Design and Analysis of Macro-Economic Models in the Laplace Domain: An Economic-Engineering Approach

In this thesis, we demonstrate the efficiency of Laplace domain techniques for the design and analysis of economic systems. To make the techniques applicable to economic modeling, we establish the economic analogs to the various tools and nomenclature in the engineering literature. We show that the Laplace domain provides an alternative...

The relativistic dynamics of labor economics: An economic engineering treatment

In this thesis, the analogy between the special theory of relativity and the dynamics of a laborer is developed in the context of labor economics. At the basis of this analogy stands an individual laborer who cannot supply more than 24$hours of labor in a day. This represents the theoretical limit to the flow of labor services (velocity). We...

Forecasting Mortgage Prepayments in Changing Interest Rate Regimes: A Hybrid Economic-Engineering Model with EMPC

Banks such as Rabobank depend on multi-year mortgage prepayment forecasts in order to make provisions for the associated prepayment risks. The econometric models they use are fitted to historical data, and as a consequence their models are fitted to a decreasing interest rate regime. Given the current economic climate of increasing interest...

The Geometry of Dissipative Mechanical Systems: Using Jacobi Manifolds and the Split-Quaternion Algebra

Conservative mechanical systems admit a symplectic structure. <br/>However, since real systems typically exhibit energy dissipation, this symplectic structure is often too restrictive for engineering purposes. <br/>Also in economic systems, dissipative phenomena are ubiquitous in the form of consumption and depreciation. <br/><br/>In this thesis...

Economic Engineering & Statistical Physics: Linking Microeconomics and Macroeconomics using Statistical Physics

Economic engineering models individual agents as inertia elements and can be viewed as a microeconomic theory based on analogs with classical mechanics. In this thesis the economic engineering concept of modeling individual agents is used to model economic systems consisting of many agents, e.g. an entire country. This is done using classical...

Modeling the Price Dynamics of Competition using Economic Engineering: A solution for regulators and hedge funds

Although competition is a dynamic phenomenon, currently used competition models do not take price dynamics into account, and some models are not even quantitative. This poses a problem for regulators or hedge funds and M&amp;A departments who rely on these models to either quantify price and demand movements, or to determine the cost of...

Economic Engineering for Supply Chain Management: Mitigating the Bullwhip Effect Using PID Control

The purpose of Supply Chain Management (SCM) is to maximize and stabilize the flow of goods through a supply chain. Disruptions to this flow, such as the Bullwhip Effect (BWE), have become increasingly severe and dynamic, challenging current methods for counteracting these disruptions. This thesis develops a systems and control framework for...

The Ripple Effect in the Housing Market: An Economic Engineering Model to Control Spatial Price Dynamics

In this thesis, an economic-engineering model of the ripple effect in the housing market is put forward. The ripple effect in the housing market is modeled by integrating into one model the local price dynamics of the rental market, the spatial price dynamics between local rental markets, and the valuation of real estate. Such a model is lacking...

Modeling the Green-Hydrogen Supply Chain as a Dynamic Economic System to Quantify the Value of Investments: An Engineering Design Approach

The green-hydrogen supply chain is part of the new energy business and will be operating in the new-energy markets. The new-energy markets are markets with volatile prices, and the prices are expected to become even more volatile in the future. A continuous-time model of the price and product flow dynamics is needed to quantify the value...

A Price-Dynamic Model of Flexibility in the Electricity Market of the Future

To match supply from intermittent renewable energy sources (RES) with demand, it is proposed in literature to introduce flexibility in the electricity market of the future. Flexibility can be provided by energy storage, demand response and cross-border transmission. In this thesis flexibility is modeled explicitly through the price mechanism of...

An Engineering Grey-Box Approach to Macroeconomic Scenario Modelling: Time- and Frequency Domain Analysis of Macroeconomic Systems

This thesis is a first effort to develop a grey-box model of a macroeconomic system. This is in contrast to current black-box modelling approaches. These black-box modelling approaches result in models where the variables and parameters have no economic interpretation. Companies who develop macroeconomic scenario models such as Ortec Finance,...

Model-Driven Objective Functions in MPC using Economic Engineering Systems Theory: With an Application to Supply-Chain Scheduling at Shell

This thesis introduces a theory for model-driven objective functions in Model Predictive Control (MPC) algorithms. For scheduling supply chains, such model-driven objective functions allow the MPC algorithm to make optimal scheduling decisions by anticipating future changes in product flow and transfer price dynamics. Including such dynamics...

Business Valuation in the Frequency Domain: A Dynamical Systems Approach

Business valuation is a set of procedures used by financial market participants to determine the price they are willing to pay or receive for businesses. Valuations play a crucial role in financial reporting, capital budgeting, and investment analysis. Current approaches to business valuation rely on professional expertise, causing the valuation...

The Interpretation and Application of 300 Years of Optimal Control in Economics

Neoclassical economics dictates the decision-making process of economic agents as the mathematical problem of maximizing utility over a prescribed planning horizon. The mathematical similarities with optimal control theory lead to a new interpretation of economic agents as optimal controllers. Pontryagin's maximum principle generates the...