The practice of providing urban parks as an integral part of community development no longer creates public debate about the function or legal authority of local governments to make such purchases. However, the debate continues on the ethics of local government's parkland acquisition practices. These practices have the capability and motivation to influence the land value of sites they wish to acquire. Local governments are responsible for determining land use, which in turn affects land value. The limited financial means of local government to acquire parks makes influencing land value one way of stretching the scarce resources of the community. The ethics practiced in the negotiations to acquire urban parkland where the land has development potential are unique because: 1. Parkland is a public good and not a market commodity; 2. The potential for other higher land uses exists; and 3. Local government plays a dual role: one of a regulator and approving authority for determining land use and providing community stewardship, and the other as the corporate cost controlling agency seeking to acquire land. These qualities create the strong possibility for ethical conflict to occur in the negotiating process. Building upon the Interest-Based approach to negotiations, this paper uses a set of Prescriptive, Intuitive and Evaluative (P.I.E.) criteria that define ethical conduct, and the dimensions of Fact, Social Consensus and Experience that defines the dimensions of interests, to develop a General Model for Ethical Negotiations (GMEN). Conceptually, the GMEN model is a three-sided pyramid within a sphere of negotiations. Negotiations that adhere to the principles defining the parameters of the pyramid would be considered ethical. Negotiations outside the pyramid are considered unethical. Six parkland acquisition cases are discussed using the GMEN model. In this study, the parameters establishing the criteria for passing ethical judgment are the functions of the political economy, the policy statements of the local government, and the legislation that delegates power and authority to local government. The study finds that ethical conflict is inherent in parkland negotiations where the land has development potential because of the multiple roles and dual character of local government. This conflict is not necessarily illegal since prescriptive criteria are only one means of judging ethics. Nor is the outcome necessarily negative to the vendor, since the public may end up with a less attractive park agreement. However, the parameters that would require parkland acquisition negotiations to be ethical sometimes conflict with some of the multiple roles held by local government. Several recommendations are made that would help to reduce ethical conflict and the imbalance in parkland negotiations.

This paper presents the results of a study dealing with a number of issues regarding real estate investment. Utilizing a data set consisting of real estate transactions, questions relative to the impact of certain variables on the sale price are addressed. This analysis addresses the question of the impact of financial, physical, and location characteristics on the sales price of commercial grade real estate.

The practice of providing urban parks as an integral part of community development no longer creates public debate about the function or legal authority of local governments to make such purchases. However, the debate continues on the ethics of local government's parkland acquisition practices. These practices have the capability and motivation to influence the land value of sites they wish to acquire. Local governments are responsible for determining land use, which in turn affects land value. The limited financial means of local government to acquire parks makes influencing land value one way of stretching the scarce resources of the community. The ethics practiced in the negotiations to acquire urban parkland where the land has development potential are unique because: 1. Parkland is a public good and not a market commodity; 2. The potential for other higher land uses exists; and 3. Local government plays a dual role: one of a regulator and approving authority for determining land use and providing community stewardship, and the other as the corporate cost controlling agency seeking to acquire land. These qualities create the strong possibility for ethical conflict to occur in the negotiating process. Building upon the Interest-Based approach to negotiations, this paper uses a set of Prescriptive, Intuitive and Evaluative (P.I.E.) criteria that define ethical conduct, and the dimensions of Fact, Social Consensus and Experience that defines the dimensions of interests, to develop a General Model for Ethical Negotiations (GMEN). Conceptually, the GMEN model is a three-sided pyramid within a sphere of negotiations. Negotiations that adhere to the principles defining the parameters of the pyramid would be considered ethical. Negotiations outside the pyramid are considered unethical. Six parkland acquisition cases are discussed using the GMEN model. In this study, the parameters establishing the criteria for passing ethical judgment are the functions of the political economy, the policy statements of the local government, and the legislation that delegates power and authority to local government. The study finds that ethical conflict is inherent in parkland negotiations where the land has development potential because of the multiple roles and dual character of local government. This conflict is not necessarily illegal since prescriptive criteria are only one means of judging ethics. Nor is the outcome necessarily negative to the vendor, since the public may end up with a less attractive park agreement. However, the parameters that would require parkland acquisition negotiations to be ethical sometimes conflict with some of the multiple roles held by local government. Several recommendations are made that would help to reduce ethical conflict and the imbalance in parkland negotiations. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

This dissertation contains four essays in spatial and international economics. Chapter 1 investigates how housing variety varies across space. Housing costs are key in understanding real income differences across space and time. Standard measures of housing costs do not account for availability differences, where some housing varieties are available in certain cities or time periods but not others. When households have idiosyncratic preferences over housing units, the set of available housing varieties in a city matters. This paper develops theoretically-founded housing price indices to measure housing costs that account for availability differences. To allow for flexible substitution patterns, I propose a method to jointly estimate the nests that varieties belong to and the elasticity of substitution across varieties within each nest. I find that households in larger cities benefit from having access to varieties not available in smaller cities. Utility-consistent housing prices reduce the elasticity of housing prices with respect to population by a half. Since housing is a third of household expenditure, this implies that we have systematically underestimated real income and overestimated residual amenities in larger cities. In contrast to previous estimates, I find that real income is increasing in city size after accounting for availability differences. Chapter 2 investigates the factors that cause incomplete pass-through of exchange rate shocks into border prices. This paper examines the role of decreasing returns to scale, a channel that has received limited empirical and theoretical attention. Based on a first-order approximation to a firm's optimal price, I show that 1) decreasing returns to scale interacts with variable markups, imported inputs, and destination non-traded costs to generate incomplete pass-through, 2) there is asymmetry between importer currency and exporter currency shocks due to imported inputs, and 3) strategic complementarity matters, where firms adjust their prices in response to competitor prices. I propose a new estimation method for key demand and supply parameters that govern the degree of markup and marginal cost adjustments. Using the estimated parameters, I find that decreasing returns to scale is the dominant factor in generating incomplete pass-through, with variable marginal costs contributing to over 90% of the incomplete pass-through, while variable markups account for less than 10%. Chapter 3 analyzes the determinants of exporter size. Theories of comparative advantage and product differentiation have emphasized productivity and quality differences. This paper shows that incorporating decreasing returns to scale matters for understanding the determinants of exporter size. Exogenous marginal cost differences affect equilibrium quantities but do not necessarily appear in prices since lower exogenous marginal costs (a lower cost curve) are offset by higher endogenous marginal costs (movement along the cost curve). As a result, standard approaches that assume constant returns to scale underestimate the contribution of marginal cost differences and overestimate the contribution of quality differences. Based on bilateral trade flow data between 1997 to 2016 for over 200 countries and 3000 products, I find that standard approaches attribute almost no variation in exporter size to cost differences. In contrast, after incorporating decreasing returns to scale, I estimate that 58% (65%) of the variation in exporter size is attributed to fundamental cost differences in the time series (cross-section). Chapter 4 models and quantifies the dynamic gains from exporting. I develop a dynamic trade model where firms innovate and learn from other firms in the destinations they sell to. The evolution of a country's stock of knowledge can be expressed as a function of export flows and the stocks of knowledge of their trading partners. I find evidence that countries in Asia, North America, and Europe, as well as countries in the top two quartiles of TFP growth were able to better absorb foreign insights than other countries. I evaluate whether there are dynamic gains from trade with two counterfactual exercises. First, I measure the impact of changing trade costs between 1962 and 2000. I find small static gains but zero dynamic gains for the world economy. Second, I quantify the dynamic gains from export-induced foreign knowledge flows by simulating a counterfactual where there is no learning from foreign sources. I find that domestic learning compensates for foreign learning: there are large dynamic gains from exporting when there is no domestic learning and small dynamic gains when there is domestic learning.

A Research Report presented to the Graduate School of Business Leadership University of South Africa. In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the MASTERS DEGREE IN BUSINESS LEADERSHIP, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA / The purpose of this research is to analyse the changes in housing values in Windhoek, Namibia over the past ten years and explore links in property value variation to macroeconomic changes during that period. The objectives of this research are twofold. Firstly this research compiles and assesses the movement of housing values over the past ten years. Secondly this research assesses if there is a causal relationship between changes in macroeconomic factors and housing values, and to define the nature of this relationship. The timing and magnitude of response by housing values to changes in macroeconomic factors are investigated. The primary data requirements for this study are a monthly relative value index of housing prices for the Windhoek area and macroeconomic factors. Macroeconomic data collected relates to macroeconomic conditions within Namibia that could have an effect on housing prices. This includes information on housing supply, GDP, population levels, inflation and interest rates. The results of this study explore the relationship between these factors and changes in housing prices as reflected by changes in the housing index. The most significant result of this study is the effect of housing availability on housing values. Changes in the total supply of housing as estimated by the number of houses built in a month affect changes in housing values after 5 and 6 months. A total of 20.5% of the change in housing values can be explained by the change in total housing supply. The effect of interest rates found by this study was lower than the theory and literature reviews would have led us to expect. The results of the Pearson correlation test for the relationship between percentage changes in interest rates and percentage changes in future housing values found that a relationship exists 8 months after the change in interest rates occurred. Interest rates were found to explain 5.5% of the change in housing values 8 months later. No significant effects were noted for changes in inflation. For population and income changes there was insufficient data to perform more than a high level look at possible interactions with the level of housing prices. / Graduate School of Business Leadership / MBL

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

A Research Report presented to the Graduate School of Business Leadership University of South Africa. In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the MASTERS DEGREE IN BUSINESS LEADERSHIP, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA / The purpose of this research is to analyse the changes in housing values in Windhoek, Namibia over the past ten years and explore links in property value variation to macroeconomic changes during that period. The objectives of this research are twofold. Firstly this research compiles and assesses the movement of housing values over the past ten years. Secondly this research assesses if there is a causal relationship between changes in macroeconomic factors and housing values, and to define the nature of this relationship. The timing and magnitude of response by housing values to changes in macroeconomic factors are investigated. The primary data requirements for this study are a monthly relative value index of housing prices for the Windhoek area and macroeconomic factors. Macroeconomic data collected relates to macroeconomic conditions within Namibia that could have an effect on housing prices. This includes information on housing supply, GDP, population levels, inflation and interest rates. The results of this study explore the relationship between these factors and changes in housing prices as reflected by changes in the housing index. The most significant result of this study is the effect of housing availability on housing values. Changes in the total supply of housing as estimated by the number of houses built in a month affect changes in housing values after 5 and 6 months. A total of 20.5% of the change in housing values can be explained by the change in total housing supply. The effect of interest rates found by this study was lower than the theory and literature reviews would have led us to expect. The results of the Pearson correlation test for the relationship between percentage changes in interest rates and percentage changes in future housing values found that a relationship exists 8 months after the change in interest rates occurred. Interest rates were found to explain 5.5% of the change in housing values 8 months later. No significant effects were noted for changes in inflation. For population and income changes there was insufficient data to perform more than a high level look at possible interactions with the level of housing prices. / Graduate School of Business Leadership / MBL

by Vera Hau Tsz Lai. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 227-236). / ABSTRACT --- p.i-ii / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.iii-iv / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.v-ix / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.x / LIST OF PLATES --- p.xi-xiii / LIST OF TABLES --- p.xiv-xvi / Chapter CHAPTER I --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Problem Statement --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Role of GIS in Housing Price Study --- p.3 / Chapter 1.3 --- Research Objectives --- p.4 / Chapter 1.4 --- Significance --- p.5 / Chapter 1.5 --- Methodologies --- p.6 / Chapter 1.6 --- Organization of Thesis --- p.7 / Chapter CHAPTER II --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.9 / Chapter 2.1 --- Introduction --- p.9 / Chapter 2.2 --- Geography of Housing --- p.10 / Chapter 2.3 --- Housing as a Research Question --- p.11 / Chapter 2.4 --- Housing Services and Housing Price --- p.12 / Chapter 2.5 --- Property Price Valuation --- p.14 / Chapter 2.6 --- Hedonic Price Function --- p.15 / Chapter 2.6.1 --- Dependent Variable - Property Price --- p.16 / Chapter 2.6.2 --- Independent Variables Affecting Housing Price --- p.17 / Chapter 2.6.2.1 --- Aspatial Factors --- p.17 / Chapter 2.6.2.2 --- Spatial Factors --- p.18 / Chapter 2.6.2.3 --- Evaluation on Importance of Parameters --- p.26 / Chapter 2.7 --- Functional Form of Hedonic Price Models --- p.33 / Chapter 2.7.1 --- Conventional Specifications --- p.34 / Chapter 2.7.2 --- Box-Cox Transformation --- p.34 / Chapter 2.7.3 --- Conventional Specifications versus Box-Cox Transformation --- p.35 / Chapter 2.8 --- Submarket Analysis and its Delineation --- p.36 / Chapter 2.9 --- Geographic Information Systems --- p.39 / Chapter 2.10 --- GIS in Real Estate --- p.39 / Chapter 2.11 --- Present Adoption of GIS in Real Estate --- p.42 / Chapter 2.11.1 --- Commercial Applications --- p.42 / Chapter 2.11.2 --- Research-wise Applications --- p.43 / Chapter 2.12 --- Hedonic Price Study with GIS --- p.43 / Chapter 2.13 --- Conclusion --- p.45 / Chapter CHAPTER III --- THE STUDY AREA AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY --- p.47 / Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction --- p.47 / Chapter 3.2 --- Real Estate Sector in Hong Kong --- p.47 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Importance to Local Economy --- p.48 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Importance to Housing Production --- p.48 / Chapter 3.3 --- Urban Development and Housing in Hong Kong --- p.51 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Land Availability and Landuses --- p.51 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Housing and Urban Development --- p.54 / Chapter 3.3.2.1 --- Early Period of Industrialization --- p.54 / Chapter 3.3.2.2 --- Phase of Economic Restructuring --- p.55 / Chapter 3.3.3 --- Urban Renewal --- p.55 / Chapter 3.3.4 --- Comprehensive Housing Projects --- p.56 / Chapter 3.4 --- New Town Housing - Public or Private-Led --- p.57 / Chapter 3.5 --- Hedonic Price of Private Dormitory in Hong Kong --- p.61 / Chapter 3.5.1 --- Temporal Change in Property Price --- p.62 / Chapter 3.5.2 --- Spatial Variation of Property Price --- p.66 / Chapter 3.6 --- The Research --- p.68 / Chapter 3.6.1 --- Cartographic Analysis --- p.68 / Chapter 3.6.2 --- Hedonic Price Model --- p.69 / Chapter 3.6.3 --- Dependent Variable --- p.69 / Chapter 3.6.4 --- Independent Variables --- p.70 / Chapter 3.6.5 --- Chosen Functional Form in this Research --- p.72 / Chapter 3.6.6 --- Submarket Analysis in Hong Kong --- p.72 / Chapter 3.7 --- Conclusion --- p.72 / Chapter CHAPTER IV --- DATABASE CONSTRUCTIONS --- p.74 / Chapter 4.1 --- Introduction --- p.74 / Chapter 4.2 --- Data Collection --- p.74 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Base Maps --- p.75 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Housing Stock and its Attributes --- p.76 / Chapter 4.2.3 --- Official Statistics --- p.76 / Chapter 4.2.4 --- School Quality --- p.77 / Chapter 4.3 --- Data Input --- p.78 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Graphical Input --- p.78 / Chapter 4.3.1.1 --- Base Maps --- p.78 / Chapter 4.3.1.2 --- Line Data --- p.78 / Chapter 4.3.1.3 --- Point/Polygon Data --- p.79 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Attribute Data Input --- p.82 / Chapter 4.4 --- Data Editing and Conversions --- p.82 / Chapter 4.4.1 --- Graphical Input --- p.82 / Chapter 4.4.1.1 --- Standard Coverage Editing Procedures --- p.82 / Chapter 4.4.1.2 --- Specific Coverage Editing Procedures --- p.83 / Chapter 4.4.2 --- Attribute Data --- p.84 / Chapter 4.4.2.1 --- Housing Attributes --- p.84 / Chapter 4.4.2.2 --- Landuse Mix --- p.88 / Chapter 4.4.2.3 --- Socioeconomic Status --- p.91 / Chapter 4.4.2.4 --- Employment Figures --- p.91 / Chapter 4.5 --- Data Pre-processing and Manipulation --- p.93 / Chapter 4.5.1 --- Employment Potentials --- p.93 / Chapter 4.5.2 --- Socioeconomic Variables --- p.96 / Chapter 4.5.2.1 --- Interpretation --- p.97 / Chapter 4.5.3 --- School Quality --- p.107 / Chapter 4.5.4 --- Proximity Measurements --- p.110 / Chapter 4.5.5 --- Final Step of Association : Overlay Operations --- p.110 / Chapter 4.6 --- Conclusion --- p.112 / Chapter CHAPTER V --- CARTOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS --- p.114 / Chapter 5.1 --- Introduction --- p.114 / Chapter 5.2 --- Representation of Data --- p.114 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- Location of Premises --- p.114 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Proximity --- p.118 / Chapter 5.2.3 --- School Quality --- p.118 / Chapter 5.2.4 --- Landuse Mix --- p.129 / Chapter 5.2.5 --- Employment --- p.132 / Chapter 5.2.6 --- Property Price --- p.137 / Chapter 5.3 --- Results and Discussions --- p.137 / Chapter 5.3.1 --- Temporal Variation on Housing Supply --- p.143 / Chapter 5.3.2 --- Temporal Variation on Floor Size --- p.145 / Chapter 5.3.3 --- Temporal Variation on Property Price --- p.148 / Chapter 5.4 --- Locational Variations --- p.150 / Chapter 5.4.1 --- Shift towards the New Towns --- p.150 / Chapter 5.4.2 --- Relative Importance among Districts in New Towns --- p.154 / Chapter 5.4.3 --- Pattern of Development --- p.158 / Chapter 5.4.3.1 --- Urban Core --- p.158 / Chapter 5.4.3.2 --- New Towns --- p.161 / Chapter 5.5 --- Spatial Variations on Floor Size --- p.171 / Chapter 5.6 --- Spatial Variations on Property Price --- p.176 / Chapter 5.7 --- Conclusion --- p.181 / Chapter CHAPTER VI --- STATISTICAL ANALYSIS --- p.183 / Chapter 6.1 --- Introduction --- p.183 / Chapter 6.2 --- The Data Set --- p.183 / Chapter 6.3 --- Stepwise Regression Modeling --- p.184 / Chapter 6.4 --- Correlation among Variables --- p.184 / Chapter 6.5 --- Validation of the Models --- p.186 / Chapter 6.6 --- Findings --- p.193 / Chapter 6.6.1 --- Pooled Market Results --- p.193 / Chapter 6.6.2 --- Submarket Level Analyses --- p.198 / Chapter 6.6.2.1 --- "Small-Sized, Low-Priced Flats " --- p.200 / Chapter 6.6.2.2 --- "Small-Sized, High-Priced Flats " --- p.203 / Chapter 6.6.2.3 --- "Medium-Sized, Low-Priced Flats " --- p.206 / Chapter 6.6.2.4 --- "Medium-Sized, High-Priced Flats " --- p.210 / Chapter 6.6.2.5 --- "Large-Sized, High-Priced Flats " --- p.213 / Chapter 6.7 --- Conclusion --- p.213 / Chapter CHAPTER VII --- CONCLUSION --- p.217 / Chapter 7.1 --- Summary of Findings --- p.217 / Chapter 7.1.1 --- Summary on Housing Development in Hong Kong…… --- p.217 / Chapter 7.1.2 --- Summary from Hedonic Price Models --- p.220 / Chapter 7.1.3 --- Significance of GIS --- p.222 / Chapter 7.2 --- Limitations and Recommendations --- p.222 / Chapter 7.3 --- Direction of Future Research --- p.226 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.227 / APPENDICES --- p.237 / APPENDIX 1 --- p.238 / District Map of Hong Kong --- p.239 / APPENDIX II --- p.240 / List of Districts and its Components --- p.241 / APPENDIX III --- p.243 / Tertiary Planning Units (TPUs) - District Conversion List --- p.244

A great deal of research has been carried out on residential property values and numerous factors have been identified as having an effect on residential property values. The physical characteristics of properties of properties are the primary factors that determine the market value of residential property. However, factors concerning location are also thought to influence the value of residential properties. These locational factors include, among others, accessibility to highways, airports, schools, parks and public transportation centres. This study examines the effect of another locational factor, namely proximity to a newly built shopping centre. Shopping centres have been increasing in numbers throughout South Africa over the past few decades. These shopping centres are usually situated in close proximity to residential properties. As such, shopping centres that are in close proximity to residential properties can influence property prices. This study makes use of the hedonic price model to assess the price impact of the newly constructed Baywest Mall on the residential properties in the western suburbs of Nelson Mandela, namely Sherwood, Rowallan Park and Kunune Park. On 21 March 2012, the construction of the Baywest Mall was officially announced. This announcement created an area of interest as to whether its construction and completion would have an impact on the prices of residential properties situated in close proximity to the mall. The study period for this study was from 2004 – 2015. This time period is thought to be sufficient to assess the effect of the Baywest Shopping Mall on the residential property prices before and after the announcement of the construction of the mall. As the study period ranged from 2004 – 2015 it was necessary to adjust the sales prices over the years to constant 2015 prices. As such, the ABSA house price index was used in order to eliminate any inflationary effects on the property values over the study period. The results of the study revealed that the newly built Baywest Mall has a statistically significant positive effect on properties in close proximity to the shopping mall. This result enhances the scientific understanding of the effect of commercial land uses, such as, shopping centres, on the value of adjacent residential properties.

This thesis titled ``Essays in Private Capital" comprises of three essays focused on various parts of private capital. Private capital, also known as alternative assets are non-traded, broadly defined as private equity, real estate, venture capital, hedge funds, infrastructure and natural resource investments. The first chapter studies private equity, the second focuses on residential real estate, and the third is on commercial real estate. These are important asset classes given the low interest rate environment, and the recent COVID-19 and Silicon Valley Bank crisis which had large exposures to private assets. The first essay titled ``Desperate Capital Breeds Productivity Loss: Evidence from Public Pension Investments in Private Equity" studies investor heterogeneity in private equity and its ultimate effect on target firms. Using novel micro-data on individual investments in private equity funds funds and buyout deals combined with confidential Census data, I show that capital contributed by the most underfunded U.S. public pensions decreases efficiency at target firms, as pensions fuel the growth of low quality, new entrant private equity funds. These results get stronger post the financial crisis, when underfunded positions and their subsequent investments in private equity increased. The paper shows that traditionally positive post buyout efficiency results turn negative in recent years, as marginal investors matching with marginal private equity funds pull down the average. The most underfunded pensions also realize lower total private equity returns relative to the least underfunded ones. These results suggest possibility of a ``funding doom loop" as currently public pensions use assumed return on assets to calculate liabilities. The second essay titled ``Flattening the Curve: Pandemic-Induced Revaluation of Urban Real Estate" focuses on work from home with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on residential real estate prices across the U.S. We show that the COVID-19 pandemic brought house price and rent declines in city centers, and price and rent increases away from the center, thereby flattening the bid-rent curve in most U.S. metropolitan areas. Across MSAs, the flattening of the curve is larger where working from home is more prevalent, housing markets are more regulated, and supply is less elastic. Using a model predicting future residential price and rent evolution, we show urban revival in housing markets for the foreseeable future with urban rent growth exceeding suburban rent growth, as working from home recedes. In the third essay titled ``Work From Home and the Office Real Estate Apocalypse", we show remote work led to large drops in lease revenues, occupancy, lease renewal rates, and market rents in the commercial office sector. We revalue New York City office buildings taking into account both the cash flow and discount rate implications of these shocks, and find a 39% decline in long run value. For the U.S., we find a $413 billion value destruction. We show evidence of flight to quality, as higher quality buildings are buffered against these trends, while lower quality office is at risk of becoming a stranded asset. These valuation changes have repercussions for local public finances and financial stability.