Measuring Local Aggregate House Prices

This study evaluates the ability of a range of popular aggregate house price indexes to predict house prices out-of-sample at the transaction level for a small geographic area. The analysis particularly addresses the utility of spatial econometric methods. The results suggest that spatial econometric methods, which more explicitly consider the spatial aspects of observed house prices, provide better predictive accuracy as compared to more traditional estimation techniques, such as the repeat sales index, a hybrid repeat sales-hedonic price index, and hedonic price models estimated through least squares. The conclusions are drawn from a sample of 38,984 single-family residential real estate transactions for the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin over the years 2002-2008.House price index; Spatial econometrics; Forecast evaluation

Major Conference Bias and the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament

The following paper examines the potential bias by the NCAA men's basketball selection committee in favor of major conferences. Employing data from the 1997 – 2006 tournaments, we find evidence for bias in the tournament seeding of teams from the six power conferences when judged against the remaining mid-major and minor conferences. More specifically, the analysis indicates members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) are seeded two positions higher (better) than the model would predict. In addition, the results indicate that members of the Atlantic Coastal Conference (ACC) are commonly seeded to positions lower (worse) than predicted.

REGIONAL HOUSING PRICE CYCLES: A SPATIO-TEMPORAL ANALYSIS USING US STATE LEVEL

We present a study of the effects of macroeconomic shocks on housing prices in the Western United States using quarterly state level data from 1988:1 – 2007:4. The study contributes to the existing literature by explicitly incorporating locational spillovers through a spatial econometric adaptation of vector autoregression (SpVAR). The results suggest these spillovers may Granger cause housing price movements in a large number of cases. SpVAR provides additional insights through impulse response functions that demonstrate the effects of macroeconomic events in different neighboring locations. In addition, we demonstrate that including spatial information leads to significantly lower mean square forecast errors.Housing prices, VAR, spatial econometrics

THE INFLUENCE OF URBAN AREAS ON FARMLAND VALUES

Farmland Values, Urban-Influence, Land Economics/Use, Q15, R30,

Effect of streamwise vortices on wake properties associated with sound generation.

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/76729/1/AIAA-44333-446.pd

Consumer Willingness-to-Pay for Fresh Pork Attributes

A survey was used to gauge consumer preferences toward four fresh pork attributes: juiciness, tenderness, marbling, and leanness. The survey elicited consumer willingness-to-pay a premium for an improvement in these attributes. Approximately one-half of the respondents were willing to pay some premium for the attributes of juiciness, leanness, and tenderness. The average premium size ranged from $0.20/lb. for marbling to$0.37/lb. for tenderness. Neither the choice of a certifying agency nor the use of a cheap talk script influenced premium levels.pork attributes, pork markets, willingness to pay, Agribusiness, Marketing,

Evaluating the Dynamic Nature of Market Risk

This study examines the systematic risk present in major crops for the United States and three corn-belt states. An index of commodities is used in conjunction with cash receipts to generate dynamic estimates of the systematic risk for each crop and state. In our study, we find that beta estimates from a time varying parameter model (FLS) and OLS formulation are substantially different. From our graphs of betas over time, one gains insight into the changing nature of risk and the impact of institutional and macroeconomic events. Systematic risk is shown to increase for most crops over the analyzed period with significant changes in volatility after the collapse of the Bretton Woods Accord.Systematic risk, flexible least squares, single index model, farm policy, macroeconomics, Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Farm Management, Financial Economics, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Marketing, Risk and Uncertainty,

On the Character of the Instability of the Laminar Boundary Layer Near the Nose of a Blunt Body

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/77549/1/AIAA-7661-569.pd

Some Features of Boundary Layers and Transition to Turbulent Flow

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/77547/1/AIAA-3583-939.pd