Mortgage Prepayment Behavior in a Market with ARMs only

A study on the prepayment behavior of Hong Kong mortgage loans is conducted. With all of the loans as adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), we find that 1) Prepayment speeds up and then slows down as the mortgage seasons; 2) Prepayment speeds up as the rate markup decreases; 3) Prepayment speeds up as the interest rate increases; 4) Prepayment speeds up when the profitability ratio of the banks ( the prime-HIBOR spread) is higher; 5) Prepayment speeds up as the price of the property market falls; 6) Prepayment speed is faster for loans with a lower loan-to-value ratio; 7) Prepayment exhibits a seasonal pattern: people tend to prepay in the summer.Prepayment function, Adjustable-rate mortgages, Proportional-hazard model

Nature of Mathematical Modeling Tasks for Secondary Mathematics Preservice Teachers

This study investigated the nature of written modeling tasks reported by instructors of required courses in five secondary mathematics teacher education programs. These tasks were analyzed based on a framework addressing potential cognitive orientation (simple procedures, complex procedures, and rich tasks) and purpose (epistemological, educational, contextual, and socio-critical modeling) of the tasks. Our analysis suggests that most tasks included questions of more than one cognitive orientation and more than half of the tasks were coded as contextual modeling. We also found that tasks that were coded as contextual modeling offered opportunities for future teachers to engage with questions at all levels of cognitive orientation. The nature of several modeling tasks, along with the ideas for refining the current frameworks, are presented for future implications of analyzing and developing modeling tasks