Yes / Performance evaluation has been an important topic of concern for tourism industry practitioners as well as academic researchers, and its investigation in the UK hotel sector is paramount because this industry has been experiencing a higher level of competition. The present study contributes to the previous literature on hotel performance evaluation in general by proposing an innovative hybrid method combining the second-order cone programming (SOCP) method and multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method to estimate the performance of the UK hotel sector. The innovation lies in the synergistic combination of SOCP and MCDM methodologies, enabling a comprehensive assessment of hotel performance by managing a non-linear optimisation. Overall, this hybrid method benefits from the ability to be more flexible in addressing complex operational issues and provide more accurate results. This research provides a cost-benefit analysis within the proposed method, suggesting important policy implications in the tourism industry. / The full-text of this article will be released for public view at the end of the publisher embargo on 30 Aug 2026.

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Tappningsstrategin för Vänern ändrades i ett beslut från Länsstyrelsen i Västra Götalands län och Vattenfall AB, på uppdrag av regeringen år 2008. Detta gjordes för att minska risken för översvämningar i Vänern.  Åtgärden var föreslagen av Klimat- och sårbarhetsutredningen, som försökt utreda konsekvenser av klimatförändringar för Vänern i ett framtida förändrat klimat. I utredningen används en metod för att mäta kostnader. Metoden är en kostnads-nytto-analys (Cost-Benefit-Analysis; CBA) som användes för att utvärdera bland annat Vänern med omnejd. Enligt denna uppsats saknas det värdering för naturmiljö och sociala faktorer i denna utredning. Denna uppsats försöker kommentara detta faktum. Det behövs andra, eller möjligtvis förändrade metoder för att kunna värdera naturmiljön. Uteblivna ekologiska och biologiska värderingar, får konsekvenser för helheten. Den förminskade vattenamplituden kommer att få konsekvenser som ej blivit värderade, den grund som beslut fattas på är då inkomplett vilket leder till att besluten också får konsekvenser som kan vara mycket kostsamma för samhället. Denna uppsats efterfrågar via intervjuer samt en litteraturstudie, vilka ekologiska värden som förväntas påverkas och vilka metoder som kan användas eller bör användas för att uppnå en helhetssyn. Det saknas idag tillräckliga data för att ge en konsekvensanalys av denna åtgärd. Därför borde man i enlighet med denna uppsats avvaktat med ny vattenregim i Vänern, tills alla fakta i målet finns att tillgå. / The water amplitude of the lake Vänern was lowered by a decision by the County Administrative board of Västra Götaland, this was carried out by the electric company Vattenfall AB in the year 2008. This was done to reduce the risks of severe flooding’s. The procedure was recommended by the report “Climate and vulnerability”. This will have adverse effects on the natural values around Vänern. The method used in the report was the Cost-Benefit-Analysis (CBA) method. In this valuation method, it is very difficult to value natural values according to their monetary value since the method itself lacks the procedures to do so properly. And also the investigators chose to not value these in a monetary sense because of the difficulties in doing so. This thesis questions through interviews and an extensive literature study why this came to pass, and how and why the natural values of the lake Vänern could have been valued. The possibility that the adverse effects on the natural values around the lake is diminishing is a fact not implemented in the report makes the proceeding decision to lower the water amplitude of Vänern, makes it difficult to determine the final consequences.

Appraisal methodologies for congestion mitigation projects are relatively less well developed compared to methodologies for projects reducing free flow travel times. For instance, static assignment models are incapable of representing the build-up and dissipation of traffic queues, or capturing the experienced crowding caused by uneven on-board passenger loads. Despite the availability of dynamic traffic assignment, only few model systems have been developed for cost-benefit analysis of real applications. The six included papers present approaches and tools for analysing traffic and transit projects where congestion relief is the main target. In the transit case studies, we use an agent-based simulation model to analyse congestion and crowding effects and to conduct cost-benefit analyses. In the case study of a metro extension in Stockholm, we demonstrate that congestion and crowding effects constitute more than a third of the total benefits and that a conventional static model underestimates these effects vastly. In another case study, we analyse various operational measures and find that the three main measures (boarding through all doors, headway-based holding and bus lanes) had an overall positive impact on service performance and that synergetic effects exist. For the congestion charging system in Gothenburg, we demonstrate that a hierarchal route choice model with a continuous value of time distribution gives realistic predictions of route choice effects although the assignment is static. We use the model to show that the net social benefit of the charging system in Gothenburg is positive, but that low income groups pay a larger share of their income than high income groups. To analyse congestion charges in Stockholm however, integration of dynamic traffic assignment with the demand model is necessary, and we demonstrate that this is fully possible. Models able to correctly predict these effects highlight the surprisingly large travel time savings of pricing policies and small operational measures. These measures are cheap compared to investments in new infrastructure and their implementation can therefore lead to large societal gains. / <p>QC 20160829</p>

The marine ecosystems are fundamental for human welfare. A number of current environmental pressures need attention, and the formulation of management strategies requires information from a variety of analytical dimensions. The linkage between environmental change and resulting implications for human welfare is one such dimension. This thesis presents studies on welfare implications from hypothetical future policies which improve the state of the marine environment. The method for these studies is economic valuation. The studied scenarios concern eutrophication in the Baltic Sea (including the Kattegat) and oil spill risk from shipping in the Lofoten-Vesterålen area in the Arctic Barents Sea. The thesis shows that the economic benefits from undertaking policies to improve or protect the marine environment in these cases are substantial and exceed the costs of taking measures. In addition to providing new monetary estimates, the thesis also provides new insights concerning 1) what type of scenario to use when valuing an environmental improvement and 2) whether there may exist trade-offs between precision in estimates and the level of ambition with respect to survey instrument complexity and econometric models when conducting valuation studies. The findings suggest an end of an era for studies in which the environmental change is unspecified or based on a single environmental indicator while the actual consequences of the suggested measures are more multifaceted. In contrast, relevant scenarios to study are well-specified and holistic. The thesis further reveals that it might not always be worth the effort to go for the most advanced scenario presentation or statistically best-fitting model specifications. This is something that needs to be further discussed among practitioners in order to allocate valuation resources wisely and not waste resources on unnecessarily elegant valuation studies. / <p>QC 20161011</p>

A integridade dos dentes anteriores decíduos pode ser afetada por vários fatores. Em consequência, aspectos como dor, sensibilidade, dificuldade para mastigar, más oclusões, complicações sistêmicas e baixa autoestima (devido ao comprometimento estético), podem agravar a situação das crianças que apresentam essas lesões. Na tentativa de devolver a funcionalidade e estética desses dentes, surge a necessidade de realização de procedimentos restauradores. No entanto, a literatura disponível não oferece informações suficientes sobre a efetividade, empregabilidade, durabilidade ou custo-efetividade das técnicas e materiais utilizados para dentes anteriores decíduos. O objetivo deste trabalho é investigar alguns desses aspectos relacionados às abordagens restauradoras executadas atualmente para dentes anteriores decíduos. Trata-se de um estudo retrospectivo, de coortes históricas, baseado em dados de prontuários de crianças de 3 a 6 anos de idade com dentes anteriores restaurados, alocadas em estudos clínicos com outros propósitos. Dados relacionados aos procedimentos restauradores, socioeconômicos, de qualidade de vida associada à saúde bucal foram coletados dos prontuários, do início do estudo e dos 24 meses de acompanhamento. O estudo será descrito em três partes. No primeiro capitulo narramos a real prevalência de necessidade restauradora para dentes anteriores decíduos dentro de uma amostra de crianças que busca por tratamento odontológico, bem como o impacto dessa necessidade na qualidade de vida das crianças. No segundo capitulo foi avaliado o índice de sucesso das restaurações realizadas em dentes anteriores, sob isolamento relativo, com Resina Composta (CR) e com Ionômero de vidro modificado por resina (RMGIC), identificando os fatores de risco para a ocorrência de falhas. No terceiro capitulo, foi realizada uma análise econômica para verificar se o RMGIC seria uma alternativa viável, nas referidas circunstâncias. Nossos achados sugerem que a necessidade de procedimentos restauradores em dentes anteriores não é muito alta, porém essa necessidade tem um impacto negativo na qualidade de vida das crianças envolvidas. Quem geralmente precisa desse tipo de restauração são as crianças com maior experiência de cárie. Quando são realizadas restaurações adesivas em este tipo de dentes, sob isolamento relativo, aquelas realizadas com CR presentam maior necessidade de reintervenções (falhas), e isto faz que o custo se equivalesse ao RMGIC a longo prazo. As falhas aconteceram mais quando a restauração envolvia superfícies proximais. A qualidade de vida das crianças que receberam restaurações foi melhorada, independentemente do material usado, mas a ocorrência de falhas contribuiu para a piora. Além disso, o custo adicional de se utilizar o RMGIC é baixo e compensa sua superioridade comparado à CR. Assim, para restaurar dentes anteriores decíduos, sob isolamento relativo, o RMGIC é uma alternativa mais eficaz e eficiente comparada à RC. / The soundness of anterior primary teeth can be affected by several factors. Consequently, aspects such as pain, sensitivity, chewing impairment, malocclusions, systemic complications and low self-esteem (due to aesthetic impairment) can aggravate the situation of children with these lesions. Restorative procedures emerge to restore the functionality and aesthetics of these teeth. However, the available literature does not provide sufficient information about the effectiveness, durability or cost-effectiveness of techniques and materials used to restore anterior primary teeth. The aim of this dissertation is to explore some of the aspects related to currently restorative approaches performed in anterior primary teeth. This is a retrospective study (historical cohorts), based on data from dental records of children (from 3 to 6 years old) with anterior teeth restored as part of complete dental care, received in some clinical trials for investigating other purposes. Data related to the restorative procedures, socioeconomic characteristics and quality of life (related to oral health) were collected from these records, from the baseline and follow-ups. The present study will be divided in three chapters. In the first chapter we describe the real prevalence of restorative needs for primary anterior teeth in a sample of children looking for treatment and the impact of these needs on children\'s quality of life. In the second chapter, the success rate of restorations performed on anterior teeth, under relative Isolation technique, both with Composite Resin (CR) and resin modified glass ionomer cement (RMGIC) was evaluated and risk factors for the occurrence of failures were investigated. In the third chapter, an economic analysis was performed in order to verify if the RMGIC could be an economically feasible alternative to the CR, under the described circumstances. Our findings suggest the need of restorations in primary anterior teeth is not very high; however, it is associated with a negative impact on the children\'s quality of life. Children whose anterior teeth, need to be restored, are those with higher caries experience. Restorations involving proximal surfaces required more reinterventions. When adhesive restorations are performed on anterior teeth, under relative isolation, those restorations performed with CR present a greater need for reinterventions (failures). Due to that, in a long-term analysis, CR restorations become as expensive as RMGIC restorations. The children`s quality of life is improved when anterior teeth are restored despite the restorative material used, but the need of reinterventions worsened children`s quality of life. Besides, the incremental cost of placing RMGIC is low and is compensated by its superiority compared to CR. In conclusion, to restore primary anterior teeth under relative isolation, the RMGIC represents a more efficacious and efficient alternative to the CR.

L'environnement s'est considérablement transformé au cours des dernières décennies sous l'effet du développement économique. Ces transformations se sont accompagnées d'effets positifs, mais aussi négatifs car l'homme se trouve exposé à un grand nombre de substances chimiques dont certaines présentent des risques pour sa santé. La dégradation de l'environnement et ses conséquences néfastes sur la santé ont fait prendre conscience progressivement aux décideurs publics de la nécessité de s'engager dans un développement durable reposant sur un modèle de croissance économiquement soutenable. Dans ce contexte, l'élaboration de politiques de prévention en santé environnementale repose sur une approche globale mobilisant différentes disciplines scientifiques allant de la toxicologie aux sciences sociales en passant par les sciences de l?ingénieur et l'écologie environnementale. En France, les politiques publiques de prévention mobilisent encore peu l'approche économique comme outil d'aide à la décision. Or la contribution de cette approche est indéniable : elle peut, notamment, mesurer la réduction du bien-être social liée aux effets des expositions sur la santé. L'évaluation économique peut permettre, entre autres, de faire révéler aux agents leur consentement à payer pour éviter une réduction de leur état de santé ou de leur bien-être, en donnant une valeur monétaire à ces externalités. Outre le fait d'aider à la décision, elle apporte aussi des éléments utiles et nécessaires au débat public. Dans cette thèse, nous avons retenu l'Impact Pathway Analysis (IPA) comme méthode d?évaluation parce qu'elle analyse un risque environnemental donné en définissant précisément sa nature, son ampleur et les probabilités qui le caractérisent et elle intègre ensuite l'évaluation économique afin de mesurer l'impact monétaire de la réduction du risque sur la santé. Cette thèse s'appuie sur deux exemples des conséquences de la pollution environnementale sur la santé des enfants, les cas du plomb et du mercure, et cherche à mettre en évidence le bien-fondé de l'intégration de l'évaluation économique dans les processus de décision publique. L'exposition au plomb et l'exposition au mercure altèrent la santé des enfants et provoquent des effets indésirables graves, tels que des troubles cognitifs et comportementaux. L'impact économique de l'exposition de la population infantile française à ces deux polluants et de sa réduction a été évalué par l'Analyse Coût Bénéfice (ACB) qui permet de rapprocher l'objectif à atteindre de l'optimisation des coûts. Les premiers résultats de l'évaluation montrent que des politiques publiques axées sur la réduction de l'exposition à ces polluants permettraient de réaliser des bénéfices monétaires de plusieurs milliards d'Euros par année comme le montrent les deux articles présentés 1,2. Ces bénéfices incluent une réduction des dépenses médicales futures et de la charge d'une éducation spécialisée des enfants en bas âge, et surtout l'augmentation de la productivité de ces derniers au cours de leur vie d'adulte. L'évaluation des coûts d'investissements dans des programmes de réduction des émissions des polluants est utile au décideur public afin qu'il puisse mettre en balance les coûts des interventions et le bénéfice de cette réduction. Différentes interventions pour réduire les émissions et/ou les expositions sont possibles : "réglementation - permis d'émission - information" et ont des coûts et des efficacités différents. Un troisième papier fait apparaître des bénéfices nets négatifs dans le cas des changements des canalisations d'eau contenant du plomb. Dans un contexte d'allocation de ressources rares, la recherche de l'efficience d'une politique publique nécessite de s'interroger sur le retour sur investissements, ce que permet l'évaluation économique / The environment has changed considerably in recent decades due to economic development. These changes have been accompanied by positive effects but also negative because people are exposed to many chemicals, some of which pose health risks. The environmental degradation and its adverse health effects have gradually led policy makers to become aware of the need to engage in development based on an economically sustainable growth model. In this context, prevention policies in environmental health I should be based on a comprehensive approach mobilizing various scientific fields, from toxicology to social sciences through engineering and environmental ecology. In France, public policies hardly use the economic approach as a tool for decision support. Now, the contribution of this approach is undeniable: it may, in particular, measure the reduction of social welfare associated with the health effects of exposure. Economic evaluation can help economic agents disclose their willingness to pay in order to avoid a degradation of their health or welfare, by giving a monetary value on these externalities. In addition to helping decision, it also provides useful and necessary items for public discussion. In this thesis, we selected the Impact Pathway Analysis (IPA) as an assessment method because it precisely defines the nature, magnitude and probability of a given environmental hazard and integrates the economic assessment to measure the monetary impact of reducing risk. This thesis is based on two examples of the effects of environmental pollution on children's health, the cases of lead and mercury, and seeks to highlight the validity of integrating economic evaluation in the process of public decision. Exposure to lead and mercury affects the health of children and may cause serious side effects, such as cognitive and behavioral disorders. The objective of this thesis is to evaluate the economic impact of the exposure of the French child population to these pollutants, and to highlight the costs and benefits of measures that would reduce the risks. To do this, we selected the Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA), which encompasses a cost optimization assessment. The first results of the evaluation show that public policy focused on reducing exposure to these pollutants would achieve monetary benefits of several billion Euros per year as shown by the two first papers presented in the thesis1.2. These benefits include a reduction in future medical expenses and of the burden of special education of young children, and mainly increased productivity of the latter during their adult life. Assessing the costs of investments in programs to reduce emissions of pollutants is useful for public decision so that costs of intervention and the benefit of this reduction can be weighed. Different interventions are possible to reduce emissions and / or exposures: "regulation - emission permits - information" and have different costs and efficiencies. A third paper shows net negative benefits in the case of removal of water pipes containing lead. In a context of allocating scarce resources, the pursuit of efficiency in public policy requires to consider the return on investment, which is allowed by economic evaluation. Following the empirical work in the three articles, the general discussion comes back on contributions, limits and prospects of integration in the economic evaluation of prevention policies and environmental risks of their neurotoxic effects on the health of children

Dado o grande impacto econômico e social dos acidentes de trânsito no Brasil, a eficácia comprovada de medidas de controle de velocidade em reduzir acidentes de trânsito, o uso frequente de algumas dessas medidas no Brasil, a falta de estudos sobre o impacto econômico dessas medidas no Brasil e a especificidade regional das análises de custo-benefício, o objetivo deste estudo é fazer uma avaliação econômica das intervenções de segurança viária ondulação transversal e redutor eletrônico de velocidade no Brasil. Desenvolve-se um método para avaliar o custo-benefício destas intervenções de segurança viária para um conjunto de condições de tráfego definidas pelas variáveis velocidade de fluxo livre, volume de tráfego e quantidade de acidentes com vítima, e avalia-se sob quais dessas condições cada intervenção é custo-eficiente. Os resultados mostram que a relação custo-benefício dos dispositivos redutores de velocidade depende fortemente da acidentalidade do local de implementação e que os dispositivos são tanto mais custo-eficientes quanto maior for a acidentalidade e quanto menor for o volume de tráfego. / Given the large economic and social impact of traffic accidents in Brazil, the proven effectiveness of speed control measures to reduce traffic accidents, the frequent use of some of these measures in Brazil, the lack of studies on the economic impact of these measures in Brazil and the inapplicability of cost-benefit analyzes conducted in other countries for the Brazilian reality, the objective of this study is to make an economic evaluation of road safety interventions speed hump and electronic speed hump in Brazil. We develop a method to evaluate the cost effectiveness of these interventions in road safety based on a reduced set of parameters and evaluate under what conditions of free flow speed, traffic volume and number of injury accidents each intervention is cost-effective. Results show that the cost-benefit ratio of the speed reducing devices strongly depends on the accident rate and that the greater the accident rate and the lower the traffic volume are, more cost effective the devices are.

This Master's Thesis aims to apply methods of investmets to project of very specialized sports facilities. It uses Cost Benefit Analysis, Criteria Indicators, Risk Analysis to assess costs and benefits of sports infrastructure project. The theoretical part deals with a sport infrastructure definition, methodological part provides theoretical basis of methods used in next practical part. This is the previously mentioned Cost Benefit Analysis, Risk Analysis, SWOT Analysis and Marketing Strategy. To define real situation, practical part contains also statistic data regarding sports facilities in the Czech Republic and government strategy documents, which serves as basis of sociological part of the analysis.

There is an obligation to hold a minimal flow when running a water power plant in a current czech legistation. There are environmental reasons to determine the minimum discharge and the way to set it is not valid at the moment. We can see a difference in a type of water power stations when comparing the effects from electric power which is produced in water power plant situated on czech rivers and the damage that does not appear on the environment. The weir type of power plant harms the surroundings mildly except of the possible migration obstacles. But the derivation type makes loss that could be hardly compensate by the produced electricity. Different methods of evaluating the enrironment brinks various results and that is the reason why it is hard to say how much the effects from producing the electricity exceed the benefits arising from instream water or vice versa. The only conclusion that can be said is the advice about including more points of view when setting the minimum flowage.