Creixement urbà i producció de l'espai a Lleida (1940-1980)

Aquest article té com a objecte establir la relació existent entre les formes materials que adopta el creixement urbi i les caracteristiques del mercat del sòl i del m rcat immobiliari. La proposició inicial de la qual es parteix és l'afirmació e la dependència de les primeres respecte al grau de desenvolupament del mercat; i això en dos aspectes: primer, en l'origen d'una determinada forma urbaba; segon, en la seva posterior evolució. El cas analitzat, el procés de creixement urbà de Lleida en uns anys de gran creixement econòmic -canvi agrícola basat en l'especialització fruitera i en la difusió de les granges d'estabulació ramadera- i demogràfic -41.464 habitants el 1940, 106.814 habitants el 1981- pretén servir per treure unes remarques qenerals, formulades en el present treball com a hipòtesis, que poden orientar aquelles recerques que busquen en les característiques d'una formació social la variable independent que ha de permetre la comprensió d'unes morfologies. El marc eneral de referència és la teoria sobre la "producció de l'espai", encara que matisada i acotada a aquells aspectes que poden ser més rellevants en la comprensió del sorgiment de les formes materials urbanes.

Cross-country differences in disclosure quality: a study of fair value disclosures by european real estate companies

Companies are under IAS 40 required to report fair values of investment properties on the balance sheet or to disclose them in the notes. The standard requires also that companies have to disclose the methods and significant assumptions applied in determining fair values of investment properties. However, IAS 40 does not include any illustrative examples or other guidance on how to apply the disclosure requirements. We use a sample with publicly traded companies from the real estate sector in the EU. We find that a majority of the companies use income based methods for the measurement of fair values but there are considerable cross-country variations in the level of disclosures about the assumptions used in determining fair values. More specifically, we find that Scandinavian and German origin companies disclose more than French and English origin companies. We also test whether disclosure quality is associated with enforcement quality measured with the “Rule of Law” index according to Kaufmann et al. (2010), and associated with a secrecy- versus transparency-measure based on Gray (1988). We find a positive association between disclosure and earnings quality and a negative association with secrecy.

Planning and control of internal development projects in a fast changing environment: Case study

Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on kuvata ja ymmärtää kuinka sisäisiä kehityshankkeita voidaan hallita onnistuneesti kun toimitaan nopeasti muuttuvassa ympäristössä. Tutkimus kuvailee etenkin projekteille tärkeitä menestymistekijöitä, kuten suunnittelu, kontrollointi ja päätöksenteko. Tutkimus selvittää yleisimmät ongelma-alueet case-organisaation sisäisten kehityshankkeiden hallinnassa. Tutkimus on luonteeltaan laadullinen tutkimus, jossa tutkimusmenetelmänä on käytetty tapaustutkimusta. Empiirisessa osassa käsittellään case-organisaation sisäisiä informaatioteknologia-hankkeita (IT) ja uusien konseptien kehityshankkeita (NCD). iSisäisten kehityshankkeiden erilaisuuden ymmärtäminen oli tutkimuksen tärkein tulos. Tutkimuksen empiirinen osio osoitti sen, että epävarmuudella on erittäin suuri vaikutus projektihallintaan sekä projektin kontrollointiin. Case-organisaation IT-projektien onnistuminen riippuu organisaatiomuu-toksen onnistumisesta. Asiakkaisiin ja markkinoihin liittyvät epävarmuudet ovat vaikuttavimmat NCD projektien epävarmuuksista. Näillä epävarmuuk-sil­la on vaikutusta projektihallintaan jonka myötä NCD projektit juuttuvat useim­mi­ten noidankehiin tai ne lopetetaan jo aikaisessa vaiheessa.

Internationalization of an SME through FDI as mode of entry - Case Real Estate Company

This study examines international entry of an SME to Brazil using foreign direct investment as a mode of entry. The case company discussed is a small real estate investment company that has operated in Finland and has recently internationalized to Brazil. The work examines how does an SME internationalize, what entry mode is advisable to use and it gives a brief insight of the Brazilian market today.

Diversification benefits for a Finnish non-industrial private forest investor: Real Estate Investment Trusts in the USA

This thesis examined both domestic and international forest investment options for a Finnish non-industrial private forest investor. The focus was on forest-based investment instruments. The influence of movements of currency exchange rates on foreign returns were also taken into account. Annual data from 1995 to 2011 was used. The main portfolio optimization model in this study was the Mean-Variance model but the results were also validated by using the Value at Risk and Expected Shortfall models. In addition, the exchange rate risk hedging was established by using one-week-maturity forward contracts. The results suggested that 75 % of the total wealth should be invested in Finnish private forests and the rest, 25 %, to a US REIT, in this case Rayonier. With hedging, the total return on the portfolio was 7.21 % (NIPF 5.3%) with the volatility of 6.63 % (NIPF 7.9%). Taxation supported US investments in this case. As a conclusion, a Finnish private forest investor may, as evidenced, benefit in diversifying a portfolio using REITs in the US.

The Pay-Off Method as a Tool for Evaluating the Risk and Profitability of Public Real Estate Investments

Real option valuation, in particular the fuzzy pay-off method, has proven to be useful in defining risk and visualizing imprecision of investments in various industry applications. This study examines whether the evaluation of risk and profitability for public real estate investments can be improved by using real option methodology. Firstly, the context of real option valuation in the real estate industry is examined. Further, an empirical case study is performed on 30 real estate investments of a Finnish government enterprise in order to determine whether the presently used investment analysis system can be complemented by the pay-off method. Despite challenges in the application of the pay-off method to the case company’s large investment base, real option valuation is found to create additional value and facilitate more robust risk analysis in public real estate applications.

Dynamic linkages of real estate and stock markets in Finland

Traditionally real estate has been seen as a good diversification tool for a stock portfolio due to the lower return and volatility characteristics of real estate investments. However, the diversification benefits of a multi-asset portfolio depend on how the different asset classes co-move in the short- and long-run. As the asset classes are affected by the same macroeconomic factors, interrelationships limiting the diversification benefits could exist. This master’s thesis aims to identify such dynamic linkages in the Finnish real estate and stock markets. The results are beneficial for portfolio optimization tasks as well as for policy-making. The real estate industry can be divided into direct and securitized markets. In this thesis the direct market is depicted by the Finnish housing market index. The securitized market is proxied by the Finnish all-sectors securitized real estate index and by a European residential Real Estate Investment Trust index. The stock market is depicted by OMX Helsinki Cap index. Several macroeconomic variables are incorporated as well. The methodology of this thesis is based on the Vector Autoregressive (VAR) models. The long-run dynamic linkages are studied with Johansen’s cointegration tests and the short-run interrelationships are examined with Granger-causality tests. In addition, impulse response functions and forecast error variance decomposition analyses are used for robustness checks. The results show that long-run co-movement, or cointegration, did not exist between the housing and stock markets during the sample period. This indicates diversification benefits in the long-run. However, cointegration between the stock and securitized real estate markets was identified. This indicates limited diversification benefits and shows that the listed real estate market in Finland is not matured enough to be considered a separate market from the general stock market. Moreover, while securitized real estate was shown to cointegrate with the housing market in the long-run, the two markets are still too different in their characteristics to be used as substitutes in a multi-asset portfolio. This implies that the capital intensiveness of housing investments cannot be circumvented by investing in securitized real estate.

Life-related negative customer emotions in real estate agent encounters

The goal of this study was to explore how do customers’ life-related negative emotions affect real estate business. This was divided into two research questions: 1. What life-related negative emotions can be recognised in real estate customer encounters? 2. How do the recognised emotions affect customer encounters and the realtor’s work? 3. How can the realtor take the emotions into account in customer service? The theoretical background consists of two main lines of study: emotions and customer encounters. A wide literary review on emotions research was conducted from a cognitive psychology point of view, focusing on negative emotions. Emotions research was then combined into the field of customer encounters. Qualitative study was chosen as the methodological basis of the study. Empirical material of this study was collected through in-depth interviews with 13 successful Finnish real estate agents. Narrative research was used as a method for the study. Four life-related emotion categories were recognized in real estate customer encounters: sadness, anger, anxiety and shame. These emotions rose from issues varying from death of a close one to divorce and from major changes in life stages to deep emotional attachment to an old home. The study also found that these incidental negative emotions do affect customer encounters and realtors’ work. The emotions affected the decision making of customers and sometimes overshadowed reason. Some emotions made the customer passive and slow to make any decisions, while others made their decision making fast and hasty. Even though the incidental emotions might not have had anything to do with the real estate deal, they could affect the outcome of the customer encounter and the whole real estate deal. Interestingly enough, the study found that not all successful real estate agents knowingly serve customers in an emotional level. The study does, however, suggest that in fact it may be an ethical decision of the customer server to take into account the emotional state of the customer. Attending to the emotional side of customers does not only increase pleasantness of the customer encounter, but may improve and balance customer decision making and prevent hasty decisions possibly leading to improved customer satisfaction. This study also gave practical managerial implications to customer service providers on how negative incidental emotions can be attended to in a customer encounter. This study could be useful not only to real estate agents, but also in other types of customer service, especially with vulnerable populations or other types of home-related business.

Cogswell, Maria, includes: Application for loan on Real Estate, Insurance Policy, Mortgage Loan Envelope

Cogswell, Maria, includes: Application for loan on Real Estate, Feb. 20, 1882; Insurance Policy no. 2199780 from the Royal Insurance Company of Liverpool, March 17, 1887 and Mortgage Loan Envelope for mortgage no. 1535 from March 1, 1882 – March 1, 1887.

Conklin, Pearl J., includes: Application for loan on Real Estate

Conklin, Pearl J., includes: Application for loan on Real Estate, Aug. 11, 1882.

Dennis, George W. and Mary E. Dennis, includes: Application for Loan on Real Estate, and Abstract of Title

Dennis, George W. and Mary E. Dennis, includes: Application for Loan on Real Estate, July 10, 1882; and Abstract of Title, Sept. 2, 1882.