Faculty - Matthew Sobel

William E. Umstattd Professor of Industrial Economics
Department Chair, Economics
Professor, Operations
Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Ph.D., Stanford University, 1967
A.M., Columbia University, 1964
B.S., Columbia University, 1960
A.B., Columbia College, 1959

When is it prudent to invest in environmental quality if the major impact will be a century hence? Will the capital cost of more efficient manufacturing pay off quickly enough to offset the risks in effectiveness and operating cost? Risk and time are the issues. Matt Sobel’s research highlights the interdependence of individual, firm, and societal preferences regarding riskiness and timeliness. Matt also studies how best to coordinate business operations and finance for greater competitive effectiveness.

Interests

Teaching

Operations management
Operations research
Sustainable Operations
Game Theory

Research

Coordination of operations with finance
Environmental and energy management
Stochastic optimization
Preference theory

Selected Publications

• Li, L., Shubik, M., Sobel, M. (2013). Control of Dividends, Capital Subscriptions, and Physical Inventories (vol. 59, issue 5, pp. 1107-1124). Management Science.
• Sobel, M., Babich, V. (2012). Optimality of Myopic Policies for Dynamic Lot-Sizing Problems in Serial Production Lines with Random Yields and Autoregressive Demand (vol. 60, pp. 1537-1550). Operations Research.
• Sobel, M. (2012). Discounting Axioms Imply Risk Neutrality Annals of Operations Research.
• Hu, Q. J., Li, L., Sobel, M. (2011). In P. Kouvelis, O. Boyabatli, L. Dong, and R. Li (Ed.), Production/Inventory Management and Capital Structure (pp. 327-362). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.
• Sinha, C., Sobel, M., Babich, V. (2011). Computationally Simple and Unified Approach to Finite- and Infinite-Horizon Clark-Scarf Inventory Model (vol. 43, pp. 207-219). IIE Transactions.
• Sobel, M. (2010). In John J. Hasenbein (Ed.), The Trojan Horse of Time-Risk Preference Representations (pp. 99-115). Hanover, MD: Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences.
• Sobel, M., Wei, W. (2010). Homogeneous Markov Decision Processes (vol. 58, issue 4, part 2, pp. 1235-1246). Operations Research.
• Sobel, M., Szmerekovsky, J., Tilson, V. (2009). Scheduling Projects with Stochastic Activity Duration to Maximize Expected Net Present Value (vol. 198, pp. 697-705). European Journal of Operational Research.
• Sobel, M. (2008). In Dilip Chhajed and Timothy Lowe (Ed.), Risk Pooling (pp. 155-174). New York: Springer.
• Botkin, D. B., Saxe, H., Aralljo, M., Bradshaw, R., Chesson, P., Davis, M. B., Dawson, T., Etterson, J., Faith, D., Guisan, A., Ferrier, S., Kareiva, P., Margules, C., New, M., Sobel, M., Stockwell, D. R. (2007). Forecasting Effects of Global Warming on Biodiversity (vol. 57, pp. 227-236).
• Slotnick, S., Sobel, M. (2005). Manufacturing Lead-Time Rules: Customer Retention vs. Tardiness Costs (vol. 163, issue 3, pp. 825-856). European Journal of Operational Research.
• Heyman, D. P., Sobel, M. (2004). Stochastic Models in Operations Research, Volume I: Stochastic Processes and Operating Characteristics Mineola, New York: Dover Publications.
• Heyman, D. P., Sobel, M. (2004). Stochastic Models in Operations Research, Volume II: Stochastic Optimization Mineola, NY: Dover Publications.
• Gjerde, K. P., Slotnick, S. A., Sobel, M. (2002). New Product Innovation with Multiple Features and Technology Constraints (vol. 48, pp. 1268-1284). Management Science.

Presentations

• Sobel, M. (Presenter & Author) University of Chicago, "The Trojan Horse of Discounting Under Risk", Booth School of Business, Chicago. (2013).
• Sobel, M. (Discussant) Reconciling Ecology and Economics, "Reconciling Ecology and Economics", PERC-Liberty Fund at the Hoover Institution, Palo Alto, California. (2012).
• Sobel, M. Friday Public Affairs luncheon discussion, "Environmental Impacts of Fracking", CWRU, Case campus. (2012).
• Sobel, M. 18th Annual Applied Probability Day In Honor and Memory of Cyrus Derman, "Discounting Axioms Imply Risk Neutrality", Columbia University Center for Applied Probability, New York City. (2011).
• Babich, . (Presenter & Author), Sobel, M. (Author Only) INFORMS annual meeting, "Lot Sizes in Serial Production Lines with Random Yield and AR Demand", INFORMS, Charlotte, NC. (2011).
• Babich, V. (Presenter & Author), Sobel, M. (Author Only) MSOM annual meeting, "Lot Sizes In Serial Production Lines With Random Yield And AR Demand", Manufacturing and Services Operations Management Society, Ann Arbor, MI. (2011).
• Sobel, M. (Presenter & Author) Anderson Graduate School of Management, seminar speaker, "Production / Inventory Management and Capital Structure", University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA. (2010).
• Sobel, M. (Presenter & Author) INFORMS Annual Meeting, "Tutorial: The Trojan Horse of Time-Risk Preference Representations", INFORMS, Austin, TX. (2010).
• Turcic, D. (Presenter & Author), Hu, Q. (. (Author Only), Sobel, M. (Author Only) Annual meeting, "Optimization of Inventory and Dividends with Risky Debt", Interface of Finance, Operations, and Risk Management (special interest group in the Manufacturing and Services Operations Management Society, an INFORMS society), Tel Aviv. (2010).
• Hu, Q. J., Sobel, M., Turcic, D. INFORMS National Meeting, "Optimization of Inventory and Dividends with Risky Debt", INFORMS, San Diego. (2009).
• Sobel, M., Turcic, D. INFORMS National Meeting, "Risk Aversion and Supply Chain Contract Negotiation", INFORMS, San Diego. (2009).
• Sobel, M. Seminar, "Optimization Criteria in Dynamic Operations Models: Discounting & Risk Neutrality", Dept. of Quantitative Analysis & Operations Management, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH. (2008).
• Hu, Q. J., Sobel, M. INFORMS NATIONAL MEETING, "Capital Structure, Inventory Management, and Coordination", INFORMS, Institute for Operations Research & Management Science, (2008).
• Sobel, M. (Presenter & Author) EURO Working Group on Stochastic Modeling 2008, "Optimization Criteria, Discounting, and Risk Neutrality", EURO Working Group on Stochastic Modeling, Istanbul, Turkey. (2008).

Academic and Professional Activities

• Decision Analysis Society. 2006 - Present
• Manufacturing and Services Operations Management Society. 2000 - Present
• Sigma Xi. 1970 - Present
• INFORMS (Institute for Operations Research and Management Science). 1960 - Present
• Panelist, First Unitarian Church of Shaker Heights, Shaker Heights, OH, 2013
• Panelist, First Unitarian Church of Cleveland, Shaker Heights, Ohio, 2012
• Coordinator of "Sunday in June," June 12, 2011, Cleveland Touring Club, Burton, Ohio, 2010 - 2011
• One of two coordinators of "Sunday in June," June 13, 2010, Cleveland Touring Club, Burton, OH, 2009 - 2010
• Committee Member, UGIS - Undergraduate and Integrated Studies, 2007 - Present

Awards

• Fellow, Institute for Operations Research and Management Science, INFORMS. (2005).
• Sigma Xi, (1970).
• Alpha Pi Mu, (1960).