An Australian Housing Model*

A 13-equation model is developed which captures the essential economic features of the housing industry in Australia. The importance of speculative builders and investors is recognized. Empirical results are presented for two key equations. The asset price of existing dwellings (including land) owned by persons is explained by a portfolio choice or generalized asset adjustment model. This asset price then feeds in as a determinant of new private construction, along with construction costs of new dwellings, financial variables and a measure of demand-supply imbalance.     

Relationships between consumer characteristics and do-it-yourself behaviour (do-it-yourself activity)

As an exploratory venture, this study was developed to identify variables related to the frequency of different types of do-it-yourself maintenance and repair activities, including homes, cars, and major appliances. The findings showed that the extent of do-it-yourself activity was related to gender, age, and education. Other results provide insight for further research.     

Big Bad Banks? The Winners and Losers from Bank Deregulation in the United States

We assess the impact of bank deregulation on the distribution of income in the United States. From the 1970s through the 1990s, most states removed restrictions on intrastate branching, which intensified bank competition and improved bank performance. Exploiting the cross‐state, cross‐time variation in the timing of branch deregulation, we find that deregulation materially tightened the distribution of income by boosting incomes in the lower part of the income distribution while having little impact on incomes above the median. Bank deregulation tightened the distribution of income by increasing the relative wage rates and working hours of unskilled workers.     

Risk Assessments and Risk Premiums in the Eurodollar Market

Increasing awareness of the potential risks involved in lending to heavily indebted governments focuses attention on credit pricing in the Eurodollar market. This paper utilizes a recent survey of country-by-country risk assessments as perceived by lenders to show that a systematic relationship exists between these assessments and interest rates in the Euromarket. The relationship is derived from an underlying model described in the paper. The estimated parameters verify a number of hypotheses, providing insights on the loss rates lenders expect to incur in case of default.