The Housing Wealth Effect: The Crucial Roles of Demographics, Wealth Distribution and Wealth Shares

Current estimates of housing wealth effects vary widely. We consider the role of omitted variables suggested by economic theory that have been absent in a number of prior studies. Our estimates take into account age composition and wealth distribution (using poverty rates as a proxy), as well as wealth shares (how much of total wealth is comprised of housing vs. stock wealth). We exploit cross-state variation in housing, stock wealth and other variables in a newly assembled panel data set and find that the impact of housing on consumer spending depends crucially on age composition, poverty rates, and the housing wealth share. In particular, young people who are more likely to be credit-constrained, and older homeowners, likely to be “trading down” on their housing stock, experience the largest housing wealth effects, as suggested by theory. Also, as suggested by theory, housing wealth effects are higher in state-years with higher housing wealth shares, and in state-years with higher poverty rates (likely reflecting the greater importance of credit constraints for those observations). Taking these various factors into account implies huge variation over time and across states in the size of housing wealth effects.

Analysis of radiometer calibration effects with TOUCHSTONE

The microwave circuit analysis program TOUCHSTONE is used to study two effects of importance in radiometer calibration. The two effects are impedance mismatches at the antenna-air and cold load-air interfaces and dissipatives losses, which radiate thermal noise into the system. The results predicted by TOUCHSTONE are shown to be in very close agreement with earlier results obtained by purely analytical methods. The techniques used in establishing the circuit models and in processing the resulting data are described in detail

Up to D[eb]ate on Raising and Control, Part 2: The Empirical Range of the Constructions and Research on their Acquistion

This is the second part of a two-part article that reviews a number of the current debates regarding raising and control constructions. The issues addressed in this part include the spectrum of related raising (e.g. possessor raising, further raising) and control (partial, split, generic, super-equi) phenomena; cross-linguistic typology, including backward and copy constructions; and their acquisition in child language

Long-Term Performance of Old Dominion Technology Graduates

The long-term career patterns of Old Dominion University\u27s engineering technology baccalaureate graduates have been studied extensively. Results from approximately 400 alumni have been analyzed. The results of the analysis are presented and conclusions are drawn from the trends. The results indicate that the career progress of engineering technology graduates over a nearly twenty-year period is substantial and that they are performing effectively in a variety of career patterns

The (Mythical?) Housing Wealth Effect

Models used to guide policy, as well as some empirical studies, suggest that the effect of housing wealth on consumption is large and greater than the wealth effect on consumption from stock holdings. Recent theoretical work, in contrast, argues that changes in housing wealth are offset by changes in housing consumption, meaning that unexpected shocks in housing wealth should have little effect on non-housing consumption. We reexamine the impact of housing wealth on non-housing consumption, employing the Case-Quigley-Shiller data on U.S. housing wealth that have been used in prior studies to estimate a large housing wealth effect. Existing empirical work fails to control for the fact that changes in housing wealth may be correlated with changes in expected permanent income, biasing the resulting estimates. Once we control for the endogeneity bias resulting from the correlation between housing wealth and permanent income, we find that housing wealth has a small and insignificant effect on consumption. Additional analysis of time-series results provides further support for that view.

A MATLAB-Based Upper Division Systems Analysis Course for Engineering Technology

The Department of Engineering Technology at Old Dominion University offers TAC of ABET accredited baccalaureate programs in Civil Engineering Technology, Electrical Engineering Technology, and Mechanical Engineering Technology. All students are required to take traditional courses in algebra and trigonometry, as well as differential and integral calculus, at the freshman and sophomore levels. While these courses provided the necessary basic mathematical skills, it was difficult to justify the traditional upper-division mathematics courses such as differential equations, vector analysis, etc., as appropriate for the special needs of engineering technology students. To address this issue, the Department has undertaken the development of a new systems analysis course that will cover the necessary upper-division engineering technology mathematical needs for ET students and it will be taught around a MATLAB based paradigm. While there are a number of fine computational software packages, MATLAB appears to be gaining broad acceptance in the engineering work place as one of the primary tools for advanced analysis. The course will consist of selected topics in linear algebra and matrices, differential equations, Laplace transforms, curve fitting, statistics, and optimization. Preliminary versions of the course have been offered several times to Electrical Engineering Technology Students and have received an excellent response. Beginning in the Spring of 2003, it will be offered to all Engineering Technology majors. Modifications to achieve that goal are currently underway. All topics will be first introduced in their basic mathematical forms, but once the concepts are mastered with simple numbers and forms, students will begin utilizing MATLAB extensively to solve more practical and challenging problems. The paper presents a detailed breakdown of the topics selected for coverage in this new course along with examples of complex problems that are easily solved by students with MATLAB. A discussion of problems observed during the integration of students from all the discipline areas into the course will be made and proposed changes to improve the course will be discussed

On Extraction from NPs

This paper sheds new light on the conditions governing extraction from NPs. A close examination of wh-extraction out of object NPs reveals that previously unnoticed semantic factors play a greater role than has been recognized. In particular, we find that NPs lacking \u27participant\u27 structure do not permit wh-extraction at all, and that certain NPs permit extraction even when they are definite. At the same time, the prohibition on wh-extraction from subject NPs is shown to be a purely syntactic phenomenon which arises from the particular way in which the Extended Projection Principle is satisfied in English