Engineering Risk-Benefit Analysis

Lecture Notes

Acknowledgements

The lecture notes for Part II: Decision Analysis draw strongly on the 1978 course manual "Decision Analysis" by Professors Alvin Drake and Ralph Keeney. The notes for Part III: Cost-Benefit Analysis are derived from material first developed by Professor Amedeo Odoni.

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TOPICS

Part 1: Reliability and probabilistic risk assessment (RPRA)

1

Introduction (PDF)

RPRA 1: The logic of certainty (PDF)

2

RPRA 2: Elements of probability theory (PDF)

3

RPRA 3: Probability distributions (PDF)

4

RPRA 3: Probability distributions (cont.)

5

RPRA 4: Availability (PDF)

6

RPRA 5: Data and epistemic uncertainties; statistics (PDF)

7

RPRA 6: Probabilistic risk assessment (PDF)

8

RPRA 6: Probabilistic risk assessment (cont.)

9

RPRA 7: Risk management (PDF)

10

Guest lecture

11

Guest lecture

12

RPRA quiz

Part II: Decision analysis (DA)

13

DA 1: The multistage decision model (PDF)

14

DA 2: The value of perfect information (PDF)

15

DA 3: The axioms of rational behavior (PDF)

16

DA 4: Introduction to utility (PDF)

DA 5: Risk aversion (PDF)

17

DA 6: Multiattribute utility theory (PDF)

18

DA 7: Decision analysis and risk management (PDF)

19

Guest lecture

20

DA quiz

Part III: Cost-benefit analysis (CBA)

21

CBA 1: Background and fundamental premises (PDF)

22

CBA 2: The time value of money (PDF)

23

CBA 3: Bases for comparison of alternatives (PDF)

24

CBA 4: Including uncertainty (PDF)

25

CBA 5: Evaluating public activities (PDF)

26

Guest lecture

27

CBA quiz