Housing Statistics: Some Sources and Some Limitations

There are presently more statistics on the size, composition, and quality of the housing stock than ever before. This article discusses some of these sources and some of their limitations. The number and diversity of housing statistics, however, can overwhelm the user, and a model or framework is needed to keep the analyst on target. The same is true of a discussion of housing statistics. The framework in Kristof's study of housing needs for the National Commission on Urban Problems is used to limit the discussion to significant housing statistics from which any type of housing analysis can be constructed.     

Capital income taxation under majority voting with aging population

An old person typically has a mixed attitude toward the welfare-state benefits, when they are financed by capital taxes, because her income derives mostly from capital. We develop a majority-voting model which focuses on the effect of aging on this dilemma. Surprisingly, the theory predicts that tax rates on capital income could actually rise as the population ages, even though older individuals would be expected to own more capital than the young and thus vote against higher taxes. We then confront the key prediction of the model with panel data for ten European Union countries, over the period 1970–1996. We investigate the asymmetric effect of aging on the taxation of capital and labor. The implications of the model are shown to be consistent with panel data. JEL no. H0, H5, P1     

The Control Function in the Hospitality Industry

The suggestion is made that the role of the control function in the hospitality industry is not always as all-encompassing or as efficient as it could and should be. It is further suggested that the control function is not just to be seen as a necessary aspect to counter malfeasance of any business but has an extremely useful planning aid function to fulfil. This article endeavours to outline how controls have developed, examining the role of the control function. In so doing, it seeks to highlight a number of points relating to this role.     

The Efficacy of Official Intervention in the Foreign Exchange Market in Malawi

Abstract: This paper analyses the effectiveness of foreign exchange market interventions by the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM). We use a GARCH (1, 1) model to simultaneously estimate the effect of intervention on the mean and volatility of the Malawi kwacha. Results from the GARCH model indicate that net sales of US dollars by the RBM depreciate, rather than appreciate, the kwacha. Empirically, this implies the RBM ‘leans against the wind’, that is, the RBM intervenes to reduce, but not reverse, exchange rate depreciation. On the other hand, results for the GARCH model for the post‐2003 period indicate the RBM intervention in the market stabilizes the kwacha. In general, results for the entire study period show that the RBM interventions have been associated with increased exchange rate volatility, with the only exception being the post‐2003 period. The implication of this finding is that intervention can only have a temporary influence on the exchange rate.     

The effect of the Federal Reserve interest rate policies on the returns of commercial banks stocks

This study uses a sample of 272 banks to examine the effect of the Federal Reserve's interest rate change on the banks’ stocks. For that purpose, two events of change in interest rate were selected. The event s tudy is used to determine abnormal returns, which are then explained by a set of financial strategies in a multiple regression model. The results seem to imply that the effect of the Federal Reserve interest rates action depends on both the magnitude of the rate change and the expected versus the actual change.     

One-Way Treaty with the World: The U.S. Withholding Tax and the Netherlands Antilles

This paper chronicles the experiences of the U.S. withholding tax on interest income. In 1984, the U.S. repealed its 30 percent withholding tax on interest income paid to foreign persons or corporations. While the tax raised little revenue, it had imposed substantial implicit costs on U.S. corporate borrowers. Since, prior to repeal, domestically issued bonds were subject either to withholding or strict information requirements, many U.S. multinationals raised funds through foreign finance subsidiaries, primarily in the Netherlands Antilles, to avoid the tax. Although the withholding tax rate was effectively reduced to zero in the U.S., this paper demonstrates that interest flows were highly sensitive to their after-tax cost.     

The Financial Value of Cultural, Heritage and Scientific Collections: A Public Management Necessity

The Australian community devotes substantial resources to building and maintaining public collections, such as its public museums and galleries. There has been comment in this journal and elsewhere on the case for placing a financial value on cultural, heritage and scientific collections. In this paper the framework proposed by Carnegie and Wolnizer (1995) is extended to show that the valuation of the service flows that come from public collections is not only feasible; it is also desirable from a public management perspective. The paper presents the case for valuing public collections and analyses alternative valuation procedures. It concludes that the valuation of public collections is an essential component of any sound system of management of the resources applied to the running of activities such as public museums and art galleries.     

Fair value accounting,fragile bank balance sheets and crisis: A model

A topic of recent interest in accounting research has been the investigation of the role of fair value accounting (FVA) in the global financial crisis. This research focused on finding a link during the crisis time-period and often states that “accounting is only a messenger”. The model presented in this paper emphasises finding the link before the crisis and “accounting as money.” Use is made of an accounting model of the economy due to the inability of standard models of monetary transmission to incorporate global financial crisis characteristics such as feedback effects, systemic risk and the centrality of the financial sector in the crisis. The model shows FVA in banks to be an accelerator that amplifies the financial cycle upswing. Feedback effects noted in the model include changes in the demand for financial instruments and changes in demand in the real economy. Minsky-like, crisis is shown to be endogenous to the model, working through the fragility of balance sheets in the real sector as well as in the financial sector. Bank balance sheet fragility is caused by bad capital driving out good capital, banks reaching for yield and the inversion of the yield curve. The model shows that the practice of not meeting rising credit demand with increasing credit supply is an essential control mechanism in the financial cycle.     

The technology adoption life cycle attractor: Understanding the dynamics of high-tech markets

Unlike more stable industries, high-tech firms must constantly be in a strategy development phase. These companies are in desperate need of assistance in strategy formulation. This paper introduces a quantitative (rather than subjective) approach to help high-tech firms to understand their position in the technology adoption life cycle using some of the principles and tools of Chaos and Complexity theories. This approach is demonstrated by using data sets of three case studies in the hard drive, microprocessor, and server high-tech industries.