The Home Improvement,Maintenance, and Repair Industry

Spending on existing housing is important not only for the building materials, building products, and construction markets but also for the macroeconomy. It accounts for about half of total spending on housing capital. The new construction, home improvement, maintenance, and repair markets use overlapping distribution channels, labor, and capital inputs. The various segments of the housing industry touch many other industries and exhibit different patterns over the course of the business cycle. Understanding the unique characteristics of these segments helps business economists and macroeconomists in planning and interpreting changes in the economy as well as estimating better forecasting models.     

‘Home comes first’: housing and homemaking in Finnish civic educational films during 1945–1969

This article focuses on how the ideals of housing and homemaking were presented in post‐war civic educational films in Finland. The films chosen for the article pertain to housing on a wide scope. The analysis shows that the ideals of good homes appeared to be remarkably consistent in the Finnish educational short films. The most important objective was to guide citizens towards careful household management and saving. Through rationalizing home economics, consumers were able to buy their own home. The ideal housewife had a positive attitude towards technology and rational household management. While the short films instructed people towards temperate and sensible consumption, they also created space for ordinary people to envision new opportunities for consumption.     

Home economics programmes in Oyo state secondary schools: a survey

The purpose of this study was to identify the curricula emphases in home economics in Oyo state secondary schools and to describe selected aspects of teaching and the teacher. Sixty-two home economics teachers in Oyo state responded to a mailed survey indicating the degree of emphasis given to 50 topics in five subject-matter areas of home economics: (i) clothing and textiles, (ii) foods and nutrition, (iii) home management and family economics, (iv) housing, and (v) human development and the family. The most taught subject-matter areas (in order) are foods and nutrition, home management and family economics and clothing and textiles while human development and the family and housing were the least taught subject-matter areas. A similar response was given for teacher's reported level of competence and subject-matter preference. Scores on the topics within each subject-matter area, however, indicated that all the five subject-matter areas were moderately emphasized in the curriculum. These three philosophical views of home economics exist concurrently in Oyo state secondary schools: (i) home economics as home-making education, (ii) home economics as household management, and (iii) home economics as cooking and sewing. Suggestions for improving and strengthening the current home economics programmes are discussed. This research was conducted during 1987–1988 in the Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.     

Analysis of tenure choice and housing expenditure patterns

This study employs a selectivity model to account for the simultaneity existing between determinations of tenure status and level of spending. Important socio-economic characteristics affecting housing tenure were identified. Results indicate that income had a more important effect on the housing expenditures of renters than owners at a lower household income level. The race of the household head had a significant effect on variations in housing expenditures for owners but not for renters, suggesting that race may be a more important factor in owner-occupant than in renter-occupant housing. While household size may be an important factor in a family's decision-making in terms of buying a home, it is suggested that once tenure status is selected family size had no significant impacts on housing expenditures. Similarly, married couples were most likely to own their own homes than were other household types; however, married households did not spend more or less than other types of households on either owned or rented accommodation. Furthermore, the analysis suggests that in assessing empirical results, attention should be given to meaningful interpretation of estimated selectivity effects as well as to testing for occurrence of selectivity bias.     

Measuring changes in family energy management: consumption or efficiency

The Home Heating Energy Index (HHEI), a tool for measuring energy efficiency, which integrates house size, seasonal temperature variations, and type of heating fuel, was found to be an effective measure. Using 5-year longitudinal field study data from 24 families living in a cold climate, the tool explained 77% of family energy consumption and provided a definitive benchmark for evaluating home heating energy conservation. Factors which influenced family energy consumption and/or efficiency were: (1) family energy management behaviours, including no-dollar cost behavioural changes and enhancing the energy efficiency of some mechanical system; (2) housing factors, including structural characteristics and size of house; and, (3) family contextual factors, including socio-economic status, family size and stage of family life cycle.     

Managerial Behavior of Young Families in Pursuit of Single-Family Home Ownership

The managerial behavior of young families in the pursuit of home ownership was explored with a sample of 1267 households from northwestern lowa. Young owners had higher incomes and higher monthly housing expenses than young nonowners, but the percentage of income devoted to housing did not differ between young owners and young nonowners. Young owners did not have a higher number of full-time workers per household than young nonowners. Young owners had higher persons-per-room ratios and had compromised neighborhood accessibility standards, but not housing quality standards. The findings indicate that a high level of monetary resources was a key factor in enabling young families to own a single-family detached dwelling, for there were few important compromises in housing space and quality.     

The birth of the housing consumer in the United States, 1918–1960

Between 1918 and 1960, those Americans who were able to buy a home learned to think and act as housing consumers. By 1960, the typical couple purchased a finished dwelling from a speculative builder instead of hiring the services of a contractor. Builders now produced for an anonymous market. They learned how to sell, and buyers learned to expect, a comprehensive and standardized package of services that included long‐term financing. Such financing required, and buttressed, a Fordist regime of mass production and consumption, and was promoted after 1934 by a new federal agency. It stabilized the economy by pushing families to make long‐range spending plans, while shaping their pattern of monthly expenditures. Increasingly, Americans came to think of homes as commodities, as investments and as means of self‐expression. They enacted these assumptions by browsing through model homes, by making elaborate financial calculations, by borrowing and by taking on home repair and improvement projects. These changes were promoted by the real estate industry and the state, and were soon accepted for the comfort and convenience they offered.     

加拿大社会保障住房的发展及其启示

大力发展社会保障住房,尤其是非盈利性住房是加拿大成功解决中低收入居民住房问题的基本经验,也是作为福利国家政府社会福利措施的重要体现。本文对加拿大社会保障住房的发展历程进行了概括介绍,对加拿大社会保障住房的主要形式包括公共住房、非盈利住房、合作住房等从供给主体、融资来源、租赁对象、运作管理等进行了梳理与概括,对政府在加拿大社会保障住房发展中的作用及其政策实际效果进行评价,并结合我国住房保障事业发展的实际思考加拿大经验对我们的启示。     

关于住房公积金改革的若干思考

住房公积金制度从1991年开始在中国实施以来获得了广泛的运用,成为中国住房制度的重要组成部分。但随着社会经济环境的变化,住房公积金制度在实施过程中逐渐暴露出一些问题。本文从住房公积金的功能再定位、资金属性、归属权以及区域化管理体制等方面对住房公积金改革进行探讨。     

房产税对房价的影响:来自OECD国家的证据

本文使用1980-2009年23个OECD国家的住房市场数据,考察了住房房产税对房价的影响。研究发现:第一,房产税对房价具有显著负向作用,但过去30年23个OECD国家房产税率的均值为2.61%。这表明,尽管房产税能有效降低房价,但地方政府不大可能通过大幅提高房产税率来实现。因此,房产税对房价的抑制作用具有局限性。第二,预期比房产税对房价影响更大。因此,改变房价增长预期、抑制投机的政策比房产税更有效。第三,长期利率的回归系数不仅小于房产税,而且符号为正。因此,房产税政策比利率政策更有效。第四,房价主要是由收入和人口决定的,房价仍未脱离基本经济面。因此,收入和人口的变动可以预测房价的长期变动。最后,住房建造成本回归系数不显著。因此,房价并非主要由成本决定,降低住房建造成本并不能降低房价。     

房地产税收与住宅资产价格:理论分析与政策评价

房产税会降低住宅资产的长期均衡价格 ,短期效果是提高房租、降低均衡住房供给量且有效率损失。住宅转让所得税降低了住宅资产价格 ,具有抑制房地产投机的功能 ,但其效果取决于能否设计出一种甄别投机与投资 (或自住 )交易的机制。歧视性契税可抑制投机性住宅需求 ,但让其发挥资源配置作用显然是扩大了契税的原有功能 ,这种政策只宜作为一种过渡性制度安排。     

What are the functions of corporate home pages?

Researchers have identified a number of functions performed by corporate home pages on the World Wide Web. Although commerce and marketing functions are growing, they may be of minor importance in the evolving Internet strategies of corporations. The research presented here examined the functions of corporate home pages in the United States, Germany, and Japan, guided by theories in management studies and communications technology research. Results suggest that image creation rather than marketing, cost control, stakeholder relations, or disclosure is the major function of corporate home pages in each of the countries studied. This raises the question of why image creation is so important.     

企业文化的制度经济学浅析

对于企业文化 ,国内外众多学者说法不一 ,不同的学者对企业文化有着多种不同的描述性定义。企业文化作为一种无型经济资源有降低内部管理和交易费用的重要作用。企业应重视企业文化的建设 ,促进企业稳定健康发展     

基于动态计量经济学模型的城市房价影响因素研究

以西安市商品房价格研究为例,通过建立动态计量经济学模型,分析城市住房价格影响因素,指出住房价格和影响住房供求的变量之间的长期均衡关系;通过分析影响西安住房价格的最主要因素,提出稳定住房价格的具体建议,同时指出住房实际价格偏离均衡价格的变化趋势。     

加拿大公共住房PPPs模式实践与启示

PPPs模式被世界上许多国家应用于公共住房建设领域,为增加公共住房供给提供了一条新的途径。选择加拿大三个PPPs模式的公共住房建设案例,从供给对象、参与主体、资金来源、运营与管理等方面进行比较,归纳加拿大住房PPPs模式的特征,指出加拿大住房PPPs模式对我国的启示。     

Demand‐side housing policy in Costa Rica: a response to the housing deficit

The purpose of this study was to establish what the housing needs of Costa Rica are and to assess what policies have been implemented to respond to their housing deficit. In order to answer these questions, a combined methodology consisting of primary and secondary data was used. Using open‐ended questions and a topic schedule, face‐to‐face interviews with Costa Rican housing authorities were conducted at the interviewee's work place in Costa Rica in May 2003. The most recent secondary data available in the country was used to compute the housing deficit and to study the effects of demographics on current housing needs. Sources of the secondary data were the Costa Rica Ministry of Housing and Human Settlements, and the National Institute of Statistics and Census. The Costa Rican government has made great progress in reforming the housing finance system in order to meet the housing demand of its citizens. In 2002, Costa Rica had a 75.6% home ownership rate. Yet, even in light of the housing system's current success, many social, economic and political barriers threaten to undermine its accomplishments and the peoples’ ability to obtain safe and affordable housing. The paper considers the strengths and weaknesses of the current housing finance system as well as the government strategies for addressing difficulties.     

中小企业集群竞争优势分析

中小企业集群强劲的竞争优势,引起了国内外经济学家、管理学家的高度重视,集群战略已成为区域经济发展的重要内容。中小企业集群的竞争优势来源于:外部经济、营销优势、创新优势和节约交易费用。     

住房公积金管理分析

住房公积金是我国实行货币分房重要手段,随着经济环境以及住房公积金制度的发展,一些问题开始显现。从分析居民的住房承受能力出发,并分析住房公积金存在的问题,提出相应的建议。     

房地产税征收管理的挑战及其应对

居民自用住房的房地产税征收管理问题将是一项全新而重要的挑战.本文对房地产税征收管理中应税不动产信息管理、税基评估、评估争议处理、税款征收与保障等关键问题展开分析.研究表明,虽可参考国际经验,但必须更多地根据我国实际情况,采取积极应对措施,才能有效解决居民住房的房地产税征收管理问题.