Historical resources, uncertainty and preservation values: An application of option and optimal stopping models

State agencies and private historical organizations frequently acquire historical sites with unknown characteristics. In this paper, we provide two approaches to evaluating the preservation decision. In the first approach, we show that a historical site which is not permanently preserved provides citizens with a certain flexibility whose value can be measured as an option on the maximum between the current real estate value and the preservation value. In the second approach, we assume that the organization has an infinite planning horizon and chooses the optimal sale date. Using a contingent valuation estimate of the public's willingness to pay for preservation of a specific historical site and the real estate price, we provide simulation values of the preservation option value and the optimal stopping rule.     

FUNDAMENTALS OF ACCOUNTING/ECONOMIC/FINANCIAL EVALUATION

A major assumption in inventory theory in general and in the area of price changes in particular is that the demand for an item is fixed. It is possible that the reduction in price may result in an increase in demand. In fact this is a reason for the sale offered by many organizations. In this paper we use the familiar net present value approach commonly used in financial decision making to analyze and formulate optimal inventory ordering policies. This approach is more accurate and straight-forward than the average annual cost method that is usually used for comparison of alternative inventory policies.     

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.     

The Adoption of Consolidated Accounting in Great Britain

Existing literature suggests that the principle of consolidated accounting gained widespread acceptance in Britain during the 1930s. The study reveals that there was little use of consolidated accounting in practice prior to 1945. The prolonged divergence between practice and opinion as to best practice is discussed with reference to both the divorce of ownership from control and the changing perceptions of the nature of shareholders. Finally the widespread adoption of consolidated accounting prior to the Companies Act 1948 is discussed with reference to the impending legislation to enforce group accounting, changing perceptions of the social obligations associated with corporate accounting and several specific events in the corporate environment that may have created incentives to provide consolidated accounts.     

Networks and innovation: sustainable technologies in Scottish social housing

The process of innovation often involves the participation of several firms and organisations in a network. This paper improves our understanding of the role of inter-organisational relations in such networks. It assesses how sustainable technologies in the Scottish social housing sector are introduced and diffused. Drawing on detailed interviews, the paper shows that despite policy initiatives by the National Housing Agency to encourage sustainable technologies and processes, a number of factors related to the organisational structure of the construction industry militate against the achievement of this objective. The different aims of the parties involved in the construction chain may not be easily reconciled and traditional approaches to construction may reinforce these differences, hindering efforts to introduce innovation.     

Why has Irish Social Partnership Survived?

The present system of social partnership in Ireland is in its twentieth year. A range of explanations have been put forward to explain why social partnership has been so durable even though it does not possess the institutional endowments often considered necessary to sustain tripartite industrial relations arrangements. Although these accounts are considered to have merits, this article suggests that they also suffer from a range of weaknesses. The article suggests that the longevity of the social partnership regime is a result of it being part of an unorthodox system of institutional complementarities that triggered a spectacular period of economic and employment growth.     

Clinical negligence in the UK: throwing the baby out with the bath water?

As the total cost of clinical negligence claims has grown in the UK in recent years, calls for reform have resurfaced. The government now plans a White Paper on the subject next years. This paper assesses some of the economic arguments surrounding such reform. It suggests that the principle of negligence performs a useful economic function, that there is sum uncertainty surrounding the precise costs of the UK's clinical negligence, and that costs of alternative systems may sometimes be larger than they first appear.     

Decomposing hospital productivity changes, 1985–1988: A nonparametric Malmquist approach

Annual data on U.S. hospitals from 1985–1988 are evaluated by ownership type—profit, nonprofit, state and local government, and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)—for changes in hospital productivity over time. Distance functions are used to measure Malmquist indices of productivity change, which are then decomposed into indices of efficiency change and technology change. In contrast to previous studies using this approach, we allow for variable returns to scale and use both input and output orientations. We find that changes in technology dominate changes in inefficiency in determining changes in productivity.