In this paper the inflation hedging characteristics of Hong Kong real estate market are examined using 1998-2006 data. Both short-term and long-term methods are used. The short-term method follows Fama and Schwert framework. To separate expected and unexpected inflation rate from nominal...

Are we witnessing the gradual globalization of national land laws, which have traditionally been considered to be the paradigm of legal idiosyncrasy, by virtue of their reflecting place-specific society, culture, and politics? This Article offers an innovative analysis of the conflicting forces...

This paper is able to put together a data base of 86 repeat sales transactions for office properties in lower and mid town Manhattan spanning the years from 1899 through 1999. Using this very limited data base, decade-interval changes in real property prices are estimated - with varying degrees...

Given the changes that occurred in the organization and specialization of Italian industrial districts and the changing geography of the banking system, in this paper is we aim at reassessing the bank-firm relationship in industrial districts. Using firm-level data on a sample of Italian SME, we...

This analysis of the determinants of private farmer access to rural finance in Romania has two distinct aspects: (i) a quantitative evaluation of some measurable variables for example factors affecting the amount of loans and the volume of savings; and (ii) a qualitative aspect, concentrating on...

The objectives of the paper are to show how the sustainability of urban settlements can be improved by treating as a variable the design of: (a) property rights to realty, corporations and currencies and: (b) their communication and control governance architecture. System science provides the...

Housing costs comprise a major part of most household budgets. Larger households require greater space than do smaller households but do not necessarily have larger incomes. The cost of extra housing space (e.g. the cost of an extra bedroom) may vary across different locations, both absolutely...

With this paper we seek to contribute to the literature on the relation between finance and growth. We argue that most studies in the field fail to measure the quality of financial intermediation but rather resort to using proxies on the size of financial systems. Moreover, cross-country...

The regional bank problems in Japan can be summarized as accumulating non-performing loans, the lack of diversification and attendant portfolio risk, and the absence of effective competition. This paper argues that the regional bank problems should be addressed in conjunction with the financing...

Until the late 1990s, the rapid development of rural cooperative funds as semi-formal financial institutions in the countryside attracted little attention. In many provinces, these funds took over large swathes of rural finance, before the State Council in March 1999 issued a secret decree...