Research note: Product adaptations for the Chinese

There is little Chinese human‐factor information available to industrial designers who are designing or adapting products, systems, and equipment for the Chinese market. This article presents a framework of human factors that can be used by Western manufacturers in designing and adapting household appliances for the Chinese. This framework is comprised of three components—human physical characteristics, cultural ergonomics, and product‐use environment. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

International equity valuation: the relative importance of country and industry factors versus company‐specific financial reporting information

The relative importance of country‐ and industry‐specified factors vis‐à‐vis company‐specific financial statement–based information in explaining equity valuation multiples in an international setting is examined. Both country‐specific effects via previously identified variables and an indicator variable approach are analysed. While company‐specific factors are predominant in explaining cross‐sectional differences in valuation, country and industry factors have sizable incremental explanatory power over them; the latter are not independent, so their relative importance is influenced by how we adjust for this commonality. Using country indicators provides larger incremental explanatory power than using country‐specific factors, suggesting that previously identified factors may be measured with sizeable error or omitted factors are important.     

The regulatory tax and house price appreciation in Florida

Much attention was given to the soaring price of housing that took place in different parts of the country in the 1990s and the first half of the current decade. Traditional explanations for the increase include rising land values and costs of construction, but a strand of literature, popularized by Glaeser et al. [Glaeser, Edward L., Gyourko, Joseph, Saks, Raven, 2005a. Why have housing prices gone up? National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper #11129; Glaeser, Edward L., Gyourko, Joseph, Saks, Raven, 2005b. Why is manhattan so expensive? Regulation and the rise in housing prices. The Journal of Law and Economics 48(2)], has looked at the role of land use regulations and posits that complying with them imposes a regulatory tax on housing consumers. In this paper, we apply and extend Glaeser and Gyourko’s methodology in order to estimate the regulatory tax on an individual house level in a set of Florida metropolitan areas. Our novel data address some of the quality measurement concerns raised about the Glaeser and Gyourko methodology and allow us to look at the evolution of the regulatory tax over a 10-year period. We find that the tax is an important component of sales price and that as a percentage of sales price has increased in a majority of Florida’s MSAs. In addition, we decompose the overall house price increase into land, materials and regulatory components and find that increasing stringency in the regulatory environment within Florida represents a substantial portion of the run-up in house prices in most metropolitan areas.     

Comments on “Financial Stability and Resolution of Federal Reserve Goal and Implementation Conflicts”

Eisenbeis, Kwan and Wall argue that there is a material conflict between the monetary policy and financial stability mandate of the Federal Reserve. There is a conflict in concept, but the magnitude and importance of the conflict seems small in practice.     

The Squam Lake Report: Observations from two policy professionals

The Squam Lake Report (SLR) contains a host of recommendations to “fix the financial sector.” A credible fix must take on the excessive risk-taking of financial institutions created when uninsured creditors of important financial institutions expect government protection from loss (i.e., the too-big-to-fail problem). The vast majority of SLR’s recommendations constitute important contributions to addressing TBTF; the analysis offered in support of recommendations is sound and brings modern economics and finance to bear. The clarity and focus of SLR offers a model for academics writing for a policy audience.We differ in emphasis with SLR on a few issues, including capital and living wills, but support moving forward with the core of SLR’s recommendations even in these cases.Legislation (i.e., “Dodd-Frank”) seeking to fix the financial sector became law around the time SLR was published. The legislation includes in one form or another the predominance of credible recommendations made to address TBTF, including the majority of those in SLR. The ultimate success of the legislation, however, depends on implementation. We hope the government focuses on a macroprudential regime that reduces fallout from financial spillovers, considers new efforts to measure and tax expected TBTF subsidies, and reconsiders aspects of Dodd-Frank that expand the safety net. Given the stakes, another SLR-caliber effort, this time centered on Dodd-Frank implementation, promises high returns.