Are Minorities or Minority Neighborhoods More Likely to Get Low Appraisals?

We empirically examine the role of appraisal in the residential mortgage lending process—in particular, the incidence, consequences, and determinants of appraisal below contract purchase price. Using the Boston Federal Reserve Study data set, we find that, as expected, low appraised value significantly increases the probability of mortgage loan application rejection. We find no evidence that low appraised value is related to census tract racial composition, an important finding given the history of the appraisal industry; however, low appraised value is related to proxies for neighborhood quality. Moreover, properties securing adjustable rate mortgages, condominiums, and properties purchased by African American buyers show an increased probability of low appraisal, though the race effect result is highly sensitive to model specification.     

Note on the behavior of residual security returns for winner and loser portfolios

Portfolios are formed directly and exclusively upon residual return behavior in the months prior to portfolio formation. The empirical behavior of residual return in the post-formation period is then examined. Based upon the overall time period studied (1932 through 1977), the average residual return is essentially zero in the months subsequent to the portfolio formation. However, systematic (i.e., non-zero) residual behavior is observed in particular years. Moreover, the results suggest the possibility that ‘abnormal’ returns observed after certain events (e.g., earnings announcements) may at least in part reflect more general phenomena associated with being ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ in terms of residual returns in the months previous to the event.     

Industrialization, Female Labor Force Participation, and the Modern Division of Labor by Sex

We examine the effect of industrialization on female labor force participation for 62 countries. Two hypotheses are tested: the emancipation hypothesis and the U-shaped hypothesis. Our results support the U-shaped hypothesis insofar as shifts in the distribution of occupations in early industrialization decrease female labor force participation by removing women from agriculture while excluding them from occupations in manufacturing and management. We further suggest that different paths to industrialization may have different effects on female labor force participation.     

The value of a neighborhood street with reference to the cul-de-sac

This article provides empirical evidence from Halifax, Nova Scotia, confirming the view that the type of neighborhood street can affect home values. The study identifies two categories of streets-the cul-de-sac and the grid-and measures their impacts on home value. The hypothesis that the cul-de-sac would attract premium values was supported by the study. In this study, the cul-de-sac generated a 29 percent price premium over the grid street pattern. The study concludes with a discussion of planning and development implications.     

On the first passage time processes of brownian motion with positive drift

Abstract

The first passage time processes of Brownian Motion with positive drift are of considerable importance, particularly in life-testing or life-time situation as a natural consequence. It has been used in sequential analysis, e.g. finding the best test for testing the hypothesis of no drift versus the alternative of positive drift in a Brownian Motion. Various properties of the first passage time process of Brownian Motion with positive drift are reviewed and several new properties are investigated. In short, γ-variation properties, characterization, and behaviour at infinity are discussed.     

Multiple Listing Service Subsidies and Economic Efficiency

In an earlier article in this journal, Sefton and Yavas (1995) concluded that subsidizing a monopoly multiple listing service (MLS) can be efficient when the curvature of the representative consumer's demand function leads to overshifting. This paper extends their analysis to a multiple-consumer demand model. It shows that, for the generalized demand configuration considered here, in general, there is no Pareto superior MLS subsidy supportable by nondiscriminatory MLS consumer taxes when the Pareto ranking is imposed without the Hicks–Kaldor compensation principle.     

On the asymptotic normality of some unbiased estimates

Abstract

Let X _m(n) =(X _j , n, ..., X _{j m,n} ) be a subset of observations of a sample X_n = (X_1n X _2n ... , X _nn ). Here the X_jn 'S in Xn are not necessarily independent or identically distributed, and m(n) mayor may not tend to infinity as n tends to infinity. Suppose the joint density function h_n =h_n (x _m (n); θ) of the X _jn 's in Xm(n) is completely specified except the values of the parameters in the parameter vector θ = (θ1 θ2, ... , θ _k ), where θ belongs to a non-degenerate open subset H of the k-dimensional Euclidean space Rk and k?m(n).