LDEF atomic oxygen fluence update

The definition of LDEF atomic oxygen exposure involves theoretical prediction of fluxes, modeling of shielding and scattering effects, and comparison of predicted with observed atomic oxygen effects on LDEF experiments. Work is proceeding as follows: atomic oxygen fluxes and fluences have been recalculated using a more detailed orbit prediction program; a micro-environments program is being developed to account for the effects of experiment geometry on atomic oxygen flux; and chemical and physical measurements are being made on copper grounding straps to verify correspondence between predicted exposures and observed surface property variations. These three areas of work are reported briefly

Hedonic Prices and House Numbers: The Influence of Feng Shui

In contemporary practice, feng shui incorporates a wide range of concepts considered to affect a person’s luck. These include traditional ideas about site selection and building design, as well as newer beliefs about the “luckiness” of certain numbers. Focusing on an area with a relatively high percentage of Chinese households in Auckland, New Zealand, this paper uses hedonic price analysis to investigate whether house values are affected by lucky and unlucky numbers. Sales transactions for 1989 to 1996 are used in this analysis. The results demonstrate that lucky house numbers are capitalised into house values.Feng shui, hedonic price model, lucky, New Zealand

Predicting House Prices with Spatial Dependence: A Comparison of Alternative Methods

This paper compares alternative methods for taking spatial dependence into account in house price prediction. We select hedonic methods that have been reported in the literature to perform relatively well in terms of ex-sample prediction accuracy. Because differences in performance may be due to differences in data, we compare the methods using a single data set. The estimation methods include simple OLS, a two-stage process incorporating nearest neighbors’ residuals in the second stage, geostatistical, and trend surface models. These models take into account submarkets by adding dummy variables or by estimating separate equations for each submarket. Based on data for approximately 13,000 transactions from Louisville, Kentucky, we conclude that a geostatistical model with disaggregated submarket variables performs best.

A model of housing tenure choice in Australia

This paper reports the results of an econometric analysis of housing tenure choice in Australia. The paper has several aims: (a) to determine the relative importance of the various economic and demographic determinants of die probability of home ownership in Australia; (b) to provide evidence relevant to the question whether Goodman (1988) incorrectly omits from his tenure choice model a measure of the user cost of owner-occupied housing, and (c) to serve as a basis for further studies of housing tenure choice and demand in Australia as well as possible comparative studies of ownership rates in Australia, the United States, and elsewhere.Australian Policy Online (APO)'s Linked Data II project, funded by the Australian Research Council, with partners at the ANU Library, Swinburne University and RMIT