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Purposeful Engineering Economics

  • Textbook
  • © 2015

Overview

Authors:
  1. Ronald A. Chadderton

    1. Villanova University, Villanova, USA

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  • Facilitates understanding of the broader ramifications of planning processes undertaken by engineers
  • Demonstrates why the secondary effects of actions are often unanticipated and/or counterproductive
  • Adds a new perspective to the traditional study of “cash flow” analysis and engineering decision making
  • Neatly integrates real economic insights well-documented in the social science literature into the context of the traditional, quantitative engineering economics course
  • Features numerous cases studies analyzed by the author
  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

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Table of contents (12 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xv
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  2. Introduction

    • Ronald A. Chadderton
    Pages 1-8

  3. The First Class: Subjective Value and Time Preference

    • Ronald A. Chadderton
    Pages 9-12

  4. A Few Basic Concepts: Setting the Stage

    • Ronald A. Chadderton
    Pages 13-16

  5. Price and Cost

    • Ronald A. Chadderton
    Pages 17-25

  6. Equivalence

    • Ronald A. Chadderton
    Pages 27-32

  7. Inflation

    • Ronald A. Chadderton
    Pages 33-41

  8. Information: Interfering with Price Signals

    • Ronald A. Chadderton
    Pages 43-49

  9. Public Projects (Benefit–Cost Analysis)

    • Ronald A. Chadderton
    Pages 51-59

  10. Effects of Taxation on Cash Flows

    • Ronald A. Chadderton
    Pages 61-66

  11. An Example “Retirement” Planning Calculation

    • Ronald A. Chadderton
    Pages 67-70

  12. Costs of Regulation

    • Ronald A. Chadderton
    Pages 71-81

  13. Sustainability Concerns

    • Ronald A. Chadderton
    Pages 83-87

  14. Back Matter

    Pages 89-100
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Keywords

About this book

Purposeful Engineering Economics stands as a unique and highly original complement to the traditional engineering economics curriculum. This primarily narrative text conveys the essence of an "Austrian" economic perspective on cash flow analysis and decision making in engineering without extensive tables and graphs and requires very little mathematics. The book’s objective is to add a new perspective to the usual study of cash flow analysis and solely econometric engineering decision making. The author draws on the methodology of the Austrian Economists—a school of economic thought that bases its study of economic phenomena on the interpretation and analysis of the purposeful actions of individuals. The book includes an array of illustrative case studies examined in detail by the author and emphasizes the importance of market processes and price signals to coordinate engineering plans.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Villanova University, Villanova, USA

    Ronald A. Chadderton

About the author

Dr. Ronald A. Chadderton is the Edward A. Daylor Professor and past chairman of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Villanova University. He served as an officer in the U.S. Air Force before graduate work at Bucknell and Carnegie-Mellon Universities.  He was a faculty member at The Pennsylvania State University prior to Villanova.  His teaching interests include fluid mechanics, hydrology and hydraulics, and water and wastewater treatment. His research interests include hydraulic modelling, water quality, and assimilation capacity/wasteload allocation in streams.  His research has been supported by AWWA Research Foundation, Chesapeake Research Consortium, ASCE, EPA, PennDot, and the Sarah Scaife and Carthage Foundations.

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