Reit Organizational Structure and Operating Characteristics

As a corporate organizational form, real estate investment trusts (REITs) fall into two competing property management structures: internally advised and externally advised. This study tests the hypothesis that, due to their superior ability to resolve conflicts of interests between REIT management and shareholders, internally-advised REITs will dominate the externally-advised REITs. We also test the hypothesis that larger REITs will come to dominate the market and find support for this hypothesis. The results confirm that externally-advised REITs are responding to market pressure to conform to the performance standards set by newer, internally-advised REITs.

Does it pay to read your junk mail? evidence of the effect of advertising on home equity credit choices

We examine the effect of direct mail (commonly referred to as junk mail) advertising on individual financial decisions by studying consumer choice of home equity debt contracts. Consistent with the theoretical predictions, we find that financial variables underlying the relative pricing of debt contracts are the leading factors explaining consumers home equity debt choice. Furthermore, we also find that the intended use of debt proceeds significantly impacts consumer choice. However, when we study a subset of consumers who received a direct mail solicitation for a particular debt contract (fixed versus adjustable-rate), we find evidence that the relative pricing variables are less relevant in explaining consumer contract choice, even though they were presented with a full menu of debt contracts. Thus, our results are consistent with the persuasive view of advertising.Home equity loans ; Advertising

Determinants of automobile loan default and prepayment

The authors examine whether a borrower’s choice of automobile reveals information about future loan performance. They find that loans on most luxury automobiles have a higher probability of prepayment, while loans on most economy automobiles have a lower probability of default, even when holding traditional risk factors, such as income and credit score, constant.Automobiles - Prices

Credit Rationing in the U.S. Mortgage Market: Evidence from Variation in FHA Market Shares

This paper examines the nature of mortgage credit rationing across geographic markets and time. Particular attention is paid to the response of conventional mortgage supply to higher risk conditions associated with regional recessions. We develop a series of four indirect tests based on the spatial variation of the FHA share of mortgages, both endorsements and applications, as well as FHA and conventional rejection rates. Results of these four tests indicate that conventional mortgage underwriting criteria do not become more flexible and may even become more demanding when local economic conditions deteriorate. This result indicates the use of non-price credit rationing in the mortgage market and suggests a special role for FHA-insured mortgages as a mechanism for maintaining mortgage credit supply in declining housing markets

Photonic-Doppler-Velocimetry, Paraxial-Scalar Diffraction Theory and Simulation

Author Institution: Lawrence Livermore National Laborator

Pricing Upward-Only Adjusting Leases

This paper presents a stochastic pricing model of a unique, path-dependent lease instrument common in the United Kingdom and numerous commonwealth countries, the upward-only adjusting lease. In this lease, the rental rate is fixed at lease commencement but will be reset to the market rate at predetermined intervals (usually every five years) if it exceeds the contract rent. Numerical results indicate how the initial coupon rate should be set relative to that on a symmetric up-and-downward adjusting variable rate' lease under various economic conditions (level of real interest rates and expected drift and volatility of the underlying rental service flow). We also consider the calculation of effective rents when free rent periods are given during either a market collapse or a steady-state drift.

Differences in Dropout Rates as a Function of High School Size for Students in Poverty: A Texas Multiyear, Statewide Study

Child poverty in the United States, with regard to student achievement, has grave challenges for the children who face poverty (Scott & Pressman, 2013). Not only is living in poverty associated with lower academic achievement, but student poverty is also associated with lower rates of school completion (Borg, Borg, & Stranahan, 2012; Cooper & Crosnoe, 2007; Kena et al., 2015). Consequentially, students who do not complete high school are more likely to (a) serve time in prison, (b) need government assistance, and/or ( c) die at an earlier age (Messacar & Oreopoulos, 2013). With the increasing number of children who are living in poverty, child poverty is an issue that needs to be at the forefront of the educational agenda (Tienken, 2012)