Rental Housing Spot Markets: How Online Information Exchanges Can Supplement Transacted-Rents Data

Traditional US rental housing data sources such as the American Community Survey and the American Housing Survey report on the transacted market—what existing renters pay each month. They do not explicitly tell us about the spot market—i.e., the asking rents that current homeseekers must pay to acquire housing—though they are routinely used as a proxy. This study compares governmental data to millions of contemporaneous rental listings and finds that asking rents diverge substantially from these most recent estimates. Conventional housing data understate current market conditions and affordability challenges, especially in cities with tight and expensive rental markets

The Case Study Method and The Methodology of Business History

In this brief paper I place the case study method within the methodology of business history and in a broader perspectiveof researching business and management. I also illustrate the sue of case studies as a pedagogical tool and itsimplications for the teaching of MBAs in Latin America.Keywords: Business history, method, case study, MBA, Latin Americ

Magnitude, global variation, and temporal development of the COVID-19 infection fatality burden

How deadly is an infection with SARS-CoV-2 worldwide over time? This information is critical for developing and assessing public health responses on the country and global levels. However, imperfect data have been the most limiting factor for estimating the COVID-19 infection fatality burden during the first year of the pandemic. Here we leverage recently emerged compelling data sources and broadly applicable modeling strategies to estimate the crude infection fatality rate (cIFR) in 77 countries from 28 March 2020 to 31 March 2021, using 2.4 million reported deaths and estimated 435 million infections by age, sex, country, and date. The global average of all cIFR estimates is 1.2% (10th to 90th percentile: 0.2% to 2.4%). The cIFR varies strongly across countries, but little within countries over time, and it is often lower for women than men. Cross-country differences in cIFR are largely driven by the age structures of both the general and the truly infected population. While the broad trends and patterns of the cIFR estimates are more robust, we show that their levels are uncertain and sensitive to input data and modeling choices. In consequence, increased efforts at collecting high-quality data are essential for accurately estimating the cIFR, which is a key indicator for better understanding the health and mortality consequences of this pandemic

Adjusting Imperfect Data: Overview and Case Studies

[Excerpt] In this chapter, instead of using the similarity in the cleaned datasets to investigate economic fundamentals, we focus on the differences in the underlying ‘dirty’ data. We describe two data elements that remain fundamentally different across countries, and the extent to which they differ. We then proceed to document some of the problems that affect longitudinally linked administrative data in general, and we describe some of the solutions analysts and statistical agencies have implemented, and some that they did not implement. In each case, we explain the reasons for and against implementing a particular adjustment, and explore, through a select set of case studies, how each adjustment or absence thereof might affect the data. By giving the reader a look behind the scenes, we intend to strengthen the reader’s understanding of the data. Thus equipped, the reader can form his or her own opinion as to the degree of comparability of the findings across the different countries

The valuation of market information from livestock selling complexes

The efficient operation of livestock markets is contingent upon producers accessing relevant market information which assists adjustment to production and distribution. This article provides an analysis of the value of market information gleaned by producers attending public livestock auctions. The article uses the Travel Cost Method to quantify the value of this information and notes the limitations of applying the Travel Cost Method in this context.Agribusiness, Livestock Production/Industries,

Imperfect Knowledge of Pension Plan Type

This paper investigates the reasons for discrepancies between the pension plan type reported by respondents to the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and pension plan type obtained from documents produced by their employers, called Summary Plan Descriptions (SPDs). The analysis suggests the discrepancies are sizable and are mainly due to misreports by respondents. Discrepancies between respondent and firm reports of plan type are first documented for different years and from different data sources. Changes over time in respondent and firm reports are analyzed for those who say their plans did not change. Plan type from payroll data produced by Watson Wyatt, a pension consulting company, is examined and compared to respondent reports for employees covered by Watson Wyatt plans. The Watson Wyatt payroll data report plan type without error, and yet we find the patterns of discrepancies between respondent and firm provided data are the same as for the HRS employer and respondent data. We also explore other evidence gathered by the HRS in the course of interviews and various experiments. Our findings that errors are mainly the result of misreporting by respondents, together with findings from experiments, suggest a number of changes in survey design that can help to reduce reporting error. They also suggest that models of retirement and saving behavior should allow for imperfect knowledge by decision makers.

The Trick is to Live: Is the Estate Tax Social Security for the Rich?

Because estate tax liability usually depends on how long one lives, it implicitly provides annuity income. In the absence of annuity markets, lump-sum estate taxation may be used to achieve the first-best solution for individuals with a sufficiently strong bequest motive. Calculations of the annuity embedded in the U.S. estate tax show that people with $10 million of assets may be effectively receiving more than$100,000 a year financed at actuarially fair rates by their tax payments. According to my calibrations, the insurance effect reduces the marginal cost of funds (MCF) for the estate tax by as much as 30% and the resulting MCF is within the range of estimates for the marginal cost of funds for the income tax.