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This paper aims to give a brief review on behavioral economics and behavioral finance and discusses some of the previous research on agents' utility functions, applicable risk measures, diversification strategies and portfolio optimization.

The authors also cover related disciplines such as trading rules, contagion and various econometric aspects.

While scholars could first develop theoretical models in behavioral economics and behavioral finance, they subsequently may develop corresponding statistical and econometric models, this finally includes simulation studies to examine whether the estimators or statistics have good power and size. This all helps us to better understand financial and economic decision-making from a descriptive standpoint.

The research paper is original.

This study presents a novel hp-version adaptive finite element method (FEM) to investigate the high-precision eigensolutions of the free vibration of moderately thick circular cylindrical shells, involving the issues of variable geometrical factors, such as the thickness, circumferential wave number, radius and length.

An hp-version adaptive finite element (FE) algorithm is proposed for determining the eigensolutions of the free vibration of moderately thick circular cylindrical shells via error homogenisation and higher-order interpolation. This algorithm first develops the established h-version mesh refinement method for detecting the non-uniform distributed optimised meshes, where the error estimation and element subdivision approaches based on the superconvergent patch recovery displacement method are introduced to obtain high-precision solutions. The errors in the vibration mode solutions in the global space domain are homogenised and approximately the same. Subsequently, on the refined meshes, the algorithm uses higher-order shape functions for the interpolation of trial displacement functions to reduce the errors quickly, until the solution meets a pre-specified error tolerance condition. In this algorithm, the non-uniform mesh generation and higher-order interpolation of shape functions are suitable for addressing the problem of complex frequencies and modes caused by variable structural geometries.

Numerical results are presented for moderately thick circular cylindrical shells with different geometrical factors (circumferential wave number, thickness-to-radius ratio, thickness-to-length ratio) to demonstrate the effectiveness, accuracy and reliability of the proposed method. The hp-version refinement uses fewer optimised meshes than h-version mesh refinement, and only one-step interpolation of the higher-order shape function yields the eigensolutions satisfying the accuracy requirement.

The proposed combination of methodologies provides a complete hp-version adaptive FEM for analysing the free vibration of moderately thick circular cylindrical shells. This algorithm can be extended to general eigenproblems and geometric forms of structures to solve for the frequency and mode quickly and efficiently.

In the current study, the significance of extreme positive returns has been investigated in the pricing of stocks in the Indian equity market. This study aims to understand if investors in India have a preference for lottery-like stocks. The existing literature provides support for MAX effect in several countries, where risk seeking in the form of gambling is an acceptable form of social behavior, suggesting a preference for lottery-like stocks. This motivates the authors to investigate whether such preference for lottery-like stocks is prevalent in a country such as India with a different cultural setting, where gambling is not socially and legally encouraged.

The MAX effect is tested in the Indian market for the period from January 2003 to March 2017. The average number of firms per month in this study is 2,949. Univariate and bivariate portfolio-level analyses, as well as Fama MacBeth regressions, are conducted to observe the difference between average raw and risk-adjusted returns between the stocks lying in the highest and lowest MAX deciles. Several tests have been performed for checking the robustness of the findings.

Unlike the extant literature, the authors have not found any evidence of a negative relationship between extreme positive returns and expected returns. The univariate and bivariate analyses suggest that high MAX deciles over-perform low MAX deciles. Fama Macbeth regressions also do not support the negative relationship documented for other markets. This suggests that investors are not euphoric about lottery-like stocks in India. One may devise profitable trading strategies by going long on high MAX deciles and short on low MAX deciles.

This study finds a behavioral aspect of Indian investors, which seems to be in contrast to that of other countries. While there is a strong preference for lottery-like stocks in other markets, investors in India do not end up overpaying for such stocks in the market. This tendency might be an outcome of a different social and regulatory setting in India. In view of the fact that India is increasingly becoming an important investment destination, it becomes important to devise investment strategies based on the peculiarities of this market rather than simply extrapolating the findings of other markets.

Public–private partnership (PPP) projects are increasingly significant in many countries. The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of critical success factors (CSFs) on PPP projects and comprehensively consider the interrelations and interaction among dimensions and factors to achieve a better understanding of PPP project management.

An evaluation index system for PPP projects such as the presented case study is proposed based on a literature review and a survey. Then, interpretative structural modeling is used to transform the CSFs dimension into a multi-level hierarchical model to reflect the driven-dependency relation of each dimension; the fuzzy analytic network process model optimized by moment estimation theory is used to investigate the impact of CSFs by considering their internal impact.

Regarding the project used as the case study, the driving force and dependence for driving layer and dependent layer are determined. Moreover, in driving layer, efficient and well-structured payment mechanism is the most important CSF if considering the internship and interaction among CSFs, and efficient and well-structured payment mechanism and good governance provide most positive interaction; in dependent layer, population of beneficiaries is the most important CSF if considering the internship and interaction among CSFs, and public client’s satisfaction provides most positive interaction.

This paper developed an evaluation model to explore the interrelationships of dimensions and factors and then determine the impact of CSFs. The model propose in this paper relaxes the independence assumptions of traditional methods and is more in line with reality; besides, weighting method is optimized to obtain more objective and reasonable evaluation results. Through an empirical study, the validity of the model has been verified; therefore, the study can help project stakeholders better understand the CSFs and further improve project performance.

This study aims to provide a reliable and effective algorithm that is suitable for addressing the problems of continuous orders of frequencies and modes under different boundary conditions, circumferential wave numbers and thickness-to-length ratios of moderately thick circular cylindrical shells. The theory of free vibration of rotating cylindrical shells is of utmost importance in fields such as structural engineering, rock engineering and aerospace engineering. The finite element method is commonly used to study the theory of free vibration of rotating cylindrical shells. The proposed adaptive finite element method can achieve a considerably more reliable high-precision solution than the conventional finite element method.

On a given finite element mesh, the solutions of the frequency mode of the moderately thick circular cylindrical shell were obtained using the conventional finite element method. Subsequently, the superconvergent patch recovery displacement method and high-order shape function interpolation techniques were introduced to obtain the superconvergent solution of the mode (displacement), while the superconvergent solution of the frequency was obtained using the Rayleigh quotient computation. Finally, the superconvergent solution of the mode was used to estimate the errors of the finite element solutions in the energy norm, and the mesh was subdivided to generate a new mesh in accordance with the errors.

In this study, a high-precision and reliable superconvergent patch recovery solution for the vibration modes of variable geometrical rotating cylindrical shells was developed. Compared with conventional finite element method, under the challenging varying geometrical circumferential wave numbers, and thickness–length ratios, the optimised finite element meshes and high-precision solutions satisfying the preset error limits were obtained successfully to solve the frequency and mode of continuous orders of rotating cylindrical shells with multiple boundary conditions such as simple and fixed supports, demonstrating good solution efficiency. The existing problem on the difficulty of adapting a set of meshes to the changes in vibration modes of different orders is finally overcome by applying the adaptive optimisation.

The approach developed in this study can accurately obtain the superconvergent patch recovery solution of the vibration mode of rotating cylindrical shells. It can potentially be extended to fine numerical models and high-precision computations of vibration modes (displacement field) and solid stress (displacement derivative field) for general structural special value problems, which can be extensively applied in the field of engineering computations in the future. Furthermore, the proposed method has the potential for adaptive analyses of shell structures and three-dimensional structures with crack damage. Compared with conventional finite element methods, significant advantages can be achieved by solving the eigenvalues of structures with high precision and stability.

The relationship between the search problem and entropy identified by Pierce is used to show that the entropy maximization technique can also be applied to the data distribution problem. An immediate result is that a previously validated entropy model for the data distribution problem can now be more formally developed.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the feasibility of solving turbulent flows based on smoothed finite element method (S-FEM). Then, the differences between S-FEM and finite element method (FEM) in dealing with turbulent flows are compared.

The stabilization scheme, the streamline-upwind/Petrov-Galerkin stabilization is coupled with stabilized pressure gradient projection in the fractional step framework. The Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations with standard k-epsilon model are selected to solve turbulent flows based on S-FEM and FEM. Standard wall functions are applied to predict boundary layer profiles.

This paper explores a completely new application of S-FEM on turbulent flows. The adopted stabilization scheme presents a good performance on stabilizing the flows, especially for very high Reynolds numbers flows. An advantage of S-FEM is found in applying wall functions comparing with FEM. The differences between S-FEM and FEM have been investigated.

The research in this work is limited to the two-dimensional incompressible turbulent flow.

The verification and validation of a new combination are conducted by several numerical examples. The new combination could be used to deal with more complicated turbulent flows.

The applications of the new combination to study basic and complex turbulent flow are also presented, which demonstrates its potential to solve more turbulent flows in nature and engineering.

This work carries out a great extension of S-FEM in simulations of fluid dynamics. The new combination is verified to be very effective in handling turbulent flows. The performances of S-FEM and FEM on turbulent flows were analyzed by several numerical examples. Superior results were found compared with existing results and experiments. Meanwhile, S-FEM has an advantage of accuracy in predicting boundary layer profile.

Decision makers in the service industry must effectively cope with queuing problems, service capacity optimization, service efficiency and service quality problems. This study proposes a computer simulation‐enabled MCDM framework that integrates computer simulation analysis, Taguchi method, expert opinion and multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) to assist decision makers in coping with decision problems. In this framework, Taguchi method is adopted to reduce the time required for the simulation experiment. Computer simulation analysis is adopted to obtain useful information for rapid decision‐making without interrupting actual production. MCDM is used to select the optimal alternative. The illustrative result is extremely promising.

Supplier selection in the supply chain network (SCN) has strategic importance and involves multiple factors. The multi-criteria nature of the problem coupled with environmental uncertainty requires several procedures and considerations. The issue of decision-making in selecting the best among various qualified suppliers remains the major challenge in the pharmaceutical industry. This study investigated the multi-criteria multi-supplier decision-making process and proposed a model for supplier selection problems based on mixed-integer linear programming.

The concept of principal component analysis (PCA) was used to reduce data dimensionality, and the four best criteria have been considered and selected. The result is subjected to decision-makers’ (DMs’) reliability test using the concept of a triangular fuzzy number (TFN). The importance of each supplier to each measure is established using fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution approach, and the suppliers have ranked accordingly.

This study proposes a mixed integer linear programming model for supplier selection in a pharmaceutical company. The effectiveness of the proposed model has been demonstrated using a numerical example. The solution shows the model's applicability in making a sound decision in pharmaceutical companies in the space of reality. The model proposed is simple. Readily commercial packages such as LINDO/LINGO and GAMS can solve the model.

This research contributed to the systematic manner of supplier selection considering DMs’ value judgement under a fuzzy environment and is limited to the case study area. However, interested researchers can apply the study in other related manufacturing industries. However, the criteria have to be revisited to suit that system and might require varying ratings based on the experts' opinions in that field.

This work suggests more insights practically by considering a realistic and precise investigation based on a real-life case study of pharmaceutical companies with six primary criteria and twenty-four sub-criteria. The study outcome will assist organizations and managers in conducting the best decision objectively by selecting the best suppliers with their various standards and terms among many available contenders in the manufacturing industry.

In this paper, the authors attempted to identify the most critical attributes to be preserved by the top managers (DMs) while selecting suppliers in pharmaceutical companies. The study proposed an MILP model for supplier selection in the pharmaceutical company using fuzzy TOPSIS.

This paper aims to identify a set of potential determinants of capital structure. By knowing the key determinants, it is possible to understand how building contractors make decisions on capital structure.

A questionnaire survey was conducted to solicit Hong Kong building contractors' view on the predictive power of a set of financial ratios on capital structure. Each of the seven proxies of capital structure was regressed on the five financial ratios. The usual diagnostic tests (i.e. Durbin‐Watson and variance inflation factor tests) and plots of residuals and normality were carried out to ensure that assumptions of linear regression analysis were met. To validate the findings, eight contractors were further interviewed.

Both measures of long‐term debts (i.e. “long‐term debt divided by total assets” and “long‐term debt divided by total debt”) are proven to be related to “tangibility” significantly. Also, perceived growth opportunities are significantly related to three proxies for capital structure (i.e. total debt to capital, long‐term debt and long‐term leverage).

Further research should be undertaken to improve the quality of data and to enrich the understanding of how contractors define their capital structures.

Despite a plethora of research having been done by financial researchers, there are very few relevant papers in the construction field. This paper is intended to explore how building contractors made decisions on capital structure.