House Price Volatility and Housing Ownership over the Lifecycle

We develop and test a model on the effects of spatial housing price risk on housing choice. Housing price risk can be substantial but, unlike other risky assets which people can avoid, most people want to eventually own their home thereby creating an insurance demand for housing ownership early in life. With increasing demographic needs over the life cycle, our model predicts that people living in places with higher housing price risk should own their first home at a younger age, should live in larger homes, and should be less likely to refinance. These predictions are shown to hold using comparable panel data from the United States and United Kingdom. (JEL D12, D91

State pensions and the well-being of the elderly in the UK

This paper presents the trends seen over the last quarter of the 20thCentury in various indicators of the well-being of the elderlyalongside those seen for the young. Specifically we look at measuresof both the level and distribution of income and expenditure, andself-reported measures of life satisfaction and health. We thenexploit the substantial reforms to the UK pension system over thisperiod to examine the impact of reforms to state pensions on theseoutcomes. We find that increases in the generosity of state pensionshave led to increased incomes of the elderly and reductions inmeasures of both relative and absolute income poverty. We also findthat increased state pensions have led to increased expenditure bythe elderly. It is perhaps not surprising that in the UK the reformsto the generosity of state pensions have affected outcomes amongthe elderly (instead of being fully offset by individuals when theywere younger) given that often very little (pre-retirement) notice wasgiven, and that some of the reforms were of a substantial magnitude. This paper presents the trends seen over the last quarter of the 20thCentury in various indicators of the well-being of the elderlyalongside those seen for the young. Specifically we look at measuresof both the level and distribution of income and expenditure, andself-reported measures of life satisfaction and health. We thenexploit the substantial reforms to the UK pension system over thisperiod to examine the impact of reforms to state pensions on theseoutcomes. We find that increases in the generosity of state pensionshave led to increased incomes of the elderly and reductions inmeasures of both relative and absolute income poverty. We also findthat increased state pensions have led to increased expenditure bythe elderly. It is perhaps not surprising that in the UK the reformsto the generosity of state pensions have affected outcomes amongthe elderly (instead of being fully offset by individuals when theywere younger) given that often very little (pre-retirement) notice wasgiven, and that some of the reforms were of a substantial magnitude

Housing price volatility and downsizing in later life

In this paper, we modeled several types of housing transitions of the elderly in two countries -- Britain and the United States. One important form of these transitions involves downsizing of housing consumption, the importance of which among older households is still debated. This downsizing takes multiple forms, including reductions in the number of rooms per dwelling and the value of the home. There is also evidence that this downsizing is greater when house price volatility is greater and that American households try to escape housing price volatility by moving to places that are experience significantly less housing price volatility. Our comparative evidence in suggests that there is less evidence of downsizing in Britain. Our results indicate that housing consumption appears to decline with age in the US, even after controlling for the other demographic and work transitions associated with age that would normally produce such a decline. No such fall in housing consumption is found in Britain, largely because British households are much more likely to stay in their original residence

Bryophytes and their distribution in the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales

The bryophytes (mosses, liverworts and hornworts) that occur in the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales (latitude 33˚–34˚ S, longitude 151˚–151˚40’ E) are listed and information is provided on their distribution in the region. Species lists are based on herbarium specimens and field collections. 348 bryophyte taxa have been recorded from 70 families, including 225 moss taxa (in 108 genera from 45 families), 120 liverwort taxa (in 51 genera from 24 families) and 3 hornwort taxa (in 3 genera from one family). The moss families with most taxa are the Pottiaceae (with 23 taxa in 13 genera), Bryaceae (with 15 taxa in 3 genera) and Fissidentaceae (with 13 taxa). The largest genera are Fissidens (13 taxa), Campylopus (9) and Macromitrium (8). The liverwort family with the most taxa is Lepidoziaceae, with 29 taxa in 10 genera. The largest liverwort genera are Frullania (11 taxa) and Riccardia (8). The species lists include collections from both bushland and urban areas. Natural features of the Blue Mountains, including topography, altitude, climate and vegetation appear to be important factors influencing the number of bryophyte species recorded from each location. The number of collections from particular locations has been considerably influenced by ease of access, particularly proximity to roads, public transport and railway stations. The species lists include many records from areas that were not accessible to the early collectors of the late 19th and early 20th centuries such as Wollemi National Park, Gardens of Stone National Park, Newnes Plateau and Kanangra-Boyd National Park

What can we learn about pension reform from generational accounts for the UK?

This paper considers the relevance of a set of generational accounts in informing policy debate in the UK. With regard to transparency, Generational Accounts can, under sensible assumptions, provide a useful summary statistic to supplement our analysis of government policy. Interpreting differences in the accounts across groups as measures of the incidence or redistributiveness of existing or proposed policies is more problematic. With respect to UK pension reform, within-cohort differences raise important issues. Finally we argue that past pension reforms have been characterised by inaccurate forecasts as opposed to a lack of understanding of the generational incidence of proposed policy

A finite element based formulation for sensitivity studies of piezoelectric systems

Sensitivity Analysis is a branch of numerical analysis which aims to quantify the affects that variability in the parameters of a numerical model have on the model output. A finite element based sensitivity analysis formulation for piezoelectric media is developed here and implemented to simulate the operational and sensitivity characteristics of a piezoelectric based distributed mode actuator (DMA). The work acts as a starting point for robustness analysis in the DMA technology

Acyl-chain elongation drives ketosynthase substrate selectivity in trans-acyltransferase polyketide synthases

Type I modular polyketide synthases (PKSs), responsible for the biosynthesis of many biologically active agents, possess a ketosynthase (KS) domain within each module to catalyze chain elongation. Acylation of the KS active site Cys residue is followed by transfer to malonyl-acyl carrier protein, yielding an extended β-ketoacyl chain. To date, the precise contribution of KS selectivity in controlling product fidelity has been unclear. We submitted six KS domains from the trans-acyl transferase PKSs to a mass spectrometry-basedelongation assay, and identified higher substrat selectivity in the elongating step than in preceding acylation. A close correspondence between observed KS selectivity and that predicted by phylogenetic analysis was seen. Our findings provide insights into the mechanism of KS selectivity in this important group of PKSs, can serve as guidance for engineering, and show that targeted mutagenesis can be used to expand the repertoire of acceptable substrates