Public Land Use Constraints: Lot and House Configuration

The public sector constrains the size and shape of lots and buildings via zoning ordinances and subdivision regulations. Zoning ordinances utilize setback requirements, open space ratios, minimum lot area and floor-to-area ratios. Subdivision regulations utilize street and sidewalk spacing requirements. This article provides a framework in which one can analyze the precise impact of these control devices. The choice of developers who face these controls is discussed in terms of a rule of thumb and in terms of a model of profit maximization.

A History of Site Valuation Rules: Functions and Empirical Evidence

It is commonplace to think of the price of land as an amount per unit of area. This may be inappropriate, because it appears that the value of land increases at a decreasing rate as area increases in some situations, and frontage and depth may affect value differently. Various rules have been developed to aid in the process of estimating site value. This paper describes the functional forms of these rules and provides estimates of the parameters of these rules utilizing historical data. The hypotheses that value is a concave function of both frontage and depth cannot be rejected.

Der Ranking-Effekt. Der Einfluss des "Shanghai-Rankings" auf die medial dargestellte Reputation deutscher Universitäten

Universitäten müssen sich zunehmend einem öffentlichen Wettbewerb um Sichtbarkeit und Reputation stellen. Dieser wird maßgeblich über Massenmedien ausgetragen. Allerdings sind Universitäten als komplexe, heterogene Institutionen nur schwer beschreibbar. Universitätsrankings setzen an dieser Stelle an: Sie reduzieren den komplexen Gegenstand auf Ranglisten und wenige Maßzahlen. Die vorliegende Studie untersucht, ob die Veröffentlichung von Ranking-Ergebnissen dazu führt, dass Massenmedien in ihrer Berichterstattung den im Ranking erfolgreichen Universitäten mehr Reputation zuschreiben. Auf Basis einer Inhaltsanalyse deutscher Leit-Printmedien rund um die jährlichen Publikationen der „Shanghai-Rankings“ von 2004 bis 2013 lässt sich zeigen, dass ein Ranking-Effekt auf die Berichterstattung existiert: Nach der Veröffentlichung der Ranking-Ergebnisse wurden dort platzierte Universitäten reputierlicher dargestellt als vor der Veröffentlichung. Dieser Ranking-Effekt ist bei besser platzierten Universitäten stärker als bei niedriger rangierten Hochschulen. Allerdings nimmt er im Zeitverlauf nicht zu

Mitochondrial DNA analysis shows a Near Eastern Neolithic origin for domestic cattle and no indication of domestication of European aurochs

The extinct aurochs (Bos primigenius primigenius) was a large type of cattle that ranged over almost the whole Eurasian continent. The aurochs is the wild progenitor of modem cattle, but it is unclear whether European aurochs contributed to this process. To provide new insights into the demographic history of aurochs and domestic cattle, we have generated high-confidence mitochondrial DNA sequences from 59 archaeological skeletal finds, which were attributed to wild European cattle populations based on their chronological date and/or morphology. All pre-Neolithic aurochs belonged to the previously designated P haplogroup, indicating that this represents the Late Glacial Central European signature. We also report one new and highly divergent haplotype in a Neolithic aurochs sample from Germany, which points to greater variability during the Pleistocene. Furthermore, the Neolithic and Bronze Age samples that were classified with confidence as European aurochs using morphological criteria all carry P haplotype mitochondrial DNA, suggesting continuity of I-ate Glacial and Early Holocene aurochs populations in Europe. Bayesian analysis indicates that recent population growth gives a significantly better fit to our data than a constant-sized population, an observation consistent with a postglacial expansion scenario, possibly from a single European refugial population. Previous work has shown that most ancient and modern European domestic cattle carry haplotypes previously designated T. This, in combination with our new finding of a T haplotype in a very Early Neolithic site in Syria, lends persuasive support to a scenario whereby gracile Near Eastern domestic populations, carrying predominantly T haplotypes, replaced P haplotype-carrying robust autochthonous aurochs populations in Europe, from the Early Neolithic onward. During the period of coexistence, it appears that domestic cattle were kept separate from wild aurochs and introgression was extremely rare