Discrimination in Metropolitan Housing Markets: Phase 3 - Native Americans

This paper documents the results of a pilot paired testing program to examine the treatment of Native Americans by real estate agents in rental housing markets in three states and owner-occupied housing markets in one state. The study finds that the level of discrimination experienced by Native Americans in rental markets exceed those experienced by Hispanics, Blacks, and Asian-Americans.

The impacts of new neighborhoods on poor families: evaluating the policy implications of the moving to opportunity demonstration

This paper was presented at the conference "Policies to Promote Affordable Housing," cosponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and New York University's Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, February 7, 2002. It was part of Session 3: The Impact of Housing on People and Places.Housing ; Housing policy ; Poverty ; Demography

Discrimination in Metropolitan Housing Markets Phase II: Asians and Pacific Islanders

This report documents the results of a an 11-city paired testing study by the Department of Housing and Urban Development of housing discrimination against Asian- Americans and Pacific Islanders. The study shows that one out of every five Asians and Pacific Islanders attempting to buy or rent a home are discriminated against, a rate similar to that of African Americans and Hispanics.

The Role of Auctions in Allocating Public Resources

This paper provides an economic framework within which to consider the effectiveness and limitations of auction markets. The paper looks at the use of auctions as a policy instrument and the effects of auction design on consumer interests, the efficient allocation of resources, and industry competitiveness.Australia; Research; Ascending-bid auction; Auctions; Bidders; Conservation funds; Descending-bid auction; Dutch auction; English auction; Environmental Management; First-price sealed-bid auction; Infrastructure; Markets; Oral auction; Outcry auction; Pollutant emission permits; Power supply contracts; Public resources; Radio- spectrum; Second-price sealed-bid auction Spectrum licences; Vickrey auction; Water rights;

Pre-letting of office developments : a guide for occupiers

‘Pre-letting’ is an agreement between a potential tenant and a developer to lease a building whose construction has not yet started. Benefits typically flow to both parties from a pre-letting, however, opportunities to pre-let are limited by place, time, market forces and the negotiation strength of both parties. This research bulletin, which has been produced jointly with Northumbria University, involved interviewing 30 office occupiers and developers who have been involved in prelet agreements throughout the UK. It examines the pros and cons of taking a pre-let, the typical lease terms, and design issues. It also looks at where and when pre-lettings are most likely to occur

Is Crime Contagious?

endogenous effects, social multiplier, arrests, social experiment

Tax Effects on Work Activity, Industry Mix and Shadow Economy Size: Evidence from Rich-Country Comparisons

Guided by a simple theory of task assignment and time allocation, we investigate the long run response to national differences in tax rates on labor income, payrolls and consumption. The theory implies that higher tax rates reduce work time in the market sector, increase the size of the shadow economy, alter the industry mix of market activity, and twist labor demand in a way that amplifies negative effects on market work and concentrates effects on the less skilled. We also describe conditions whereby cross-country OLS regressions yield unbiased estimates of the total effect of taxes, inclusive of indirect effects that work through government spending responses to tax revenues. Regressions on rich-country samples in the mid 1990s indicate that a unit standard deviation tax rate difference of 12.8 percentage points leads to 122 fewer market work hours per adult per year, a drop of 4.9 percentage points in the employment-population ratio, and a rise in the shadow economy equal to 3.8 percent of GDP. It also leads to 10 to 30 percent lower employment and value added shares in (a) retail trade and repairs, (b) eating, drinking and lodging, and (c) a broader industry group that includes wholesale and motor trade.Taxes and work activity; time allocation; non-market production; industry mix; shadow economy

A Property Rights Approach to Preserving Subsidized Multifamily Rural Housing with Cooperatives

Community/Rural/Urban Development, Agribusiness,

Land Reform and Rural Households in the Northern Uplands of Vietnam

This paper is the abstract of my doctoral dissertation entitled “The Impact of Land Reform on Rural Households in the Northern Uplands of Vietnam” at the Justus Liebig University of Giessen, Germany under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Siegfried Bauer. The study examined the impact of the recent land reform in Vietnam on the economy of rural households in the Northern Uplands of Vietnam. It was found that the land reform has positive impact on three important aspects of rural household’s economy, namely crop production, land market participation, and afforestation. However, further improvement in terms of private land rights is needed for a more sustainable development in the region.Land reform, panel data, crop production, land markets, afforestation, economic incentives, rural households

Informality and the Development and Demolition of Urban Villages in the Chinese Peri-urban Area

The fate of Chinese urban villages (chengzhongcun) has recently attracted both research and policy attention. Two important unaddressed questions are: what are the sources of informality in otherwise orderly Chinese cities; and, will village redevelopment policy eliminate informality in the Chinese city? Reflecting on the long-established study of informal settlements and recent research on informality, it is argued that the informality in China has been created by the dual urban-rural land market and land management system and by an underprovision of migrant housing. The redevelopment of chengzhongcun is an attempt to eliminate this informality and to create more governable spaces through formal land development; but since it fails to tackle the root demand for unregulated living and working space, village redevelopment only leads to the replication of informality in more remote rural villages, in other urban neighbourhoods and, to some extent, in the redeveloped neighbourhoods. © 2012 Urban Studies Journal Limited