Since 1995, the government has launched brownfield financing programs to promote brownfield cleanup and redevelopment in the United States. These programs have lowered financial barriers for brownfield developers and returned vibrant properties to communities. In this study, I focus on examining...

This paper examines why and how publicly-traded home builders might use index-based residential property derivatives to manage risk. After describing a number of alternative reasons for hedging, I argue for a paradigm for risk management proposed by Kenneth Froot, David Scharfstein and Jeremy...

In its Global Economics Paper Nc.134, the Goldman Sachs Economics Group highlights the West African country of Nigeria as having the potential to be among the next generation of emerging markets around the world the next eleven (N-11) - after their much publicized BRIC countries: Brazil, Russia,...

This thesis examines foreclosure sales of single-family homes in eight communities in the Boston Metro area and the price appreciation from purchase of a foreclosed property through to a subsequent fair market, arms-length sale. The post foreclosure sale price appreciation of the foreclosed...

This paper examines a second home market near Heavenly Ski Resort in South Lake Tahoe, CA to understand historical pricing behaviors and to forecast future prices using an econometric model derived from economic, demographic, and climate data. In order to do this study, we gathered historical...

During Portuguese colonial rule biased service provision throughout the 20th century resulted in a city that today has spatially segregated water services distinguishable along racial lines. In 1975, a newly independent Mozambique lacked the financial and human resources necessary to extend its...

Governments are coming under increasing pressure to augment their revenues to offset the social costs of globalization and ever-widening trade and capital liberalization. Unarguably, the most sustainable way to procure additional resources is taxation. In this context, one of the main challenges...

The theory of comparative advantage argues that countries benefit from trade even without cost competitiveness and that what matters is the difference between efficiencies at which a country can produce different goods and services within its economy. In reality, however, a significant...

Research was conducted on the proposed Green Line Extension, a light rail corridor from Cambridge through Somerville and Medford, Massachusetts. The project is being undertaken by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Due to...

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a quantitative tool that measures the bundled impact of an individual product over its entire life cycle, from "cradle-to-grave." LCA has been developed over many decades to improve industry's environmental performance, and also to create environmental labels for...