IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/riskan/v8y1988i3p411-413.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Concentrating on the Worst Performers

Author

Listed:
  • H. W. Lewis

Abstract

There is a substantial variation in the quality of operators of nuclear power plants, and it is therefore widely believed that regulatory attention is best directed at the worst performers. What is not immediately apparent is a strategy for the optimal allocation of regulatory resources. We study a simple model for this problem, and find that, under reasonable assumptions, the optimal allocation does indeed behave as expected. The proper degree of unbalance, however, depends upon the effectiveness of regulation itself and on the variation among performers, ineffective regulation leading to more concentration on the bottom of the list and a net reduction in attention to the top. Not surprisingly, the optimal strategy is to press toward parity in risk, even if it means allowing some plants to become riskier. This strategy leads to a minimized net probability of accident anywhere.

Suggested Citation

  • H. W. Lewis, 1988. "Concentrating on the Worst Performers," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 8(3), pages 411-413, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:riskan:v:8:y:1988:i:3:p:411-413
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1539-6924.1988.tb00505.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539-6924.1988.tb00505.x
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1539-6924.1988.tb00505.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:riskan:v:8:y:1988:i:3:p:411-413. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1539-6924 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.