No description available.

The demand for electric energy increases every year. However, due to recent changes in the U.S. energy supplies, a growing gas shortage forced suppliers to curtail deliveries of natural gas for power generation. Many utilities anticipating supply problems switched to burning more costly light distillate oil. Unfortunately the Arab boycott of 1973 and the following price increases for oil forced again utilities to seek a cheaper source of fuel, namely coal, as a substitute for oil. Even though the U.S. has abundant supply in coal, the use of coal in power generation was limited in the past because of a higher capital cost associated with installing air pollution control devices. Therefore, current utilities primary concerns are "does the lower fuel price of the coal power plant really outweigh its disadvantage of higher construction costs as compared to the oil-burning power plant?". Thus, the purpose of this paper is to evaluate the economic preference of the coal burning power plant compared to the oil-burning power plant in suppling base load power. An extensive analytical model accounting for the effects of escalating fuel prices was examined and a computer simulation model was developed to handle risk associated with various input parameters using the SLAM as a simulation language.

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

This paper examines the theoretical and empirical differences between the behavior of nonprofit and for-profit hospitals. Considerations are extended to include the possibility of collusion when hospitals make strategic choices. The operating objectives of the firms take into account price, quantity, and quality. Defining the quality of hospital care is discussed and applied to the empirical work. The model predicts nonprofit hospitals will provide a higher level of quality and a lower price than for-profit hospitals. Theoretically, under a collusive outcome for nonprofits, price will increase but the change in quality is indeterminate relative to a competitive, non-collusive outcome. The empirical section offers evidence of differences between nonprofit and for-profit hospital behavior. Nonprofit hospitals do provide higher quality and a lower price when compared to their for-profit rivals. It seems the competitive forces extend to the area of quality. There is evidence that increased competition between nonprofits fosters quality competition. From the for-profit perspective, quality competition appears to be provoked in markets where the for-profit competes more directly against nonprofits. This paper provides theoretical and empirical analyses of hospital interactions and how these interactions change depending upon the type of control. / Graduation date: 2001

Cost benefit analysis is the conventional method of evaluating automobile transportation improvements. This study examined traditional automobile evaluation methods and applied the same techniques to bicycle transportation projects. Cost data from recent research is summarized and eleven costs (five internal and six external) were estimated. The cost estimates are used to calculate automobile and bicycle costs per mile of travel. A case study of a hypothetical corridor is used to demonstrate how the transportation costs can be applied to specific planning problems. The case study explores what effect shifts in modal distribution would have on the cost effectiveness of automobile and bicycle alternatives. The findings of the study begin to question the underlying premises of traditional cost benefit analysis in transportation projects. The study suggests that conventional analysis is fundamentally flawed and biased toward automobile transportation. / Department of Urban Planning

published_or_final_version / Real Estate and Construction / Master / Master of Science in Construction Project Management

No description available.

This project deals with the viability of establishing a staging operation in the Alberton area which will enable Cargo Carriers Limited to improve its service in the distribution of Iscor's steel. This report discusses the logistics of the staging operation and the cost implication : a forecast is made to compare the profitability of the new operation with the existing method distribute tg i teel. Conclusions reached are: - the establishment of a staging operation will provide an improved service to Iscor at the cost of being 7 percent less profitable (in term s of return on turnover). - the cost of establishing a new depot in Alrode for the staging operation will be in the region of R5 000 000, - by shunting nnd stag in g loads o v ern ig h t In A iberton a capital saving of 27 vehicles will be achieved. T h j establishm ent of a sta g in g operation will also provide Cargo C arriers Limited with the following benefits: - improved p ro d u ctiv ity of fleet. - more flexibility of serv ice. - enough room for any fu tu re expansion of depot. - the possibility of obtaining new bu sin ess from th e larg e in d u strial companies which are located near th e new depot. Because of the operational ben efits and im proved custom er serv ice it is recommended th a t Cargo C arriers Limited pro ceed s with the establishm ent of such an operation.

A project report submitted to the faculty of engineering, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Engineering Johannesburg 1991 / In the economic and social development of any country, an effective road transportation system is an important factor However, it also consumes a large proportion of the total infrastructure costs, while the costs borne by the road user for vehicle operation and depreciation arc even greater. A policy must therefore be adopted in which total community costs for any road link Of network are minimized. To do this meaningfully, alternatives must be developed and compared and the trade-offs between them carefully assessed. This, in turn, requires the ability to quantify the different cost functions for the desired period of analysis. [No abstract provided. Information taken from introduction] / MT2018

by Chau Din-ching Michael and Leung Ping-chung Hermann. / Abstract also in Chinese / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1982 / Bibliography: leaves 105-106