Quasi-experimental evidence on the effect of traffic externalities on housing prices

This paper studies the effects on house prices of traffic nuisance on local streets. As source of exogenous variation in traffic nuisance we use the opening of a new state highway N14 in the Netherlands. This transport innovation altered the traffic density on the adjacent streets for some households, but left others unaffected. Controlling for spatial and house heterogeneity, we find that doubling of traffic density reduces housing prices with about 2%, what implies an upper value of traffic noise discount of about 0.5% per decibel. Our results indicate further that traffic nuisance discounts are likely to be misestimated in cross-sectional studies because nuisance tends to be correlated with omitted neighbourhood and housing amenities.

Quasi-experimental evidence on the effect of traffic externalities on housing prices

This paper studies the effects on house prices of traffic nuisance on local streets. As source of exogenous variation in traffic nuisance we use the opening of a new state highway N14 in the Netherlands. This transport innovation altered the traffic density on the adjacent streets for some households, but left others unaffected. Controlling for spatial and house heterogeneity, we find that doubling of traffic density reduces housing prices with about 2%, what implies an upper value of traffic noise discount of about 0.5% per decibel. Our results indicate further that traffic nuisance discounts are likely to be misestimated in cross-sectional studies because nuisance tends to be correlated with omitted neighbourhood and housing amenities

The evolution of peasant economy in the industrial center of Russia at the end of the XIXth - beginning of the XXth century: (according to the Zemstvo statistical data)

Die Kontroverse um den russischen Agrarkapitalismus ist ein Jahrhundert alt. Der vorliegende Beitrag analysiert die Faktoren, die die Evolution der Landwirtschaft im industriellen Zentrum Rußlands um die Jahrhundertwende determinieren. Eingegangen wird dabei auf die Arbeitsmarktstrukturen, unternehmerische Aktivitäten hinsichtlich industrieller Produktion und die Verteilung und Nutzung landwirtschaftlicher Flächen. Die Daten von 27 Verwaltungsbezirken (uyezds) werden mittels einer Komponentenanalyse, einem Regressionsmodell und der Methode additiver fuzzy-sets analysiert. (pmb)'The dispute on Russian agrarian capitalism is a century old. The author's aim is to reveal and to analyse the factors which determined the evolution of peasant economy in the Industrial Center on the turn of the century. The conditions for the development of the hiring of labourers, industrial activity and peasant land in use were also brought to light. The research was carrried out on the uyezds results of Zemstvo statistics. The methods used are: principal components analysis, regression models on the principal components and one of the new methods - the method of additive fuzzy types.' (author's abstract

Estimating the HARA Land Use Model for Housing Planning based on Hedonic Price Analysis

HARA is a land-use model that uses a search algorithm to find the optimal spatial allocation of new housing demands in an urban plan area. In the model, the plan area is represented as a grid of cells. A core element of the algorithm is a function that is used to evaluate the value of a cell for each possible land-use given its location. The value function is specified as the net value of a (housing) development given the land costs, the construction costs, and the market value of the development at a location. Specified in that way, the solution generated represents an optimum as well as a market equilibrium (maximum net value for developers). A critical prerequisite for this is, however, that the value-function is specified such that it accurately represents buyers’ willingness-to-pay for dwelling and location characteristics in the housing market. In this paper, we show how the value function can be estimated using hedonic price analysis. The analysis is carried out based on a large housing transaction data set focusing on two medium-sized cities in The Netherlands combined with detailed land-use data of these areas. Although a full set of land-use types is taken into account, special attention is paid to the classification of urban green space, given the purpose to analyze scenarios for developing urban green space. The results indicate that land-use effects on housing prices differ considerably between housing types as well as city. We conclude therefore that it is important in the estimation of land-use models to take the specific local conditions of housing markets and housing segments into account

The Tax Treatment of Interest Expenditures of Multinational Enterprises

This paper analyses the national tax treatment of interest expenditures of multinational enterprises in a non- cooperative world. It is shown that the international tax system generally leads to distortions in the capital decisions of multinational firms. In contrast to the existing literature on the tax treatment of the expenditures of multinationals, it is found that the form and size of distortions can differ per country depending on the stake a country has in the multinational. Furthermore, internationalisation of the firm's operations and ownership is demonstrated to lead to less generous interest deduction rules of individual countries and in the limit may result in no deduction allowance at all

How Polarization and Political Instability affect Learning through Experimentation

In a multiperiod setting, decision-makers can learn about the consequences of their decisions through experimentation. In this paper we examine how in a two-party system polarization and political instability affect learning through experimentation. We distinguish two cases: the decision to be made is not salient and does not affect the outcome of the following elections (exogenous elections) and the decision is salient and the election outcome depends on it (endogenous elections). We show that while the possibility of learning increases activism, the existence of political instability distorts learning. Furthermore, in contrast to the existing literature, we demonstrate that, when elections are exogenous, polarization between political parties does not always decrease active learning. In the case with endogenous elections we find that electoral concerns may induce candidates not to experiment, even if the majority of voters prefers activism

How Polarization and Political Instability affect Learning through Experimentation

In a multiperiod setting, decision-makers can learn about the consequences of their decisions throughexperimentation. In this paper we examine how in a two-party system polarization and political instability affectlearning through experimentation. We distinguish two cases:the decision to be made is not salient and does notaffect the outcome of the following elections (exogenous elections) andthe decision is salient and the election outcome depends on it (endogenous elections).We show that while the possibility of learning increases activism,the existence of political instability distorts learning. Furthermore, in contrast to the existing literature, wedemonstrate that, when elections are exogenous, polarization between political parties does not always decreaseactive learning. In the case with endogenous elections we find that electoral concerns may induce candidates not toexperiment, even if the majority of voters prefers activism

Environmental Policy Choice under Uncertainty

Market-based instruments are believed to create more efficient incentives for firmsto adopt new technologies than command-and-control policies. We compare the effects of a directtechnology regulation and of an adoption subsidy under asymmetric information about the costsof technological advances in pollution control. We show that the policy maker may want tocommit to her policy. The reason is that uncertainty about adoption costs induces the policymaker to set subsidy levels that increase over time; firms, expecting higher subsidies in thefuture, postpone investment. Direct regulation offers a commitment possibility that allows toprevent firms from postponing investment

ROTUNDORO: A web-based decision support prototype for housing refurbishments considering consumer preferences

Insulation materials represent the first and most important improvement measure when refurbishing residential buildings. Materials, however, differ on a wide set of criteria (e.g. functional, environmental, economic). It remains difficult to find trade-offs between these criteria in collective decision-making processes about the choice of renovation materials. Together with energy collectives and construction engineers, homeowners hence seek to find solutions that balance engineering evaluation methods and consumer preferences. This problem is addressed by the platform ROTUNDORO, which introduces a prototype online platform for engineers to simulate the effects of different material choices considering multiple criteria. ROTUNDORO relies on Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Linked Building Data (LBD) to link material performances to building components, which are then assessed and visualised in design performance scenarios. To verify these design scenarios, their potential market adoption is visualised inside the platform to show the probability of acceptance by the homeowners. The calculation of this probability of acceptance is based on consumer research, backed by the results of a Stated Choice Experiment (SCE) conducted amongst 500 Dutch homeowners, to investigate preferred choices between insulation material packages. Our findings reveal a high willingness of the studied population to invest in energy refurbishment. Reducing CO2 emissions and noise levels as well as improving comfort is just as important as financial savings

Multifunctional land use in the Amsterdam South Axis area - a cost-benefit analysis

The Amsterdam South Axis area is situated along one of the country's major transport corridors and in the vicinity of both the Schiphol airport and the cultural centre of Amsterdam. Therefore it is usually seen as a prime location for offices of domestic and foreign companies. This paper uses the technique of global cost-benefit analysis to assess the welfare effects of an investment project involving a new business district and living quarter in the South Axis. Two project alternatives are considered that combine urban construction and infrastructural investment. The most ambitious of the two creates extra room for construction by bringing all rail and road infrastructure underground. This study distinguishes three direct effects of the South Axis project: on the land market, on the transport market and external effects. Furthermore, an indirect effect on the employment is taken into account. As the aim of the global cost-benefit analysis is to give a first impression of the costs and benefits of a project the first two direct effects are quantified, the other effects are assessed qualitatively. This paper suggests that neither of the two project alternatives has a positive balance of benefits and costs in comparison to the (little ambitious) reference scenario. The last was defined to involve realisation of the construction plans decided upon by the time the study started. In both project alternatives the largest part of the benefits is obtained from the issue of land for construction purposes. This land is very valuable due to the unique location of the area. However, the land benefits together with the (rather small) transport benefits turn out to be modest in comparison with the considerable costs involved in modifying the transport infrastructure. Other effects of the project are expected to be of such size that they do not affect the direction of the above results. The analysis concludes by making some suggestions as to how the alternatives may be adjusted as to achieve a positive balance of costs and benefits that may be expected on basis of the unique location of the South Axis key-site