 25% of the actuals, pred(25). We demonstrate that MMRE and pred(25) are, respectively, measures ...

This paper investigates proposed code-based measures for multimedia courseware as part of an on-going program of research into effort estimation models. The proposed code-based size measures are analysed using source code and project data from WinlEcon courseware written in the ToolBook authoring language. Statistical analysis of a priori, ToolBook specific and portable subsets of 47 code measu...

iran is one of the most energy-rich countries subsidizing energy carriers, especially in the agricultural sector, to the extent that the resulting growth is at the expense of the environment. this study tries to investigate the potential impacts of energy price reform on the agro-environment, based on the marginal abatement costs (macs) of emissions. firstly, the energy demand function of the a...

A “cost function” is a mathematical function that defines the relationship between an output produced, here defined as patient-years (or -months) of antiretroviral therapy (ART), and the cost of the resources consumed in that production. A cost function, either explicit or implicit, is a necessary component of any estimate of the costs and benefits of ART service delivery. This appendix gives s...

Up to this point business process management projects in general and business process modelling projects in particular could not rely on a practical and scientifically validated method to estimate cost and effort. Especially the model development phase is not covered by a cost estimation method or model. Further phases of business process modelling starting with implementation are covered by in...