Alternative Mortgage Instruments, Qualification Constraints and the Demand for Housing: An Empirical Analysis

Government-guaranteed mortgage loans (GFRMs) and adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) were introduced to make payment to income (PTI) and loan-to-value (LTV) qualification conventions less restrictive. This paper analyzes the effect of GFRMs and ARMs on the demand for housing. Using a large national data set for the 1988 to 1989 period, we employ a two-stage procedure to estimate housing demand. In the first stage, a multinomial logit model estimates the probability of choosing an FRM, ARM or GFRM. Predicted values from the logit are used to construct user costs and estimate housing demand. Using the model estimates, we simulate demand under four different mortgage availability regimes: FRM, FRM and GFRM, FRM and ARM and all three. These simulations indicate that GFRMs, by relaxing LTV constraints, increase housing demand by approximately 6.2% relative to the FRM regime; the addition of ARMs, by relaxing both PTI and LTV constraints, raises demand by an additional 6%, for a total of 12.2% with inclusion of all alternatives.     

Implementing: Alternatives,costs, and benefits

This essay provides a conceptual framework for thinking about the problem of implementing (i.e. getting things done) as part of the larger process of managing. We shall isolate some alternative approaches to that implementing problem and briefly examine the underlying beliefs, the accompanying technologies, and the attendant costs/benefits of those alternatives. We shall then make a few suggestions about appropriate alternatives for the decade ahead.     

A causal analysis of environment-reward-satisfaction linkages for the sales representative

A causal model that postulated linkages of organizational environmental variables, reward variables, and satisfaction for sales representatives was investigated. Findings indicated that the usual assumptions concerning an organization's inability to contribution to intrinsic rewards may not hold.     

Estimating the covariance matrix for regression models with ar(1) errors and lagged dependent variables

We propose a simple procedure, based on an artificial linear regression, for consistently estimating the covariance matrix of the parameter estimates for linear regression models with serially correlated errors and lagged dependent variables.     

Shape up or ship out? Employment discrimination against the overweight

Increasing health care insurance costs have focused employer attention on health-related factors in employee recruitment and retention. One such factor is weight. Employers have argued that overweight employees are absent more often, are more susceptible to on-the-job injuries and illnesses, and are less productive than others. They have also contended that overweight employees present poor role models and may cause “negative reactions” by others. Although no federal law addresses employee obesity specifically, a number of laws prohibiting other forms of discrimination present potentially litigious situations. This article reviews the background and legal framework of discrimination against the overweight and offers some guidelines for avoiding such charges.     

Rates of Return on Art Objects, the Fisher Hypothesis, and Inflationary Expectations

After surveying the evolution of the major methodologies in inflation hedging, this study presents a unique methodology that uses principal component factor analysis to separate the effects of variability in the real rate of return from the nominal rate of return. This approach allows the effects of both anticipated and unanticipated inflation on rates of return to be estimated more precisely. This study finds that art objects perform well in terms of average real rates of return and that the market, though not perfect, integrates anticipated inflation into the rates of return. However, unanticipated inflation is very often negatively related to the rates of return.     

Institutional investors, antitakeover defenses and success of hostile takeover bids

In this study we investigate the question of whether institutional investors enhance or reduce efficiency in the market for corporate control. In particular, given unequivocal evidence that target stockholders gain in successful takeover bids, we investigate the impact of institutional ownership in target firms on the adoption of the type of antitakeover defense as well as the outcome of takeover bids. We find that target firms are more likely to adopt value-reducing antitakeover defenses and successfully thwart takeover bids when a higher percentage of target common stock is owned by ‘pressure-indeterminate’ investors (investment counsel firms in particular). On the other hand, the probability of a successful takeover rises with the ownership of both ‘pressure-sensitive’ and ‘pressure-resistant’ investors. The above findings support the view that institutional investors do not play a homogeneous role in the market for corporate control.