Building Ownership, Renovation Investments, and Energy Performance—A Study of Multi-Family Dwellings in Gothenburg

The European building stock was renewed at a rapid pace during the period 1950–1975. In many European countries, the building stock from this time needs to be renovated, and there are opportunities to introduce energy efficiency measures in the renovation process. information availability and increasingly available analysis tools make it possible to assess the impact of policy and regulation. This article describes methods developed for analyzing investments in renovation and energy performance based on building ownership and inhabitant socio-economic information developed for Swedish authorities, to be used for the Swedish national renovations strategy in 2019. This was done by analyzing measured energy usage and renovation investments made during the last 30 years, coupled with building specific official information of buildings and resident area characteristics, for multi-family dwellings in Gothenburg (N = 6319). The statistical analyses show that more costly renovations lead to decreasing energy usage for heating, but buildings that have been renovated during the last decades have a higher energy usage when accounting for current heating system, ownership, and resident socio-economic background. It is appropriate to include an affordability aspect in larger renovation projects since economically disadvantaged groups are over-represented in buildings with poorer energy performance

Essays on ownership and control: Shareholder wealth effects in takeovers and the measurement of ownership concentration

The dissertation consists of three essays, two on takeovers and one on the measurement of ownership concentration. Cross-border acquisitions and insider ownership studies whether there is a cross-border effect in returns to the bidding firms’ shareholders when acquiring Swedish listed firms; i.e. if foreign bidders earn less than domestic bidders. We find that foreign bidders on average earn less than domestic bidders, but once we control for insider ownership this effect disappears. Foreign bidders do not receive lower returns, but bidders without prior ownership stakes do. Foreign bidders, public bidders and gains to target shareholders analyzes whether there is a difference in returns to the shareholders of the target firms when a foreign bidder or a public bidder acquires it. After controlling for confounding variables it is found that there is no statistically significant difference between when bidders are domestic or foreign, but that there is a significant difference in target returns between public bidders and private bidders. Keeping it real or keeping it simple? Ownership concentration measures compared is an empirical analysis of several ownership concentration measures that are used in previous empirical studies. It is suggested that ownership concentration measures capture different aspects of ownership and that these measures are not substitutes in general

Climate-friendly construction and capital constraints: A problem of asymmetric information?

Energy efficiency investments in the built environment are a key issue to meet set climate goals. For real estate developers access to debt financing is imperative. Borrowing capacity is therefore related to the likelihood that environmental targets are met. In this interview study we investigate whether the views on investments’ debt capacity may differ between different parties in the real estate market, and how that can affect developers’ access to finance.We find that property owners and banks come to different conclusions about the borrowing capacity of energy efficient construction projects. There is reason to believe that energy efficient buildings often are profitable, insofar that the larger investment outlays are compensated by larger discounted future cash flows, but that investments are impeded by a lack of funds.We also investigate whether property appraisers as well as environmental certification can serve as certifying bodies to overcome borrowing constraints induced by informational asymmetries. We do not find that they fill that role in Sweden today.The capital constraints could be problematic for developers who are hindered to make value increasing investments, society at large as it may lead to underinvestment and increased external costs, and for the banks themselves as they risk allocating capital to inferior assets

Climate-friendly construction and capital constraints: A problem of asymmetric information?

Energy efficiency investments in the built environment are a key issue to meet set climate goals. For real estate developers access to debt financing is imperative. Borrowing capacity is therefore related to the likelihood that environmental targets are met. In this interview study we investigate whether the views on investments’ debt capacity may differ between different parties in the real estate market, and how that can affect developers’ access to finance.We find that property owners and banks come to different conclusions about the borrowing capacity of energy efficient construction projects. There is reason to believe that energy efficient buildings often are profitable, insofar that the larger investment outlays are compensated by larger discounted future cash flows, but that investments are impeded by a lack of funds.We also investigate whether property appraisers as well as environmental certification can serve as certifying bodies to overcome borrowing constraints induced by informational asymmetries. We do not find that they fill that role in Sweden today.The capital constraints could be problematic for developers who are hindered to make value increasing investments, society at large as it may lead to underinvestment and increased external costs, and for the banks themselves as they risk allocating capital to inferior assets

L\ue5n till klimatanpassat byggande: En f\uf6rstudie om problemet med l\ue5ngivares och l\ue5ntagares v\ue4rderingsskillnader

I denna f\uf6rstudie unders\uf6ks hur synen p\ue5 investeringarsbel\ue5ningsutrymme skiljer sig \ue5t mellan akt\uf6rer p\ue5 fastighetsmarknadenoch inom bankv\ue4sen. S\ue4rskilt fokuseras hur s\ue5dana skillnader i syns\ue4ttkan p\ue5verka f\uf6ruts\ue4ttningarna f\uf6r att erh\ue5lla l\ue5nefinansiering vidinvesteringar i fastigheter med l\ue4gre energianv\ue4ndning – investeringarsom skulle bidra till att m\uf6ta klimatutmaningen.Vi finner sk\ue4l att tro att banker faktiskt inte n\ue4mnv\ue4rt v\ue4rderar depositiva ekonomiska konsekvenser som f\uf6ljer av minskadenergif\uf6rbrukning n\ue4r de g\uf6r sina kreditbed\uf6mningar; detta kan leda tillunderinvestering i fastigheter med h\uf6g milj\uf6prestanda.Detta kan vara problematiskt f\uf6r fastighetsf\uf6retag som uppleverbegr\ue4nsade finansieringsm\uf6jligheter att genomf\uf6ra v\ue4rdeskapandeinvesteringar, f\uf6r samh\ue4llet om det medf\uf6r underinvesteringar ochst\uf6rre externa kostnader, och \ue4ven f\uf6r bankerna sj\ue4lva d\ue5 de p\ue5marginalen allokerar kapital till s\ue4mre tillg\ue5ngar

Cross-border acquisitions and insider ownership

As in several other recent studies, we find that investors react more negatively when firms announce cross-border acquisitions than domestic acquisitions (c.f. Moeller and Schlingemann, 2005; Mantecon, 2009). Without an economically-based explanation, such findings cast doubt on the merits of acquisitions in foreign markets. We make use of unique hand-collected corporate governance data to examine associations between the acquiring and target firms. Foreign acquirers are often outsiders without access to the target firm’s board and without contact with pre-bid owners of the target firm. These two factors have positive associations with announcement returns, and they explain differences between cross-border and domestic acquisitions. We thus suggest that cross-border acquisitions are not per se value destructive but are rather a form of acquisition characterized by outsider owners.

Board participation, toeholds and the cross-border effect

Research shows that the bid announcement return (BAR) of the acquiring firm is lower for cross-border than domestic acquisition announcements. The current lack of economically based explanations for this effect, labeled the cross-border effect by Moeller and Schlingemann (2005), motivates our study. We use unique hand-collected corporate governance data to study how the relationships between acquiring and target firms prior to a bid announcement affect the cross-border effect. Our tests show that non-operating associations between the acquiring and target firms, in the form of board participation and toeholds, have a positive effect on the BAR. The cross-border effect disappears when we control for board participation and toeholds. Thus, we suggest that the cross-border effect is at least partly a consequence of information asymmetries and the adverse selection problem that they generate

Building Ownership, Renovation Investments, and Energy Performance - A Study of Multi-Family Dwellings in Gothenburg

The European building stock was renewed at a rapid pace during the period 1950–1975.In many European countries, the building stock from this time needs to be renovated, and thereare opportunities to introduce energy efficiency measures in the renovation process. Informationavailability and increasingly available analysis tools make it possible to assess the impact of policyand regulation. This article describes methods developed for analyzing investments in renovationand energy performance based on building ownership and inhabitant socio-economic informationdeveloped for Swedish authorities, to be used for the Swedish national renovations strategy in2019. This was done by analyzing measured energy usage and renovation investments made duringthe last 30 years, coupled with building specific official information of buildings and resident areacharacteristics, for multi-family dwellings in Gothenburg (N = 6319). The statistical analyses showthat more costly renovations lead to decreasing energy usage for heating, but buildings that havebeen renovated during the last decades have a higher energy usage when accounting for currentheating system, ownership, and resident socio-economic background. It is appropriate to includean affordability aspect in larger renovation projects since economically disadvantaged groups areover-represented in buildings with poorer energy performance

CEOs\u27 understanding of blockchain technology and its adoption in export-oriented companies in West Sweden: a survey

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study current practices in adopting blockchain technology amongst export companies in West Sweden and to capture their CEOs\u27 knowledge of and attitudes towards blockchains. Design/methodology/approach Factors enabling or hindering the adoption of blockchains were identified from a comprehensive literature review and a survey of 72 chief executive officers (CEOs) of export-oriented firms in West Sweden, all with turnovers exceeding euro2m, regarding their knowledge of and attitudes towards blockchains. Findings Blockchain technology is not currently perceived to provide benefits that would outweigh the costs of introducing it into West Sweden\u27s export firms. Nevertheless, the findings suggest that such technology, though currently too immature to meet today\u27s industrial requirements, could experience more widespread use if certain key factors (i.e. lower cost, traceability, improved security or trustworthiness and new blockchain-enabled business models) are prioritised. Research limitations/implications Answered by 72 CEOs, the survey achieved a response rate of 6%, meaning that the findings are only exploratory. Even so, they offer new insights into CEOs\u27 attitudes towards blockchain technology. Practical implications The CEOs reported comparatively limited knowledge of and experience with implementing blockchains, the lack of which has hampered their large-scale implementation in multi-actor supply chains. Social implications Negative sentiment amongst CEOs towards blockchain technology may lower on-the-job satisfaction amongst tech personnel aspiring to develop and implement blockchain applications in their firms. Originality/value Knowledge of and attitudes towards blockchain technology amongst top-level managers, as well as about factors enabling or hindering its adoption, guide managers in crafting strategies for implementing blockchains in their organisations and maximising the benefits therein. Unlike past studies focussing on technological aspects or views of experts and middle-management, the study was designed to capture the views of CEOs