A hedonic price model for private properties in Hong Kong

A hedonic model is used to explore the effects of locational, structural, and neighborhood attributes on the price structure of private condominiums in Hong Kong. The regression results and the elasticities of housing attributes obtained from the Box-Cox analysis indicate that the valuation of a property is sensitive to changes in housing traits. Home buyers are rational and are willing (unwilling) to pay for desirable (undesirable) housing attributes and that the valuation of a property is market-driven in Hong Kong.     

The spatial and temporal economic impact of a nuclear energy center—A methodological discourse and application to a southern regional site

A nuclear energy center (NEC) site in South Carolina consisting of twelve 1200 MW nuclear plants clustered in a single location is the subject of an economic-demographic impact analysis. A regional Input-Output model and gravity model are employed to make the analysis. A procedure is developed to allocate the employment, population and income impact to the CCD level within the impact region.     

A sensitivity analysis of expected profitability of pharmaceutical research and development

An indirect effect of increased regulation of the pharmaceutical industry in the USA has been a reduction in the effective patent life for a new drug. The reason is that the average time to develop a new chemical entity and gain regulatory approval far exceeds the time necessary to obtain a patent. The period of patent protection now averages only 10 years compared to the legal life of 17 years. In this article we describe a sensitivity analysis which sheds some light on the relationship between product life and profitability. Based upon a number of important assumptions, we show, for example, that at a 10% real rate of return the average 1970–1976 new drug required 19 years to break even. At an 8% real rate of return, 12 years would permit the firm to break even.     

A simple algebraic estimation procedure for innovation diffusion models of new product acceptance

A simple algebraic estimation procedure is developed to estimate the parameters of diffusion models of new product acceptance. The procedure required knowledge of the occurrence of the point of inflection (based on actual data, analogous products, or management judgments). It is conceptually easy to use and can be implemented by using a hand calculator. Since the procedure does not employ period-by-period time-series diffusion data, it is not expected to provide the best fit to the data as compared to the maximum likelihood and nonlinear least squares estimation procedures. However, the procedure can provide very reasonable estimates about the relative magnitudes of the parameter estimates. In that respect, the procedure can be used to generate good starting values for the maximum likelihood and nonlinear least squares estimation procedures. In the absence of data, using management judgments about the point of inflection, the procedure can be implemented in a decision-support system to develop conditional diffusion curves for a new product. Data from four diverse innovations are used to illustrate the procedure.     

Book Reviews

David Glover and Timothy Jessup (eds) (1999), Indonesia's Fires and Haze: The Cost of Catastrophe, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, and International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, pp. xviii + 149. Cloth: S$59.90; US$36.00; Paper: S$28.90; US$17.00.

Jeffrey A. Winters (1996), Power in Motion: Capital Mobility and the Indonesian State, Cornell University Press, Ithaca NY, pp. xvi + 241. Cloth: US$36.90; A$54.25.

Donald K. Emmerson (ed.) (1999), Indonesia Beyond Suharto: Polity, Economy, Society, Transition, M.E. Sharpe, Armonk NY and London, published in cooperation with The Asia Society, pp. xxviii + 395. Cloth: US$69.95; Paper: US$26.95. Not available in Australia and Southeast Asia.

Tulus Tahi Hamonangan Tambunan (2000), Development of Small-scale Industries during the New Order Government in Indonesia, Ashgate, Aldershot, pp. 218. Cloth: £37.50.

C.H. Kwan, Donna Vandenbrink and Chia Slow Yue (eds) (1998), Coping with Capital Flows in East Asia, Nomura Research Institute, Tokyo, and Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, pp. xiii + 319. Cloth: S$78.90; US$49.90; Paper: S$49.90; US$32.90.

International Labour Organisation (1999), Indonesia: Strategies for Employment-Led Recovery and Reconstruction, Jakarta, pp. 404.