Effective Counter‐Terrorism: Rockets,Iron Dome,and the Israeli Housing Market

How effective is counter‐terrorism and what are the underlying mechanisms? Relying on a unique experiment and detailed micro data from Israel, we show that the deployment of the Iron Dome anti‐rocket system mitigated the negative effect of rocket attacks on house prices and lowered the price premium associated with in‐house shelters. Analysis of surveys and data on purchases of anti‐anxiety drugs yields evidence consistent with a psychological mechanism: by reducing the negative effects on daily routine, subjective well‐being, and psychological distress, Iron Dome lowered the disamenity associated with living under the shadow of the rocket threat.     

Community Privilege and Environmental Justice: An Agent‐Based Analysis

Several theories compete to explain observed race‐ and ethnicity‐based environmental injustice in society. This paper focuses on analyzing the extent to which firms' siting decisions based on community privilege can explain this outcome. A unique feature of this analysis is that we include analysis of both unwanted land uses (disamenity firms) and desired land uses (amenity firms). The environmental justice analysis of amenities other than green spaces is rare, but amenities are crucial components of urban areas to which environmental justice studies must attend. We use an agent‐based model to explore community outcomes when environmental disamenities choose locations based on low community privilege, and compare this with scenarios in which disamenities only seek to minimize the cost of land. We also assess differences in environmental justice outcomes when amenities choose locations in areas with high community privilege. While disamenities' focus on locating in areas with low community privilege indeed affects environmental equity, the effect of amenity location is also important, and there are powerful interaction effects. The importance of privilege‐based location is found in these simulations regardless of which social group—majority or minority—is assumed to be the privileged group. This study suggests a limitation of EJ policies and models that focus on the politics of disamenity siting without considering the politics of amenity siting.     

The impact of sunset review: A study of real estate licensing

This paper focuses on the impact that state sunset review has had on the real estate occupation's ability to restrict entry through the imposition of licensing requirements. The results presented indicate that the 1983 rejection rate for real estate brokers and salespersons was lower in states undergoing sunset review of real estate than in those states not undergoing such a review. Sunset appears to have the power to effect changes in the licensing behavior of the occupation considered in this analysis.     

On the use of auctions as a disposition strategy for RTC real estate assets: A policy perspective

Abstract

A sound strategy for real estate asset disposition is of paramount importance to the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) in its efforts to maximize costs resulting from the savings and loan bailout. A popular current approach to this problem is to employ expeditious sales structures such as auctions. Although auctions clearly speed up the disposition process, it is unclear whether they maximize net revenues. This paper analyzes the potential of auction structures to maximize sales revenue when such structures are applied to RTC commercial and residential real estate assets.

Absent political constraints, we conclude that auctions are usually inferior to traditional listing and broker sales channels. For the commercial real estate sector, this conclusion is based on the prominence of information‐acquisition costs, on market thinness on the buyer side, and on continued uncertainty regarding local economic recovery. Our conclusion for the residential real estate sector is based on the degree of property concentrations and the apparent inferiority of auctions for residential properties in weak markets. A recognition of short‐term political reality bolsters the case for auction approaches; however, the RTC should clearly stop promoting an image that it wishes to “sell, sell, sell.”     

Taming the real estate boom in the EU: Pathways to macroprudential (in)action

In the fallout of the 2008 crisis, macroprudential policy has been installed as the policy remedy against future financial instability, a primary focus being developments in the real estate sector. With house prices consistently rising in the EU since 2014, causing alarm among macroprudential supervisory bodies, a core question of EU regulatory governance is how far macroprudential bodies have been capable of bringing about countercyclical actions against the build-up of such vulnerabilities. This paper investigates this question using a novel dataset of macroprudential intensity coded for the 17 EU countries that experienced real estate vulnerabilities post-euro crisis. Specifically, it asks which configuration of conditions account for the (in)capacity of countries to impose stringent countercyclical regulations against housing booms? Using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis technics coupled with qualitative analysis of country cases using expert interviews, we find that the absence of political salience of homeownership and the political independence of macroprudential authorities to be crucial conditions that jointly explain countercyclical macroprudential activity. These findings, which show two pathways to action have implications for the capacity of the EU to prevent future crises and future reform of the EU prudential framework.     

Beginnings of Real Estate Brokerage in Moscow

Abstract

This article describes the private housing transactions that are emerging as a large portion of Moscow's housing stock is transferred into private ownership and becomes available for sale or rent. An industry of real estate brokers is developing to facilitate those transactions. The structure of this industry is evolving and, so far, reflects the fragmented nature of the housing market it serves. No industrywide practices or standards have been developed.

It is not clear whether the U.S. model for maximizing information available to real estate brokers and their clients—the multiple listing service based on exclusive listing contracts—will be followed in Moscow, or even whether this is the model best suited to the Russian housing market. Furthermore, the nature and timing of government regulation of real estate brokerage will require careful design to avoid restricting competition and limiting the efficient pricing and housing mobility that can result from a well‐functioning real estate market.     

Income tax concessions for owner‐occupied housing

Abstract

This article considers arguments for and against the major tax concessions for owner‐occupied housing in the Internal Revenue Code—concessions that have a significant effect on the federal budget. It recommends retaining two of the concessions— nontaxation of net imputed income and exemption of capital gains—and abolishing two others—the mortgage interest and real estate tax deductions.

After a review of the market impact of removing each deduction, the article concludes that an appropriate phase‐out period of 15 to 20 years would virtually eliminate adverse effects on house prices and homeowners.     

公众预期对我国房地产宏观调控政策影响分析

1998年以来中国的房地产宏观调控发展历程经历了五阶段,各阶段公众预期呈现出不同的特征,并对调控政策效果产生了影响。因此,房地产市场调控政策的出台必须从调整房地产市场供求关系、建立长效机制、加强媒体与舆论的引导和管理以及保持政策的连续性、稳定性和长期性等加强公众预期管理等方面考虑。     

The effectiveness of savings and loan political action committees

In recent years, political action committees (PACs) have played an increasingly important role, both in contributing to candidates and in influencing voting patterns. Savings and loan PACs are numerous throughout the country and consist of PACs affiliated with individual institutions and trade associations. The question which is addressed in this research paper is the effectiveness which savings and loan related PACs have had on influencing voting patterns. Because of savings and loan allegiance to the real estate industry, voting patterns on a selected set of nine cogressional bills pertaining to various facets of real estate are used to test PAC effectiveness. These bills were voted on by the House of Representatives during the 1978–80 congressional term. A twenty-one simultaneous equation model which employs probit transformations, maximum likelihood estimation procedures, and two stage least squares, is built to test relationships among the endogenous variables of congressional votes, electoral margin, PAC contributions, and constituent and congressional ideology. In addition to testing the effectiveness of savings and loan PAC contributions, the results of the study shed light on savings and loan PAC performance relative to that of real estate PACs, labor PACs, home builder PACs, business PACs, and other PAC groupings. The model is also used to identify some determinants of PAC contribution patterns. As a related issue, the role of ideology as a predictor of voting patterns is re-examined. Findings indicate that savings and loan PACs have only been marginally successful in influencing real estate voting patterns when compared to the other PAC groups. Results also indicate that few variables could be identified as determinants of savings and loan contributions, whereas other more established PACs had determinants which were consistently significant. Overall, findings imply that PAC contribution procedures of the savings and loan industry could benefit by imitating or purchasing the expertise of more experienced PAC groups.     

Do housing bubbles generate fiscal bubbles?

This paper examines the effects of the most recent U.S. housing bubble on the fiscal policy of California cities. We use an instrumental variables approach that helps isolate the fiscal consequences of house price appreciation by taking advantage of the influence of local topological constraints on the elasticity of house prices with respect to interest rates. Our analysis generates three main findings. First, despite Prop 13 fiscal constraints, rapid house price appreciation has a strong effect on property tax revenue. Second, the resulting increase in property tax revenue was largely offset by a reduction in other local tax revenue. This offsetting response leaves total city expenditure unrelated to local house prices. In that sense the housing bubble did not produce local fiscal bubbles. Third, we find that fiscal adjustments to house price appreciation depend on local political institutions.     

House prices and tourism development in Cyprus: A contemporary perspective

This study investigates the nexus between tourism development and house prices in the Republic of Cyprus over the period spanning from 2005Q1 to 2016Q4. Tourism indicators vis‐à‐vis tourism arrivals along with other explanatory variables (the domestic credit, the land area per person, and the consumer price index) are employed in a multivariate autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL)‐bound test model. The empirical results indicate a significant evidence of cointegration. Indicatively, an observed adjustment of about 44% from short‐run to long‐run implies that the model is not relatively slow to adjust to disequilibrium. Importantly, a percent increase in tourism arrivals is observed to cause a rise in house price by about 37%. Expectedly, it is statistically observed that as the land area per person decreases, it is accompanied by a hike in house price. Also, the impacts of domestic credit offered to private enterprises and the consumer price index are different from the results in previous studies. As a policy guide, the government of Cyprus and stakeholder in the tourism and housing sectors should outline a strategy that will ensure the social welfare of people such that housing availability is not hampered by tourism activities.     

An asymmetric partisanship effect: House price fluctuations and party positions

Political economy arguments on party behaviour usually address parties of the left and the right. This article introduces a novel argument that portrays house price changes as an economic signal that right-wing parties disproportionately respond to in their programmatic positioning. This asymmetric partisanship effect is driven by homeowners’ importance for right-wing parties as a core voter group. Increasing house prices improve homeowners’ economic prospects. Right-wing parties thus have some flexibility to reach out to undecided voters by targeting the centre of the political spectrum. Falling house prices, however, signal worsening economic outlooks for homeowners. Right-wing parties thus have a strong incentive to send out signals of reassurance and prioritise their core voters. For a sample of Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries from 1970 to 2014, the findings support this argument. Right-wing parties move programmatically leftwards with booming house prices and rightwards when house prices fall, while parties of the left do not respond systematically.     

Justice for All? A Cross‐Time Analysis of Toxics Release Inventory Facility Location

This paper contributes to the environmental justice literature by addressing several outstanding issues in a single study. Using a cross-time data set that allows us to control for the prevalent "chicken-and-egg" or "which-came-first" problem, we analyze the relative importance of poverty and race/ethnicity in an analysis that includes economic costs, potential legal costs, and potential collective action. Because the most appropriate functional form is not obvious, we use several methods, including Tobit, Poisson, and ordinary least squares, on different forms of the dependent variable. In every case, controlling for the population present at the time of disamenity location and controlling the other factors mentioned, we find evidence of disproportionate collocation based on race/ethnicity, but not on poverty alone. We also find that the potential for collective action decreases the likelihood of receipt of the studied disamenities.     

Reducing Environmental Risks by Information Disclosure: Evidence in Residential Lead Paint Disclosure Rule

Recently, there has been a surge in environmental regulations that require information disclosure. However, existing empirical evidence is limited to certain applications and has yet to generalize the effectiveness of this approach as a policy strategy to reduce environmental risks. This study evaluates the disclosure rule of the residential lead paint hazard (Title X) introduced in 1996. This regulation is one of the most prominent environmental disclosure laws, but its effectiveness has been relatively under‐investigated. Title X was intended to induce information recipients’ risk prevention behavior by proclaiming lead paint risk in old homes. Specifically, this study assumed three types of behavioral changes could be induced by Title X—(1) testing for lead paint, (2) maintaining painted surfaces in a proper condition, and (3) switching buying choice from old houses to new houses. In addition, using the national American Housing Survey, this study examined whether Title X increased the occurrence of those three behaviors. The results show that Title X increased the probability of homebuyers’ lead testing and decreased the probability of the existence of peeling paint in old homes. The analyses on households’ buying choices found that Title X did not result in a substantial switch from old houses to new houses in any socioeconomic status groups. However, it was found that the policy reduced the instances of households with young children occupying old homes. The findings in this study indicate that the policy generally induced more risk management behavior on existing risks and greatly influenced families with young children to such an extent that they changed their buying choice.     

Declining foreclosure neighborhood effects over time

According to previous studies, residential foreclosures reduce the value of neighboring residential units and the initial negative effects decay over time and space. This study attempts to investigate the temporal path of the initial effects by following cohorts of single-family housing distressed sales (foreclosures and real estate owned sales) over time. A hedonic model estimation of single-family housing sales in Saint Louis County, Missouri, produced larger marginal impacts for new distressed sales in the year 2000 compared with the marginal impact of new distressed sales in 2007, that is, the marginal impact of new distressed sales is declining in at least one housing market. This result holds true for the distressed sale neighborhood impact, the effect of distress on the same unit's future sales price, and the discount on a distressed unit's current “liquidation sale” price.     

The impact of real Estate Market knowledge on tenure choice: A comparison of black and white households

Abstract

Homeownership is an important social and financial achievement for most U.S. households. Various explanations have been offered for the large and persistent gap in the ownership rates of black and white households, but studies have consistently fallen short of identifying all of the causes.

The data we used were derived from a survey of the residents of the Columbus, OH, area. We argue that differences in real estate market knowledge and information affect the tenure choice decisions of black and white households. We estimate a model that is augmented to include a measure of real estate knowledge and find that additional knowledge increases the likelihood of homeownership. This holds even when we account for the endogeneity of such knowledge. We conclude that differences in real estate knowledge contribute to explaining the racial gap in homeownership rates, a finding that can be addressed through public policy interventions such as counseling programs.     

宏观调控下我国房地产企业融资渠道的探讨

房地产行业的融资问题是影响房地产企业发展的关键问题.在宏观调控累积效应的影响下,我国房地产市场进入周期性调整阶段,融资难度加大.当前,充分发展现有的融资模式的同时,应大力发展房地产信托,减少银行压力,缓解社会矛盾.     

Gated communities and the poor in Santiago,Chile: Functional and symbolic integration in a context of aggressive capitalist colonization of lower‐class areas

Abstract

In Santiago, Chile, the number of gated communities has increased significantly during the past few years. Although these communities are aimed at the elite, they are often located on the fringes of low‐income neighborhoods and thus change traditional segregation patterns in the city.

In many cases, gated housing communities for the upper classes are accompanied by nonresidential development, such as shopping centers and office complexes, which bring jobs into the neighborhood. We analyze case studies of lower‐class neighborhoods located near upper‐class gated communities to study the effect on the poor. We find that the spatial dispersion of real estate developments for the elite promotes some forms of social integration and provides advantages to poorer residents by bringing jobs into the neighborhood, triggering improved public services, and even sparking a renewed sense of pride among lower‐class residents.     

房价“双轨制”的双重效应与政策取向

房价"双轨制"是指目前我国住房市场并存的两种价格制度体系,房价"双轨制"具有利弊双重效应:适应"渐进式"改革和不完备市场体系的需要,符合现阶段多元化社会结构解决和改善住房条件的需求,有利于调动房地产商的积极性,明确政府的责任,促进社会的和谐稳定。但房价"双轨制"与商品的本质和市场经济原则相矛盾,在运行操作上有很大的难度,容易造成社会福利的流失和形成新的社会不公平。房价"双轨制"的政策取向是:在供需矛盾突出的体制过渡时期不能取消而且要继续强化房价"双轨制",促进住房公平,加大保障性住房建设力度,增加住房的有效供给。     

The accumulation of lender-owned homes during the US mortgage crisis: examining metropolitan REO inventories

A key concern among policymakers and community developers in recent years has been the extent to which lender-owned homes, often called real estate owned or “REO” properties, accumulate in different local housing markets during the mortgage crisis. This paper describes the accumulation of REO properties in 356 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) from August 2006 to August 2008. It examines differences in both changes and static levels of REO activity across MSAs and compares changes in REO levels to changes in home values over the same period. Special attention is paid to 12 large MSAs with substantial levels of REO as of August 2008. A model of REO volume at the metropolitan level is estimated that includes differences in state foreclosure legal processes and timing among the independent variables. Finally, cluster analysis is used to identify a simple typology of MSAs based on REO levels and home price changes.