Alternative measures for the financial condition of the multifamily housing stock

Abstract

Indicators of the financial condition of the multifamily housing stock can potentially inform several policy issues, such as the loss of affordable rental units, multifamily developers’ access to capital, and the emerging secondary mortgage market for multifamily properties. Several rules of thumb exist for assessing financial condition. This article uses the Residential Finance Survey to investigate whether it matters, from a practical standpoint, which one is employed. Specifically, we ascertain how five measures—loan‐to‐value, debt coverage, rent‐to‐value, net operating income—to‐value, and vacancy loss ratios—relate to each other and rank properties.

We found that Pearsonian correlations among the measures varied dramatically. Factor analysis produced two factors, one corresponding to a rent‐flow measure and the other to a debt‐burden measure. Spearman rank‐order correlations revealed that with one exception, measures yielded noticeably dissimilar financial condition rankings. We conclude that single‐dimensional measures of financial condition should not be used in isolation.     

Ideas,spaces and ‘sovereigntyscapes’: Dramatising Scotland's production of a new institutional fix

Abstract

As part of a general endeavour to ‘modernise’ Britain for the epoch of globalisation, Britain's New Labour government has sought to integrate wide‐ranging constitutional reform with new structures for regional governance. Perhaps the most radical proposal concerns the attempt to align continued UK sovereignty with an elected parliament for Scotland in what has been called a ‘new covenant with the people’. This paper draws on Jane Jenson's neo‐Gramscian discourse‐regulation theory and its stress on social agency and the politics of representation, to explore the political, economic and socio‐spatial tensions and the related ideas, discursive forms and political processes that have given rise to this emergent institutional and representational ‘fix’. The author argues that rather than being perceived of solely as some ‘modernisation move’ on the part of a New Labour project, this reconfiguration of power and representation also needs to be traced to the political and representational style of Thatcherism, in particular, the latter's continuous ‘testing’ of the 1707 Treaty between Scotland and England as a negotiated settlement of economic and political union. The paper concludes with some reflections on the future prospects facing any future Scotland‐UK institutional settlement, including the question of sovereignty.     

Creating a Sustainable Manned Orbital Spaceflight Industry

Since the launch of the Sputnik satellite and the start of the modern space age, nations have sought to capitalize on the scientific, political, and economic returns that stem from that frontier. In the United States, national policy guides the development of the space industry as an economic force and is itself guided by recommendations from periodic committees and other bodies. Although these policies have produced clear scientific and political rewards, the economic results are more mixed. In particular, manned orbital spaceflight has long struggled with issues of sustainability. This article uses a macroeconomic approach to identify the subtle but critical differences between manned orbital spaceflight and the rest of the space industry that increase the cost structure of the industry and work against its sustainability. In recognizing these differences, the authors propose a fundamental shift toward the industry model applied to manned orbital spaceflight that incorporates a federal capability addressing on-orbit emergencies. Not only can this capability reduce the difficulties that these differences create, but it fulfills a natural partnering role between government and private industry that is presently missing.     

The Relationship Between Crime and Electronic Gaming Expenditure: Evidence from Victoria, Australia

Gambling in Australia is a significant economic activity. Expenditure on its many forms is sizeable and has undergone sustained periods of expansion. At the same time, the structure of the gambling industry has undergone substantial change, with the use of gaming facilities in local hotels and licensed clubs now representing one of the most predominant forms of gambling. Despite this, and the extensive international literature on the relationships between gambling and crime, there have been relatively few studies which examine the local area effects of gaming establishments on crime in Australia. This study uses a unique set of data from the Australian state of Victoria, a region in which local area expansion of gaming networks has been considerable since 1991, to investigate the relationship between gaming machine expenditure and various types of crime in 1996, 2001 and 2006. One particular focus is that of income-generating crime, defined here as theft, fraud, breaking and entering, forgery, false pretences, larceny and robbery. After controlling for a host of statistical issues, our results indicate a consistent positive and significant relationship between gaming and crime rates, especially income-generating crime rates, at the local level.     

Violence against teachers: prevalence and consequences

Data collected from 731 teachers were used to examine the consequences of violence directed toward teachers while in the workplace. Analyses showed that the majority of respondents (n = 585, 80.0%) had experienced school-related violence—broadly defined—at one point in their careers. Serious violence (actual, attempted, or threatened physical violence) was less common, but still common enough to be of concern (n = 202, 27.6%). Violence predicted physical and emotional effects, as well as teaching-related functioning. In addition, a model with fear as a potential mediator revealed that both fear and violence were independently predictive of these negative outcomes. Finally, analyses showed that, in general, women reported higher levels of physical symptoms compared to men. We discuss the implications of violence against teachers in terms of personal consequences and the implications for mental health professionals working in an educational setting.     

Mitochondrial DNA identification of game and harvested freshwater fish species

The use of DNA in forensics has grown rapidly for human applications along with the concomitant development of bioinformatics and demographic databases to help fully realize the potential of this molecular information. Similar techniques are also used routinely in many wildlife cases, such as species identification in food products, poaching and the illegal trade of endangered species. The use of molecular techniques in forensic cases related to wildlife and the development of associated databases has, however, mainly focused on large mammals with the exception of a few high-profile species. There is a need to develop similar databases for aquatic species for fisheries enforcement, given the large number of exploited and endangered fish species, the intensity of exploitation, and challenges in identifying species and their derived products. We sequenced a 500bp fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene from representative individuals from 26 harvested fish taxa from Ontario, Canada, focusing on species that support major commercial and recreational fisheries. Ontario provides a unique model system for the development of a fish species database, as the province contains an evolutionarily diverse array of freshwater fish families representing more than one third of all freshwater fish in Canada. Inter- and intraspecific sequence comparisons using phylogenetic analysis and a BLAST search algorithm provided rigorous statistical metrics for species identification. This methodology and these data will aid in fisheries enforcement, providing a tool to easily and accurately identify fish species in enforcement investigations that would have otherwise been difficult or impossible to pursue.     

Compliance by WTO Members with Adverse WTO Dispute Settlement Rulings: The Record to Date

The generally positive record of Members in complying with adverserulings by panels, the Appellate Body or both has been an importantfactor in the success of the WTO dispute settlement system todate. In approximately 90 percent of the adopted reports, oneor more violations of WTO obligations have been found by panelsand/or the Appellate Body. In virtually all of these cases theWTO Member found to be in violation has indicated its intentionto bring itself into compliance and the record indicates thatin most cases has already done so. It is noticeable, if notunsurprising, that compliance has been more rapid where theWTO violations can be corrected through administrative actionas opposed to legislative action. A closer review of the compliancerecord of the United States and the European Communities, whichtogether have been the object of approximately half of all adverseWTO rulings, shows that these Members have generally succeededin bringing themselves into compliance with such rulings, althoughboth Members have experienced some residual compliance difficultiesin a small number of cases. As a final note, the overall positiverecord of Members in complying with adverse WTO rulings is reflectedin, and confirmed by, the low number of cases where Membershave sought and received authorization to impose retaliatorymeasures.     

Seeking One's Day in Court: Chinese regime responsiveness to international legal norms on AIDS carriers' and pollution victims' rights

Over the last two decades, international actors have sought to diffuse repertoires of contentious practices, including rights-based litigation, to China. Multilateral organizations, foundations, and international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) have used funding and training programs conducted in China and at law schools abroad in order to raise the capacity of Chinese attorneys, NGOs, judges, and legal officials to improve rule of law and protection of human rights. In particular, international actors have worked with Chinese NGOs and state officials to found legal aid centers that provide information and advocacy to protect the rights of pollution victims and AIDS carriers. Legal aid centers, attorneys, and their financial backers seek to bring forward ‘impact litigation’ cases in the courts to establish model decisions for other plaintiffs, attorneys, and judges to follow. To date, environmental groups have enjoyed more success gaining access to the courts and in receiving favorable court judgments than have AIDS groups. In many cases involving AIDS victims, attorneys and legal aid centers seek compensation through alternative dispute resolution methods rather than litigation, which do not establish a legal precedent. This paper explores the reasons for the divergent outcomes of efforts to protect the rights of pollution victims and AIDS carriers in the courts. Primarily, the institutional particularities and contexts of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Public Health have allowed international legal norms related to the environment to take deeper root than those related to AIDS.