Operational Research Methods in Business, Finance and Economics

In the present paper, we do provide more specific results on stochastic integration and stochastic differential equations on \(L^{p}\) -spaces. We also may obtain the existence and uniqueness of strong solutions to these stochastic differential equations. These results are actually extensions of equivalent results on Brownian stochastic differential calculus. Their applications are related to financial markets’ structure, since this structure includes both investment and claim payments on insurance contracts.

Traditionally, estimating valuation relies on firm data and concrete economic indicators. So does modelling of startup investment selection and startup survivability. However, recent advancements in machine learning have given rise to customizable segmented-modelling approaches. While classical economic theory describes that firm valuations and survival rates are modelled based on revenues, growth rates, and risk, the valuation of startup often proves the exception to the rule. Meanwhile both startup investor selection and startup valuations are influenced by revenues, risks, age, and macroeconomic conditions, specific causality is traditionally a black box. Likewise, for startup survivability, which is known to be influenced by risks, revenues, age-of-firm, and access to finance, specific causality is also unclear. Because details are not disclosed, roles played by other factors (industry, business models, geography, and intellectual property) can often only be guessed at. This study is an in-depth examination outlining methods and approaches for application of segmented modelling in entrepreneurial finance, as well as ways in which they can be applied using existing data for purposes to examine selection, valuation, and survivability.

We employ a panel data set of 165 banks (global and non-global) from thirty-eight countries around the world covering the time period 1999–2015, and we examine whether there are any discernible performance differences between green and non-green banks using panel data techniques (the random effects and the multilevel model). The variables of interest are fundamental CAMEL factors. Moreover, we adopt the Differences-In-Differences approach to examine whether green (“treatment” group) and non-green (“control” group) banks exhibit differential behavior, and we use the outbreak of the financial crisis (2008) as the time of intervention. We find that both green and non-green banks are affected by nearly the same bank-specific factors, and that they do not exhibit heterogeneous behavior with respect to several fundamental aspects. Our results show that green banks perform better than their non-green counterparts only in terms of Total Capital ratio and Tier 1 Capital ratio during and after the financial crisis. As for the rest of the CAMEL factors, it seems that both groups exhibit the same behavior, especially in the post-crisis period. Furthermore, it seems that neither country nor region has any significant effect on CAMEL variables values (it is rather a matter of bank characteristics, either green or non-green). We also find that the financial crisis had (a) a positive effect on capital adequacy (excluding leverage ratio, which seems to have remained unaffected), on asset quality (excluding NPLs ratio) and management quality; (b) a negative effect on earnings ability; and (c) a negative impact on liquidity, for both bank types.

The objective of this work is to propose fuzzy adequacy indicators to measure the degree of gender diversity in firms. The construction of these indicators will be based on an extension of the Unweighted Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (UW-TOPSIS). This multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) method simultaneously minimizes the distance to a positive ideal solution and maximizes distance to a negative ideal solution. The positive ideal solution is composed of the best value of each criterion, and the negative ideal solution is composed of the worst values of the decision criteria. The method provides a cardinal ranking of alternatives based on a relative proximity index to the positive ideal solution. In our proposal, the relative importance of the diversity and inclusion decision criteria will be described by means of linguistic labels which will be transformed into intervals on the real line. The main features and advantages of this approach will be illustrated with a real problem where a set of Finnish companies will be assessed based on their degree of adequacy in terms of gender inclusion and diversity.

In this chapter, we study tourists’ satisfaction with local food consumption. Greece is selected as a case study because of the importance of its culinary tradition, while for data collection we interviewed tourists departing from the Thessaloniki Airport “Macedonia”. The analysis is based on an extension of the MUSA method. The MUSA method is a multicriteria analysis approach that can collectively measure customers’ overall and partial satisfaction, providing a series of results that can identify the strengths and weaknesses of customer perceptions. The results show that tourists are highly satisfied by consuming local food. The most critical local food attributes are taste, safety, aroma, authenticity, appearance, and connection to Greek culture. These attributes are the competitive advantages of local food. On the other hand, healthiness, quality, cost, and package could be perceived as potential threats to tourists’ satisfaction. Tourists appear indifferent towards the enhancement of the local economy.

The promotion of the Prespa National Forest Park through ecotourism is very important for the local economic development of the region as it constitutes one of the most popular destinations for a high level of quality tourism throughout the year. Some factors that affect the promotion and the development of the tourism product are the following: the natural wealth, the natural landscape, the geographical part, the uniqueness of the local products, the possibility of creating new facilities and, in general, the bearing capacity of the region. The main element of ecotourism development is the benefit of small and medium enterprises, as well as tourists, from the new type of alternative tourism, preserving the authentic, ecological and natural beauty of the landscape. The aim of this paper is to study the area of the Prespes National Park as an ecotourism destination and to promote the provided alternative activities on the Internet. The websites that promote the tourism enterprises of the area are analyzed and classified using the method of multi-criteria analysis PROMETHEE II. Finally, suggestions for the optimization of the existing websites are presented in order to enhance the online promotion of the area of Prespa National Forest Park.

ESG criteria are considered an important topic that all businesses worldwide should consider. Businesses should be able to publish this kind of information so that you can consider its viability in matters concerning the three pillars. The big question that arises is whether all companies regardless of the sector or country they belong to should publish the same ESG indicators. Ιn this work, the ESG criteria were examined over time, dividing the period 2007–2019 into three equal periods, for each pillar separately, for 39 countries worldwide (developed and developing) and 16 industries.

The objective of this work is to provide an analysis of the impact of the microeconomic and macroeconomic environment of Lufthansa Airlines and sets out the performance of the organization in relation to its main competitors from 2006 until 2019. The airlines industry represents an oligopoly market with high barriers to enter and consists of large commercial aviation companies, top ten of them accounting for approximately half of the global business. For the assessment of the oligopoly market of the airlines industry, respective economic theory, and models are used (Besanko in Economics of strategy. Wiley, Hoboken, 2015; Hall in Price theory and business behavior, pp. 12–45, 1939). To explore the company’s market exposures and its cost vulnerabilities, a dedicated analysis of the top ten airlines in the world, is taking place and is analyzed by the application of various economic models (Eiteman in Am Econ Rev 42(5): 832–838, 1952; Samuelson in Microeconomics. McGraw-Hill, p. 110, 2001; Begg in Economics for Business. Macgrew Hill, Maidenhead, 2020). The demand of airlines is exposed to various elasticities depending on the region and the type of the airline while the evolution of oil prices contains one of the most important factors of industry and company’s profitability. Therefore, a detailed analysis of the macroeconomic impact of oil prices is performed. Lufthansa has a small sales margin due to the high costs and is a company relatively more vulnerable and exposed to external economic shocks due to its structural business design. Because of that it is not well equipped to withstand global economic shocks. Lufthansa needs to transform its business model in order to survive future crises by optimizing its operating costs and further growing its scale.