Foresight education in Australia—Time for a hybrid model?

This paper revisits the original design parameters of what was a ‘new’ Masters in Strategic Foresight that commenced at Swinburne University in 2001. It explores which of the original purposes and assumptions have stood the test of time over the course of a decade and analyses how the course has evolved, partly through design and partly through necessity. The paper reflects on the primary contribution of the Masters teaching experience and proposes that encouraging the students to develop philosophical ‘literacy’ operated to develop both the practicality of their use of methods and the capacity of their leadership and critical thinking. A secondary contribution reiterates the importance of ‘place’ and the necessity of ‘sufficient time’ for adult development to occur.     

A Comparative Study of the Benefits of Applying Target Cost Contracts Between South Australia and Hong Kong

This article aims to identify and analyze the key benefits of adopting Guaranteed Maximum Price and Target Cost Contracts (GMP/TCC) over and above the traditional lump‐sum contractual arrangement through an empirical questionnaire survey conducted in South Australia and compared with the findings in Hong Kong. The Mann‐Whitney U Test indicated differences in perception between the two groups of respondents on the majority of the identified benefits. The study has provided an in‐depth understanding of the perceived benefits of the GMP/TCC scheme, hence leading to a wider application of those alternative integrated procurement strategies in both regions for reference by the construction community at large.     

Bank Consolidations and Minority Neighborhoods

This paper explores the relationship between neighborhood racial composition and the level of banking services. We use unique census tract-level data on banking services and neighborhood characteristics in Alameda County, California, from points in time before and after the recent wave of bank consolidations to eliminate as well as possible the potential for omitted variables bias that could plague cross-sectional study of the issue. Using a variety of specifications and numerous sensitivity checks, we find that minority neighborhoods (particularly black neighborhoods) are less likely to have banking services, and are more likely to lose services during bank consolidations.     

Telematics: Decision Time for Detroit

With implications for navigation, safety, entertainment and vehicle maintenance as well as regulation and infrastructure investment in roads, telematics has the potential to transform driving more than any other innovation for decades. In the already well-established Asian telematics industry, revenue tends to come from extra charges at the time of vehicle-sale, with most subsequent services provided free. The US model has evolved differently, with much of the cost of telematics hardware and software subsidized in the initial vehicle sale price and revenue coming from services used. The decision to invest in telematics is therefore riskier in the US. This article first briefly summarizes the potential of telematics. It then analyzes the investment risks, particularly for automakers. It concludes with recommendations on how the US auto industry can minimize risk and make the most of the opportunities.     

Canadian Inter-City House Price Differentials

The purpose of this paper is to identify the sources of intercity house price differentials in Canada. The results indicate that demand factors are important explanatory variables; a 1% increase in the income of households raises house prices by 1.11%; higher rates of anticipated inflation result in higher house prices as households increase their demand for real assets such as housing during inflationary periods; and finally, the fraction of households that are non-family households is positively associated with house prices. These results are in agreement with those of other countries.     

THE EFFECT OF A SINKING FUND ON THE REOFFERING YIELDS OF NEW PUBLIC UTILITY BONDS

In this study, empirical tests are conducted to determine the impact of a sinking fund on reoffering yields of a sample of new public utility bonds sold between January 1977 and March 1982. The findings of the regression analysis are consistent with the hypotheses that the value of the sinking fund varies with the default risk of the issuer and with market expectations of future interest rate movements, and that the sinking fund improves the liquidity of a bond issue.     

Bank reputation in the private debt market

We examine the impact of lead arrangers' reputation on the design of loan contracts such as spread and fees charged. Controlling for the non-randomness of the lender–borrower match (self-selection bias), we find that the reputation of top tier arrangers leads to higher spreads, and that top tier arrangers retain larger fractions of their loans in their syndicates. These larger spreads are especially pronounced for borrowers without credit rating that have the most to gain from the certification assumed by virtue of a loan contract with a top tier arranger. This certification channel differs from the one found in public markets, where certification leads to a reduced spread offered to the best clients. These differences between public and private markets can be explained by differences in the way they operate and are structured. Interestingly, the effect is strongest for transactions done after the changes in the banking regulations (including the Riegle-Neal Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act of 1994) that led to significant consolidations in the banking industry, including among the largest commercial banks.