Economic indicator comparisons of international real estate sectors using the OECD input-output database

With its growing share in national economies, the real estate sector has been considered a vital contributor of economic development. Research efforts are needed in order to gain a better comprehension of the national specificities of the real estate sector and to identify its role in economic development. Due to limited comparable data, the economic indicators of real estate sectors are hard to compare between different countries. This paper aims to explore the quantitative interdependence amongst the real estate sector and other industries in developed economies using input-output analysis, and to investigate their significant linkages. Based on the recently published Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) input-output database at constant prices, the analysis focuses on the real estate's escalating role in terms ofshares in gross output, value added and gross national product. With emphasis on the relative role of manufacturing, construction and services inputs, this paper also highlights the strengths of the push and pull of the real estate sector.

Economic analyses on multinational real estate and construction sectors

Both the construction and real estate sectors have been considered vital productive drivers for the economic development of a nation. Multinational economic analyses on these two sectors over a long period enable a better comprehension of their effects and interrelationships. Based on the recently published Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) input-output database at constant prices, this paper compares the real estate and construction sectors of six countries in terms of their shares in gross national product and gross national income. The push and pull effects of these two sectors onto the whole economy are further determined using forward and backward linkage indicators respectively. In addition, the interactions between themselves are formulated in terms of direct and total input parameters. This research provides a numerical approach to examine the economic influences and sectorial correlation of the real estate and construction sectors.

The Australian construction linkages in the 1990s

Abstract: During the 1990s, the construction sector played an important role with its growing contributions to the gross national product, gross domestic product and employment in the Australian economy. Using the newly released 1998-99 input-output table and four previously published tables by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, this paper aims to measure the sectoral linkages of the Australian construction sector in the 1990s in relation to other industrial countries. Results describe the increase in construction volume was mainly due to the increase in governmental and non-residential construction expenditures and lagging construction technology. The technical level of the non-residential construction sub-sector was a drag to the total construction, while the non-residential construction sub-sector presented a stronger economic push than that of the residential construction sub-sector. In the 1990s, the inputs and outputs' components of the construction sector were stable. The linkages of the Australian construction sector are discussed from an international point of view.

Australia and Japan after the second world war: constructing new futures in Asia

The subject of my lecture is Australian-Japanese relations since the end of the Second World War, but I’m keen to explore these relations in the context of ideas, efforts and practical results in relation to collaborative and other efforts towards regionalism in the Asia Pacific. My general argument is that, on the one hand, Australian-Japanese relations have developed with a strength that would have been hard to imagine in 1945, and with an important focus on regional growth and security. The incremental steps taken may have been small and at a steady pace but, given the legacy of deep scars resulting from the Second World War and given the limitations on the defence aspects of Japan’s postwar involvement in regional affairs (ie the self defence requirement of the Constitution and the practice of spending not more than one per cent of Gross National Product on defence), these have been very successfully negotiated steps. On the other hand, there are some opportunities for greater joint leadership in the region which may or may not be realized. The incremental steps took place in difficult and changing circumstances; and what I would like to do now is remind us of how many unknowns attached to what might happen in Australian- Japan relationships after the Second World War, partly because there were so many unknowns about how the post-war international order would settle, and partly because Australian-Japanese relations started from such a desperately low point. I will try to walk through some of the key features of different periods, as I see the periodisation logically falling out after the war, and draw some thoughts together in relation to more recent initiatives on regional and bilateral co-operation. My training is as a historian, and that shapes the way this lecture works, and for most of my career I have been an Australian historian of international relations, looking particularly at Australia’s changing role in world affairs, and that is also likely to show in what follows－possibly at the expense of greater detail from Japanese perspectives. But I hope you will understand that, and also the limitations involved in trying to paint with a broad brush on a huge historical canvas.

Input–output structures of the Australian construction industry

The Australian construction industry continues to play an important role in the national economy. Analysis using input–output tables makes it possible to understand the role of the construction industry in Australia’s economy and its relationships to other major industries over years. This study applies several economic indicators to investigate the construction industry’s contributions to gross national product and gross national income, as well as its backward and forward linkage indicators, and its output and input multipliers. The paper also investigates the purchases of goods and services by the construction industry from other sectors and its sales to other industries over the analysis period. Findings from this research may help policymakers to better understand the economic linkages between the construction industry and other major industries, and the structural changes in its inputs and outputs in relation to these others.

Are shocks to national income persistent? New global evidence

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the integrational properties of real GDP for 125 countries
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Design/methodology/approach – The paper applies the Kwiatkowski et al. univariate test and a KPSS-type univariate test that accounts for multiple structural breaks – a test procedure proposed by Carrion-i-Silvestre et al. The panel versions of the KPSS-type test, proposed by Carrion-i-Silvestre et al. with and without structural breaks, are also applied.

Findings – The paper finds that, while univariate tests with and without structural breaks provide mixed results on persistence, the panel test suggests that shocks to national output are persistent.

Originality/value – This is a multi-country study that focuses on both developed and developing countries and uses more recent data to provide new and comparable evidence on the persistence of output.

Is the Genuine Progress Indicator really genuine? Considering well-being impacts of exports and imports

The Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) is estimated as if nations operate within a closed economy. Therefore, in terms of coverage, the GPI is most analogous to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Indeed, within the relevant literature, these two indicators are most often contrasted. However, consideration should be given to adapting the GPI, so it has more in common with Gross National Income (GNI). As with GDP, the GPI is concerned only with a particular physical location. Yet, it may be more effective if the GPI was freed from these physical boundaries in a similar manner to GNI. The GPI should be concerned more with the 'ownership' of the costs and benefits associated with economic growth than with the 'location' of those costs and benefits. Those that derive the most benefit from exploitation of the environment are often physically removed from the location of that damage. The GPI does not consider the net consumers of the negative externalities of environmental costs, merely the producers. Currently, however, the structure of the GPI allows a nation to enjoy, without penalty, the benefits of importing goods from countries which bear a disproportionately large cost of environmental degradation. This results in an overstatement of the real progress experienced by the county importing 'dirty goods'. This paper will investigate how certain GPI adjustments may be adapted to overcome this present shortcoming. However, the purpose of this paper is not only to empirically implement this new approach, but also to stimulate debate as to its potential merit.

Comparing Australias genuine progress to its economic growth performance

Australia has recorded consistently strong levels of economic growth in recent times. Under conventional considerations, the well-being experienced by Australians would also be considered to have increased in equal terms over this period. This is because aggregate standard national accounts have from their inception been assigned as proxy measures of well-being both within the economic literature and public debate. However, this approach fails to consider a number of important economic costs and non-welfaristic impacts on well-being associated with a growing economy. As a result, figures such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita over-estimate well-being. It is possible to adjust these estimates to overcome these limitations. Within this paper, the sustainable well-being of Australia will be reviewed by estimating a Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) for the period 1986–2003. Policy implications following from this new analysis will also be discussed.

Comparing Victoria's genuine progress with that of the Rest-of-Australia

While a range of exogenous and endogenous factors affect the standard of  living of most Australians in a more-or-less uniform way, the different social and economic-policies of each state government are likely to affect the levels of sustainable well-being experienced across the various states. With this in mind, a Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) - a newly devised measure of sustainable well-being - is calculated for Victoria and the Rest- of- Australia (Australia minus Victoria) for the period 1986-2003. The GPI takes account of the various costs and benefits of economic activity in order to investigate the impact of a growing state or national economy on sustainable well-being.
By analysing the GPI results and the policies undertaken by the Victorian government, it is possible to determine what the state of Victoria is doing differently to the Rest-of-Australia that might be beneficial or detrimental to sustainable well-being. While our study reveals that Victoria is performing better than the Rest-of-Australia, it also highlights flaws in the policy-making process that have resulted in Victoria's Gross State Product (GSP) overstating its genuine progress.

Challenges facing housing affordability in Beijing in the Twenty-first century

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is analyse to what extent the high price had led to low levels of housing affordability in the period 2002-2006 in Beijing. Due to the importance of housing for local residents and the crucial position that real estate market in the Chinese economy is currently in, research into the housing affordability issues is now essential. It is important to consider the social circumstances that are predominantly related to both the standard of living and the national economy in Beijing.

Design/methodology/approach – The housing price to income ratio (PIR) method and Housing Affordability Index (HAI) model are used to measure housing affordability in Beijing. Then, the reasons for the high housing prices in Beijing are discussed and government homeownership-oriented policies to help citizen on housing issues are examined. Finally, future proposals which can contribute to ease the housing affordability problem are recommended.

Findings – The main findings in this research are that the PIR in the Beijing housing market (based on an average gross floor area of 60?m2) fluctuated between 6.69 and 9.12, respectively, between 2002 and 2006. Over the same period, the HAI was approximately 75 between 2002 and 2004, although decreasing sharply in 2005 (65.78) and 2006 (51.33). It appears that the Chinese government's new housing provision policies may be able to ease this affordability problem, especially with regards to the economic housing scheme.

Originality/value – China has experienced rapid growth in gross domestic product (GDP) with a substantial increase in house prices which have affected housing affordability for typical Beijing households. Since the housing reform in China commenced in 1998, Beijing residents, government officers and academics have been concerned about high housing prices in the city, which is considered beyond the buying capability of the ordinary residents. The results are designed to provide an insight into the level of housing affordability in Beijing and whether a trend exists.

An econometric model of the determinants of private investment and a CGE model of the impact of democracy on investment and economic growth in Fiji

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to construct an econometric model of the determinants of private investment with a particular focus on the impact of democracy on investment.

Design/methodology/approach – The first step was to econometrically derive the long-run elasticities; then to modify the Fiji computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to incorporate the investment function. Also the econometrically derived long run elasticities in the CGE model were used.

Findings – It was found that democracy has a positive and statistically significant impact on private investment in Fiji. The paper's simulation of Fiji becoming a fully democratic country on investment and other macroeconomic fundamentals, based on a CGE model, reveals that real gross domestic product and real national welfare increase by around 0.01 and 0.05 per cent, respectively; government savings and revenue performance improves; there is a trade balance surplus; and both private consumption and disposable income increase by around 0.05 and 0.12 per cent, respectively.

Originality/value – This is the first study that uses a CGE model to examine the impact of democracy, via investment, on other macroeconomic fundaments. No other study is known to have modelled democracy in a CGE framework.

Use of wild fish and other aquatic organisms as feed in aquaculture; a review of practices and implications in the Asia Pacific

Global and Asian aquaculture have witnessed a ten-fold increase in production from 1980 to 2004. However, the relative percent contribution to production of each of the major commodities has remained almost unchanged. For example, the contribution of freshwater finfish has declined from 71 to 66 percent in Asia but has remained unchanged globally over the last 20 to 30 years. This fact has dictated trends in the use of fish as a feed for cultured stocks. The growth in the sector has gone hand in hand with an increasing dependence on fish as feed, either directly or indirectly. In a number of countries in the Asia-Pacific region, the aquaculture sector has surpassed the capture fisheries sector in its respective contributions to the gross domestic product (GDP). Aquaculture’s increased contribution to national GDPs can be taken as a clear indication of the contribution of the sector to food security and poverty alleviation. The use of finfish and other aquatic organisms as a feed source can be through direct utilization of whole or chopped raw fish in wet form, through fishmeal and fish oil in formulated feeds, and/or as live fish, although the latter is uncommon and the overall amounts used are relatively small. In the first two categories, the fish used are often termed “trash fish/low-value fish”. Although attempts have been made to define this term, all definitions have a certain degree of ambiguity and/or subjectivity. In this regional review, the amount of fish used as feed sources based on the above categories was estimated primarily from the production data, supported by assumptions on the inclusion levels of fishmeal in formulated feeds and observed feed conversion efficiencies for both formulated feeds and for stock fed trash fish/low-value fish directly. A scenario for the use of fish as feed was developed by starting from the levels of aquaculture production recorded in 2004 and assuming increases in production volumes of 10, 15 and 20 percent by 2010, respectively, for the three trajectories. In parallel, the pattern of wild fish use as feed was projected to change as fish and shrimp farmers increasingly replace farmmade feeds by incorporating trash fish/low-value fish with manufactured feeds that include fishmeal. Also, the fishmeal inclusion rates in manufactured feeds are falling slowly, and this has been incorporated into the projections. The regional review also deals with the production of fishmeal using trash fish/low-value fish in the Asia-Pacific region. Regional fishmeal production as a whole is relatively low when compared with that of major fishmeal-producing countries such as Chile, Iceland and Norway, amounting to approximately 1 million tonnes per year. However, there is a trend towards increasing the use of fish industry waste, such as from the tuna canning industry in Thailand. The fishmeal produced in the region is priced considerably lower than globally traded fishmeal, but its quality is poorer. Total fishmeal use in Asian aquaculture in 2004 was estimated as 2 388 million tonnes, the highest proportion of this being used for crustacean aquaculture (1 418 million tonnes). Based on growth predictions (to year 2010) in the sector and improvements to feed quality and management, it is expected that the quantity of fishmeal used in Asian aquaculture will be slightly less than at present. An estimated 240 000 tonnes of fish oil is used in Asian aquaculture, principally in shrimp feeds. Based on production estimates of commodities in 2004 that rely on trash fish/low-value fish as the main feed source, this regional review suggests that Asian aquaculture currently uses between 2 465 and 3 882 million tonnes, an amount that is predicted to decrease to between 1.890 and 2 795 million tonnes by 2010. The use of trash fish/low-value fish and fishmeal by the aquaculture sector has been repeatedly adjudicated as a non-sustainable practice, and globally the sector is seeking to reduce its dependence on fish as feed through improved feed management practices and development of better quality feeds and feed formulations using alternative ingredients. Over the next few years, decreases in the use of trash fish/low-value fish are also expected to be achieved through better conversion of raw materials into fishmeal and fish oil during the reduction processes. The “way forward” in addressing the issue of the use of fish as feed in aquaculture in the Asia-Pacific region includes the need for a concerted regional research thrust to reduce the use of fish as feed sources in aquaculture, as has been achieved in the animal husbandry sector. Secondly, there is a need to increase farmer awareness on the use of trash fish as feed. This is achievable, considering the similar progress that has been made by the region’s shrimp farming sector, which almost exclusively involves small-scale practitioners who are often clustered in a given locality. The analysis also suggests that the use of trash fish/low-value fish in aquaculture may be compatible with improving food security and alleviating poverty. In Asia, trash fish/low-value fish is mostly landed in areas where there are other suitable fish commodities for human consumption. To make the trash fish/low-value fish suitable and available for human consumption would involve some degree of value-adding and transportation costs, which are likely to increase the price to beyond the means of the consumer, particularly in remote rural areas. Under such a scenario, the direct or indirect use of this perishable resource as a feed source to produce a consumable commodity appears to make economic sense and appears to be the most logical use for overall human benefit. In this manner, trash fish/low-value fish contributes to food security by increasing income generation opportunities and hence contributes to poverty alleviation. Another factor that needs to be taken into account is the large numbers of artisanal fishers who harvest this raw material. The continued use of trash fish/low-value fish, therefore, allows these fishers to maintain their livelihoods¹. Admittedly, this is an area that warrants more detailed investigation, from resource use, livelihoods and economic viewpoints.