Stanimira Milcheva and Steffen Sebastian
The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of the housing market in the monetary policy transmission to consumption among euro area member states. It has been argued that…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of the housing market in the monetary policy transmission to consumption among euro area member states. It has been argued that the housing market in one country is then important when its mortgage market is well developed. The countries in the euro area follow unitary monetary policy; however, their housing and mortgage markets show some heterogeneity, which may lead to different policy effects on aggregate consumption through the housing market.
Design/methodology/approach
The housing market can act as a channel of monetary policy shocks to household consumption through changes in house prices and residential investment – the housing market channel. The authors estimate vector autoregressive models for each country and conduct a counterfactual analysis to disentangle the housing market channel and assess its importance across the euro area member states.
Findings
The authors find little evidence for heterogeneity of the monetary policy transmission through house prices across the euro area countries. Housing market variations in the euro area seem to be better captured by changes in residential investment rather than by changes in house prices. As a result, the authors do not find significantly large house price channels. For some of the countries however, they observe a monetary policy channel through residential investment. The existence of a housing channel may depend on institutional features of both the labour market or with institutional factors capturing the degree of household debt as is the loan-to-value ratio.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the existing literature by assessing whether a unitary monetary policy has a different impact on consumption across the euro area countries through their housing and mortgage markets. The authors disentangle monetary-policy-induced effects on consumption associated with variations on the housing markets due to either house price variations or residential investment changes. The authors show that the housing market can play a role in the monetary transmission mechanism even in countries with less developed mortgage markets through variations in residential investment.
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Tobias Schnaidt and Steffen Sebastian
There is a continuing discussion about whether German valuation methods are inaccurate and inferior to the British standard, and the enduring efforts for a European and…
Abstract
Purpose
There is a continuing discussion about whether German valuation methods are inaccurate and inferior to the British standard, and the enduring efforts for a European and internationally standardised valuation method and value definitions intensify this discussion. The German valuation system is said to lead to valuations which do not reflect actual market conditions and excessive smoothing. Not surprisingly, German surveyors usually disagree and claim that the German valuation approach, with its sustainable rental value, fulfils not only its purpose but is more transparent and thus superior to the approach usually applied in UK. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the recently adjusted German valuation methods.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper analyses the German valuation methods and highlights the predominant differences to the British valuation standards.
Findings
The paper shows that the discussed valuation methods should lead to comparable results. The legal framework of the German valuation approaches can therefore not be blamed for any of the observed empirical phenomenon.
Originality/value
The paper discusses the recently adjusted German valuation methods.
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The majority of institutional investors in Germany use the German income approach (GIA) while investors abroad prefer the discounted cash flow (DCF). The debate around the two…
Abstract
Purpose
The majority of institutional investors in Germany use the German income approach (GIA) while investors abroad prefer the discounted cash flow (DCF). The debate around the two methods has been largely theoretical, lacking large-scale empirical evidence. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis consisted of a performance comparison and hedonic regressions based on ordinary least squares. Fitted GIA and DCF values were obtained for all observations in the data set in order to eliminate distortions caused by different property characteristics in the two valuation sub-samples.
Findings
The research hypothesis, stating that the two methods result in statistically identical estimations of value, was rejected. The performance analysis showed that GIA valuations displayed smoother total return performance due to less volatile capital growth in comparison to DCF valuations. Comparing the fitted values obtained from the regressions showed that GIA valuations were on average lower than their DCF counterparts. The difference was small and both methods resulted in very similar fitted values. The difference between fitted values was not constant over time and decreased toward the end of the analysis period.
Practical implications
The research adds empirical arguments to the ongoing debate between GIA and DCF valuations. So far empirical proof has been scarce or one-sided.
Originality/value
This analysis is the first large-scale empirical comparison of the DCF and the GIA within the same market.
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Huajun Cao, Yanbin Du and Yongpeng Chen
China has become the low‐cost manufacturing center of the world. The purpose of this paper is to provide an in‐depth analysis of a new manufacturing strategy for China's future…
Abstract
Purpose
China has become the low‐cost manufacturing center of the world. The purpose of this paper is to provide an in‐depth analysis of a new manufacturing strategy for China's future manufacturing sector which is trying to transform into a new low‐carbon development paradigm. It also aims to discuss the empirical implications and policy suggestions.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on the broad reviewing of the relative government documents and press reports in China, the USA, and Japan. The authors also conducted case research of China's remanufacturing practices.
Findings
The high energy consumption and emissions of China's manufacturing sector results from the widespread use of obsolete production equipment, which can produce low‐cost products with a severely negative environmental effect. The remanufacturing strategy can upgrade existing production equipment to improve production efficiency, which will be a more practical paradigm for China's future manufacturing sector.
Originality/value
The previous relative low‐carbon policies in China are mainly associated with the administrative measures, such as direct “command‐control”, which have paid little attention to the practical development paradigm. This paper first provides a framework for understanding and practical evidence for the remanufacturing strategy as a new low‐carbon paradigm for the giant manufacturing sector of the world's largest developing country.
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Heike Bartsch, Sebastian Thiele, Jens Mueller, Dirk Schabbel, Beate Capraro, Timmy Reimann, Steffen Grund and Jörg Töpfer
This paper aims to investigate the usability of the nickel copper zinc ferrite with the composition Ni0.4Cu0.2Zn0.4Fe1.98O3.99 for the realization of high-temperature multilayer…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the usability of the nickel copper zinc ferrite with the composition Ni0.4Cu0.2Zn0.4Fe1.98O3.99 for the realization of high-temperature multilayer coils as discrete components and integrated, buried function units in low temperature cofired ceramics (LTCC).
Design/methodology/approach
LTCC tapes were cast and test components were produced as multilayer coils and as embedded coils in a dielectric tape. Different metallization pastes are compared. The properties of the components were measured at room temperature and higher temperature up to 250°C. The results are compared with simulation data.
Findings
The silver palladium paste revealed the highest inductance values within the study. The measured characteristics over a frequency range from 1 MHz to 100 MHz agree qualitatively with the measurements obtained from toroidal test samples. The inductance increases with increasing temperature and this influence is lower than 10%. The characteristic of embedded coils is comparable with this of multilayer components. The effective permeability of the ferrite material reaches values around 130.
Research limitations/implications
The research results based on a limited number of experiments; therefore, the results should be verified considering higher sample sizes.
Practical implications
The results encourage the further investigation of the material Ni0.4Cu0.2Zn0.4Fe1.98O3.99 for the use as high-temperature ferrite for the design of multilayer coils with an operation frequency in the range of 5-10 MHz and operation temperatures up to 250°C.
Originality/value
It is demonstrated for the first time, that the material Ni0.4Cu0.2Zn0.4Fe1.98O3.99 is suitable for the realization of high-temperature multilayer coils and embedded coils in LTCC circuit carriers with high performance.
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Robert E. Freeland, Lynn Smith-Lovin, Kimberly B. Rogers, Jesse Hoey and Joseph Quinn
Answering two questions: What do people believe is the gender makeup of different occupations? If there is a systematic difference between the actual and perceived gender…
Abstract
Purpose
Answering two questions: What do people believe is the gender makeup of different occupations? If there is a systematic difference between the actual and perceived gender composition what factors predict or mediate this difference?
Methodology/Approach
We integrate three occupation-level datasets: ratings of perceived gender composition and cultural sentiments (EPA ratings) for every 2010 Census occupation collected for this study, occupational characteristics from O*NET, and demographic characteristics from the 2015 to 2019 Current Population Survey. Regression models examine the association between sentiments and objective occupational traits on the perceived gender composition net of the actual gender composition.
Findings
While respondents underestimate extreme values, perceptions largely reflect actual composition. Gendered sentiments had a significant independent effect on gender composition perceptions. Examining the relationship between objective occupational features, sentiments, and perceptions allows scholars to better understand the links between structural conditions, gendered beliefs, and social action. If individuals underestimate the extent of gender segregation and view some occupations as more diverse than they are, they may be more willing to consider occupations inconsistent with their gender identity. On the other hand, if they misperceive gender composition because of cultural sentiments, they may choose an occupational course somewhat different from their intentions.
Originality/Value of the Chapter
Research on gender composition typically employs either a macro approach based on governmental statistics or a micro approach that examines a limited number of occupations. This is the first study to conduct a complete census of every Census occupation for perceived gender composition and cultural sentiments.
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Ruedi Epple, Martin Gasser, Sarah Kersten, Michael Nollert and Sebastian Schief
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the effect of cantonal social policies and cultural settings (in Switzerland) on women’s and men’s employment behaviour. Special…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the effect of cantonal social policies and cultural settings (in Switzerland) on women’s and men’s employment behaviour. Special consideration is given to the transition to parenthood.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on data from the Swiss Labour Force Survey (SLFS) this paper conducts multilevel analyses to test individual and cantonal effects on the probability of employment and on working hours. To analyse the effect of parenthood, models for women and men with children under three are contrasted with models for women and men without children or with older children.
Findings
The paper documents the persistence of gender inequality in employment linked to parenthood. How the reconciliation of work and family life can be realised for women and men strongly depends on a set of policies and cultural conditions. Moreover, individual characteristics such as education or marriage are important predictors.
Research limitations/implications
A shortcoming of this study is the focus on the individual employment use and not on household-level division of labour. This disadvantage is due to the design of the SLFS, which is (at present) the only available survey to allow regionalisation at the cantonal level. However, the paper adds important results to the debate about gender inequality and parenthood in Switzerland as previous research has focused only little on cantonal diversity.
Originality/value
The paper connects to previous cantonal comparative studies of female employment but extends their analyses in three important ways. By analysing cantonal differences in policies and culture this paper takes the diversity of framework conditions in Switzerland into account. Furthermore it simultaneously analyses male and female employment behaviour to get a better understanding of gender inequality and parenthood.