On 'Before' and 'After' Cost Comparisons,

Abstract

Comparisons of a priori cost estimates with a posteriori payments is about as pervasive as it is instinctive. A new result of mathematical optimization and probability theories leads to the unexpected conclusion that such comparisons, even for many idealized engineering designs, appear to be invalid. The paper demonstrates that before and after costs are unit samples from populations with different probability distributions.

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1983
Accession Number
ADP002799

Entities

People

  • R. M. Stark

Organizations

  • University of Delaware

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Cost Estimates
  • Costs
  • Engineering
  • Governments
  • Interdisciplinary Science
  • Mathematical Programming
  • Mathematics
  • Optimization
  • Probability
  • Probability Distributions
  • Procurement
  • Synergism
  • Systems Science
  • Virginia

Readers

  • Life Cycle Cost Analysis
  • Statistical inference.
  • Theoretical Analysis.