THE LONDON CONGESTION CHARGE AND PROPERTY PRICES: AN EVALUATION OF THE IMPACT ON PROPERTY PRICES INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE ZONE

Congestion charging in London was introduced in February 2003 to reduce traffic levels in the centre of London. Postcode sector level property prices for sectors both inside and outside the zone are investigated under the premise that the benefits of transport innovation can be captured by property prices. If housing markets are efficient, residential property prices should capture all the benefits and costs to commuters that a location offers. The aim of this investigation is to firstly compare property prices inside and outside the congestion charging zone, and secondly to measure the sensitivity of house prices to distance from the zone boundary both inside and outside the zone. The main analysis is based on the quasi-experimental differences-in-differences approach. It is found that the gap between property price inside and outside the zone has actually reduced as a result of congestion charging. Also, after the implementation of the congestion charge, the sensitivity of house prices with respect to distance from the boundary has fallen for sectors inside the zone relative to sectors outside the zone.Congestion Charging; Property Prices; Difference in differences; Transport Innovations

A study of curriculum leaders' selves and attitudes toward action research in the postmodern age

Curriculum leaders are key agents of the recent curriculum reforms in Hong Kong. They are appointed in individual schools and their role is to make sure different reform measures and policies are functioning well and by and large leading to quality school curriculum. To convey these measures and policies to schools and schoolteachers, a key approach recommended by the authorities is to engage in action research as a means of professional and curriculum development. The purpose of this thesis is (i) to explore the attitudes which Hong Kong curriculum leaders have toward action research and (іі) to examine their perceptions of self which are formulated as a response to the education and curriculum reforms, in an era characterized by the term "postmodern". From a postmodern perspective the whole project of reform and its means-end logic can be seen as modernist, for it is assumed there is a "promising” vehicle for whole-person development and emancipation that will deliver predetermined outcomes. However from a postmodern perspective, norms are not to be found in foundations. To curriculum leaders, there is always the conflict between the official expectations of government bodies/policy makers and the actual problems they find in work. Thus, their selves are in danger of getting more and more fragile, more and more fragmented. This thesis provides research evidence not only of the attitudes curriculum leaders have toward action research, but also how they speak, think and act toward the project of education, how they perceive the critiques and merits of the education and curriculum reform, and how they conceptualize and put forth themselves as leaders for curriculum change. Methods used in this thesis include: first a survey research administering the Attitudes Toward Research instrument (ATR) with a large cohort of curriculum leaders who participated in one of the training programmes that aimed for advancing their work, and second an in-depth exploration, through a dialogical method of informal chats and interviews, with five of them. Survey results suggested: (i) curriculum leaders in general favoured using research in their work; (іі) apart from what the policy makers promoted as a "communal" sense of research significance for professional development, practitioners were concerned too with a "pedagogical" sense of research significance (which fits well with postmodern thinking) for providing individual solutions for teaching and learning challenges; and (ііі) policy makers need to have an alternative, wider concept of the purpose of action research, to empower curriculum leaders to believe more their own efforts of understanding and criticizing the present education context and to develop their own approach to reform. Informal chats and interviews suggested: (i) although the five curriculum leaders were very different in their life experience and perceptions of self working as curriculum leaders, they all encountered difficulties in leading curriculum change in schools and classrooms; and (іі) curriculum leadership was difficult. In order to spread leadership practices among the school, it is necessary for school leaders, as well as curriculum developers and policy makers, to disseminate curriculum information to schools and the wider public in terms of free and rich communication. The thesis makes recommendations on how reform policy might be conveyed to schools, curriculum leaders and teachers in a postmodern age

Tightly bound excitons in monolayer WSe2

Exciton binding energy and excited states in monolayers of tungsten diselenide (WSe2) are investigated using the combined linear absorption and two-photon photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy. The exciton binding energy is determined to be 0.37eV, which is about an order of magnitude larger than that in III-V semiconductor quantum wells and renders the exciton excited states observable even at room temperature. The exciton excitation spectrum with both experimentally determined one- and two-photon active states is distinct from the simple two-dimensional (2D) hydrogenic model. This result reveals significantly reduced and nonlocal dielectric screening of Coulomb interactions in 2D semiconductors. The observed large exciton binding energy will also have a significant impact on next-generation photonics and optoelectronics applications based on 2D atomic crystals.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures, to appear in PR

THE LONDON CONGESTION CHARGE AND PROPERTY PRICES: AN EVALUATION OF THE IMPACT ON PROPERTY PRICES INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE ZONE

Congestion charging in London was introduced in February 2003 to reduce traffic levels in the centre of London. Postcode sector level property prices for sectors both inside and outside the zone are investigated under the premise that the benefits of transport innovation can be captured by property prices. If housing markets are efficient, residential property prices should capture all the benefits and costs to commuters that a location offers. The aim of this investigation is to firstly compare property prices inside and outside the congestion charging zone, and secondly to measure the sensitivity of house prices to distance from the zone boundary both inside and outside the zone. The main analysis is based on the quasi-experimental differences-in-differences approach. It is found that the gap between property price inside and outside the zone has actually reduced as a result of congestion charging. Also, after the implementation of the congestion charge, the sensitivity of house prices with respect to distance from the boundary has fallen for sectors inside the zone relative to sectors outside the zone

THE LONDON CONGESTION CHARGE AND PROPERTY PRICES: AN EVALUATION OF THE IMPACT ON PROPERTY PRICES INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE ZONE

Congestion charging in London was introduced in February 2003 to reduce traffic levels in the centre of London. Postcode sector level property prices for sectors both inside and outside the zone are investigated under the premise that the benefits of transport innovation can be captured by property prices. If housing markets are efficient, residential property prices should capture all the benefits and costs to commuters that a location offers. The aim of this investigation is to firstly compare property prices inside and outside the congestion charging zone, and secondly to measure the sensitivity of house prices to distance from the zone boundary both inside and outside the zone. The main analysis is based on the quasi-experimental differences-in-differences approach. It is found that the gap between property price inside and outside the zone has actually reduced as a result of congestion charging. Also, after the implementation of the congestion charge, the sensitivity of house prices with respect to distance from the boundary has fallen for sectors inside the zone relative to sectors outside the zone

A fuzzy decision‐making approach for portfolio management with direct real estate investment

This study incorporated expert knowledge into the classical quadratic programming approach, i.e., Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT), through fuzzy set theory; in obtaining portfolio return optimization involving direct real estate investment. Two fuzzy mathematical programming models were uniquely specified and estimated in this study, namely, Zimmer‐mann's (2001) fuzzy tactical asset allocation (FTAA) flexible programming model and Ramik and Rimanek's (1985) FTAA robust programming model. These approaches try to overcome the drawbacks of traditional asset allocation models by including expert adjustment in the presence of imprecise information. The findings suggest that the fuzzy tactical asset allocation (FTAA Flexible Model), with the inclusion of expert judgments which contain information usually not found in historical data, is able to produce a portfolio just as efficient as traditional asset allocation models while minimizing the potential issues due to imprecision and vagueness of information. Meanwhile, the FTAA Robust Model proffers a more evenly‐distributed, yet with higher risks and lower returns, portfolio. Aside from the lack of emphasis on portfolio risks minimization, one reason attributed to such anomaly is the low level of returns of high‐risk stocks that are not selected by MPT and FTAA Flexible Models. It results in a unique situation where portfolio diversification does not necessarily guarantee an efficient investment decision. Santruka Šis tyrimas itraukia ekspertines žinias i klasikine kvadratinio programavimo metodika, pavyzdžiui, moderniaja portfelio valdymo teorija, per neapibrežtuju aibiu teorija, siekiant optimizuoti portfelio graža, apimant tiesiogines nekilnojamojo turto investicijas. Šiame tyrime išsamiai aprašomi ir ivertinami du neapibrežtojo matematinio programavimo modeliai. Tai Zimmermann (2001) neapibrežtasis aktyvu paskirstymo lankstusis programavimo modelis ir Ramik bei Rimanek (1985) neapibrežtasis aktyvu paskirstymo robustinis programavimo modelis. Juos taikant bandoma pašalinti tradiciniu aktyvu paskirstymo metodu trūkumus itraukiant ekspertu siūlomus pakeitimus nesant tikslios informacijos. Nustatyta, kad neapibrežtasis aktyvu paskirstymas (neapibrežtasis aktyvu paskirstymo lankstusis programavimo modelis) kartu su ekspertu vertinimais, paprastai apimančiais informacija, kurios negalima rasti tarp istoriniu duomenu, leidžia sudaryti toki pati efektyvu portfeli, kaip ir tradiciniai aktyvu paskirstymo modeliai, tačiau minimizuojant potencialius nesutarimus, kuriu atsiranda del netikslios ir neapibrežtos informacijos. Neapibrežtasis aktyvu paskirstymo robustinis programavimo modelis siūlo tolygiau paskirstyta, tačiau rizikingesni ir ne toki pelninga portfeli. Be portfelio rizikos minimizavimo trūkumo, dar viena priežastis, priskiriama prie šios anomalijos, yra maža dideles rizikos akciju graža, kuri nera pasirenkama moderniojoje portfelio valdymo teorijoje ir neapibrežtuju aktyvu paskirstymo lanksčiuosiuose programavimo modeliuose. Kaip rezultatas gaunama unikali situacija, kai portfelio diversifikavimas nebūtinai garantuoja efektyvu investavimo sprendima. First Publish Online: 18 Oct 201