A Test of Cultural Affinity in Home Mortgage Lending

This paper assess cultural affinity as a potential explanation for observed racial disparities in mortgage rejection rates. Two formulations of the theory have evolved in the literature. The taste-based cultural affinity hypothesis asserts that lenders have a blanket preference for members of the same race, while the common bond hypothesis asserts that cultural affinity allows lenders to better assess the credit quality of members of the same race. The analysis involves tests that focus on the experiences of applicants with marginal credit quality, as the two theories offer conflicting predictions regarding their application patterns and treatment by lenders. The results of these tests provide weak support for the existence of taste-based cultural affinity, but contradict the predictions of the common bond form of the theory.     

Does the weather affect stock market volatility?

This paper investigates the empirical association between stock market volatility and investor mood-proxies related to the weather (cloudiness, temperature and precipitation) and the environment (nighttime length). Overall, our results suggest that cloudiness and length of nighttime are inversely related to historical, implied and realized measures of volatility. The strength of association seems to vary with the location of an exchange on Earth with respect to the equator. Weather deviations from seasonal norms and dummies representing extreme weather conditions do not offer additional explanatory power in our datasets.     

Neue Medienumgebungen,andere Auswahlkriterien?

Due to the wide range of diverse media content in today’s high-choice media environment, decisions on sampling methods are mandatory for content-analytical research projects. While including some objects of study into their analysis and excluding others, researchers influence the results of their investigation. Until now, methodological contributions have rarely discussed such cases of selection bias. In this article, we focus on content-related criteria of selection and propose a framework for the systemization of various dimensions of selection. Along the distinction between a diagnostic and a prognostic epistemic goal, we differentiate between a media-centric and an audience-centric dimension. For each dimension, various criteria of selection are discussed. We argue, that future content-analytical research projects could – depending upon the study’s objective – start from this systemization in order to define the particular set of objects of study. By doing this, researchers can adequately counter a less prominent source of error in content analyses, i.?e., the error of coverage.     

Venture-Capital Syndication: Improved Venture Selection vs. The Value-Added Hypothesis

Syndication arises when venture capitalists jointly invest in projects. We model and test two possible reasons for syndication: project selection, as an additional venture capitalist provides an informative second opinion; and complementary management skills of additional venture capitalists. The central question is whether venture capitalists are engaged primarily in selection or in managerial value added. These alternatives imply contrasting predictions about comparative returns to syndicated and standalone investments. Our empirical analysis, using Canadian data, finds that syndicated investments have higher returns, favoring the value-added interpretation. We also discuss risk sharing and project scale as possible reasons for syndication.     

Have Anti-Discrimination Housing Laws Worked? Evidence from Trends in Black Homeownership

This paper explores the hypothesis that anti-discrimination legislation has been an important factor in shaping the evolution of minority homeownership spatial trends. It does so by studying homeownership patterns of black and non-black households during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s using Census data and data that proxies for the level of enforcement of the Fair Housing Act over time. The results provide unambiguous support for the view that enforcement has been a key factor for black homeownership since the 1970s, as we find a consistent positive relationship between fair housing policy enforcement and black homeownership growth. In addition, we find clear evidence that black homeowners gained access to more diverse and higher-income neighborhoods over time, with the shift occurring beginning in the 1980s and continuing in the 1990s. Importantly, both of these results are race-specific results, as there are no such patterns among non-black homeowners. Taken together, the results are consistent with the view that the housing-related civil rights legislation passed during the 1960s and 1970s helped alter, and reduce, the role that race played in housing markets.     

Do the GSEs matter to low-income housing markets? An assessment of the effects of the GSE loan purchase goals on California housing outcomes

This study evaluates the effects of the GSE mortgage purchase goals on homeownership and housing conditions among communities that are the focus of the 1992 GSE Act and the HUD affordable housing goals. To identify GSE effects, the test framework exploits differences in the definition of lower-income and underserved neighborhoods under the 1992 GSE Act, which specifies loan purchase goals for the GSEs, and the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act, which governs loan origination activity among the federally-insured depository institutions. Research finding suggest little efficacy of the GSE home loan purchase goals in elevating the homeownership and housing conditions of targeted and underserved neighborhoods, in turn suggesting the importance of ongoing federal policy focus in achievement of affordable housing objectives.     

Policy,planning and program development: Case study—adolescent pregnancy

The role of the Federal Government in stimulating local/regional/state action to pursue clearly identified problems is examined, with case study focused on the problem of adolescent pregnancy. Critical analysis is undertaken of the legislative framework within which health policy and programming is formulated and implemented and the directions and limitations inherent in increased volunteerism in the public sector.     

Capture and surveillance of quad-bike (ATV)-related injuries in administrative data collections

Identifying quad-bike-related injuries in administrative data collections can be problematic. This study sought to determine whether quad-bike-related injuries could be identified in routinely collected administrative data collections in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, and to determine the information recorded according to World Health Organization (WHO) injury surveillance guidelines that could assist injury prevention efforts. Five routinely collected administrative data collections in NSW in the period 2000–2012 were reviewed. The WHO core minimum data items recorded in each of the five data collections ranged from 37.5% to 75.0%. Age and sex of the injured individual were the only data items that were recorded in all data collections. The data collections did not contain detailed information on the circumstances of quad bike incidents. Major improvements are needed in the information collected in these data-sets, if their value is to be increased and used for injury prevention purposes.     

Judicial Independence Under a Divided Polity: A Study of the Rulings of the French Constitutional Court, 1959-2006

This article analyzes whether the much-touted independence ofthe Conseil Constitutionnel (CC), the French ConstitutionalCourt, is genuine. We construct a data set that comprises allthe rulings of the CC between 1959 and 2006, taking into accountthe composition of the CC as well as the characteristics ofthe legislation reviewed by the judges. We find that the judgesmainly rendered independent rulings when the polity was dividedbetween left-wing and right-wing parties. (JEL D72, D73, K40)     

Spatial Models in Marketing

Marketing science models typically assume that responses of one entity (firm or consumer) are unrelated to responses of other entities. In contrast, models constructed using tools from spatial statistics allow for cross-sectional and longitudinal correlations among responses to be explicitly modeled by locating entities on some type of map. By generalizing the notion of a map to include demographic and psychometric representations, spatial models can capture a variety of effects (spatial lags, spatial autocorrelation, and spatial drift) that impact firm or consumer decision behavior. Marketing science applications of spatial models and important research opportunities are discussed. This paper is based upon the discussions of the Spatial Models in Marketing seminar at the Sixth Invitational Choice Symposium, June 2004. Eric T. Bradlow, Bart Bronnenberg and Gary J. Russell served as co-chairs of the session.