What account for the differences in rent-price ratio and turnover rate? A search-and-matching approach

We build an on-the-house-search model and show analytically that the rent-to-price ratio (or rental yield) and turnover rate, which are frequently used metrics for the housing market, are jointly determined in equilibrium. We therefore adopt a simultaneous equation approach on matched sale-rental pairs in our empirical investigation, as a housing unit cannot be owner-occupied and renter-occupied at the same time. Our empirical results confirm a higher turnover rate is associated with a lower rent-to-price ratio, as predicted by the model. Furthermore, our results suggest a form of “dichotomy” in the empirical determinants of rental yield and turnover at the real-estate-development (RED) level: the demographic structure, and past return performance affect its turnover rate, while popularity, human capital environment, mortgage burden, and long run rent growth determine the rental yield. No evidence of “thick market effect” is found. The robustness of our results are established through a series of tests. In addition to these findings, our tractable search-theoretic model, a ranking of more than 130 RED in Hong Kong based on the popularity index we construct, and the estimated brand-premium for different major real estate developers may also carry independent research and practical interests

Data from: Anatomy, systematics, paleoenvironment, growth, and age of the sauropod dinosaur Sonorasaurus thompsoni from the Cretaceous of Arizona, USA

Sauropod dinosaurs are rare in the Cretaceous North American fossil record in general and are absent from that record for most of the Late Cretaceous. Sonorasaurus thompsoni from the Turney Ranch Formation of the Bisbee Group of Arizona, USA, potentially represents one of the youngest sauropods before their ca. 30-million-year-long hiatus from the record. The anatomy of Sonorasaurus has only been briefly described, its taxonomic validity has been questioned, several hypotheses have been proposed regarding its phylogenetic relationships, and its life history, geologic age, and reported paleoenvironment are ambiguous. Herein we assess the systematics, paleoenvironment, life history, and geologic age of Sonorasaurus based on firsthand observation, bone histology, and fieldwork in the holotypic quarry and environs. The validity of S. thompsoni is substantiated by autapomorphies. Cladistic analysis firmly places it within the Brachiosauridae, in contrast to results of some recent analyses. Bone histology suggests that the only known exemplar of Sonorasaurus grew slowly and sporadically compared to other sauropods and was approaching its adult size. In contrast with previous assessments of a coastal/estuarine paleoenvironment for the Turney Ranch Formation, our sedimentological and plant macrofossil data indicate that Sonorasaurus lived in a semiarid, low relief evergreen woodland that received highly variable (perhaps seasonal) precipitation. We obtained detrital zircons from the holotypic quarry for U-Pb dating, which only yielded Barremian-aged and older grains, whereas other radiometric and biostratigraphic data suggest that the sediments at the quarry were deposited near the Albian-Cenomanian boundary. Sonorasaurus is taxonomically valid, represents one of the geologically youngest brachiosaurid sauropods, and inhabited a harsh inland evergreen-dominated woodland environment that limited its growth. A review of other Bisbee Group dinosaurs suggests that its fauna, although poorly sampled, exhibits broad similarity to those from coeval North American horizons, reinforcing the apparent faunal homogeneity at the time

FileS1_AgeData

Supplemental Data 1. Microsoft Excel file containing age data from U/Pb detritral zircon dating. Two samples were analyzed: SONO–MS from a site near the quarry, which yielded a youngest single–grain age of 149.3 +/– 4 Ma and SONO–CA from the Sonorasaurus holotype quarry, which yielded a youngest single–grain age of 129.2 +/– 9.9 Ma

FileS4_TheropodFemur

Supplemental Data 4. Theropod femur (ASDM 2111) found in the ‘middle’ Cretaceous Turney Ranch Formation approximately 300 m from the holotypic Sonorasaurus quarry, Arizona, USA: 1, medial; 2, posterior; 3, lateral; 4, anterior views. Abbreviation: ftr=fourth trochanter

File S5 Sonorasaurus matrix

Supplemental Data 5. Nexus file containing character-taxon matrix used in the cladistic analysis

FileS3_maxilla

Supplemental Data 3. Skin of exterior bone belonging to a sauropod maxilla from the Turney Ranch Formation