This is a study about residential segregation in Malmö. The aim is to highlight the segregation that is taking place in the city as a whole. I therefore focus on two residential areas in Malmö which are not often mentioned when speaking about segregation; Västra Innerstaden and Limhamn-Bunkeflo. I present different theories on housing segregation and discuss them in relation to these specific residential areas. I investigate how the socio-economic and ethnic characteristics of the inhabitants in these residential areas are connected to Malmö being a segregated city. The study focuses on households as individual actors and reasons for their migration patterns within the city. It then briefly covers possible neighbourhood effects in the studied areas. Finally, the question is posed why these areas are not subjected to segregation inhibitory interventions.

In this paper we propose a time-varying parameter VAR model for the housing market in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan and the Euro Area. For these four economies, we answer the following research questions: (i) How can we evaluate the stance of monetary policy when the policy rate hits the zero lower bound? (ii) Can developments in the housing market still be explained by policy measures adopted by central banks? (iii) Did central banks succeed in mitigating the detrimental impact of the financial crisis on selected housing variables? We analyze the relationship between unconventional monetary policy and the housing markets by using the shadow interest rate estimated by Krippner (2013b). Our findings suggest that the monetary policy transmission mechanism to the housing market has not changed with the implementation of quantitative easing or forward guidance, and central banks can affect the composition of an investors portfolio through investment in housing. A counterfactual exercise provides some evidence that unconventional monetary policy has been particularly successful in dampening the consequences of the financial crisis on housing markets in the United States, while the effects are more muted in the other countries considered in this study. (authors' abstract) / Series: Department of Economics Working Paper Series

In the first paper, using a dataset of the records of Texas Real Estate Agents, I reexamine the findings of Hsieh and Moretti (2003) regarding the inefficiency of free entry in real estate industry: first, I point out one important source of misidentification in that paper's analysis of the relationship between home prices and the number of real estate agents in a city. This misidentification stems from not including the ratio of houses sold in a city to its labor force size as an explanatory variable. Failure to account for this variable will result in inflated coefficient for the effect of home prices on the percentage of real estate agents in a city's labor force. Second, I analyze the effect of home prices on productivity of real estate agents. Empirical evidence supports theory prediction of inverse relationship between home prices and productivity of its real estate agents (measured as the number of houses sold per agent) and the empirical results in Hsieh and Moretti (2003). Third, I investigate the relationship between the extra wages of real estate agents (defined as average earning net of agents' outside option) and home prices in a city. In support for free entry, I find no evidence of any such relationship. In theory, free entry potentially leads to social inefficiency. This paper finds strong empirical evidence consistent with excess entry into Texas Residential Real Estate Brokerage Industry and studies the effects of heterogeneity and future uncertainty on such inefficiencies. I develop a dynamic model of entry and exit with heterogeneous agents and modify the predictions of the earlier literature. I show that the heterogeneity among (real estate) agents results in a weaker relationship between the real estate commission fees and the number of real estate agents. I also show that the models developed for static cases in the previous papers are special cases of the more general model in this paper. The model allows us to explain the lower business stealing effect compared to static and homogeneous models that is observed in the data. To address the issue of excess entry, I separate the business stealing effect from demand driven entry and find that on average 75 percent of entry is due to business stealing. To evaluate free entry, I control for agents' outside options and find that the extra wages of the real estate agents do not vary with housing prices. The objective of the third paper is to study the determinants of commission rates in the two-sided market of real estate brokerage industry and explain the emergence of the MLS and its impact on commission rates. In addition to their commission rates, real estate agencies decide on their MLS policies as well: they can either list the property with the MLS and share information about it, or not list the property with the MLS. If a property is listed with the MLS, all MLS subscribers can see the listing and send their potential buyers to see that property. Potential buyers can go to any agency to purchase such a property. If the property is \textit{not} listed with the MLS, to buy a house, a buyer must go to the same agency that the seller has signed up with. Since sellers pay the commission fees, and buyers no longer have to go to the same agency, with MLS listing, buyers choose the closest agency regardless of the commission rates charged by the agencies. Therefore, changes in the commission rates only change the affiliation of the sellers and not that of the buyers. This leads to a softer competition under MLS listing as agencies compete only in the seller side of the market. The softer competition and resulting higher commission rates are desirable to the agencies. They prefer the MLS listing outcome and given the optimal strategies after observing each other's listing decisions, agencies weakly prefer listing to no listing. I show that the one period game has two Nash Equilibria in which either both real estate agencies choose to list their houses with the MLS, or both decide not to list their houses with the MLS. The no listing equilibrium forces buyers to work through that agency's agents and effectively ties the both sides of the market. The higher commission rate equilibrium of the game allows buyers to choose either agency and reduces the competition to the sellers side. Softer competition in turn, results in higher equilibrium commission rates and higher profits along the equilibrium path. / text

Förekomsten av diskriminering av romer har påvisats i tidigare studier och rapporter från Diskrimineringsombudsmannen. Syftet med denna studie är att beskriva och förstå romers upplevelse av diskriminering. Frågeställningarna som lyfts är om romer upplever sig vara diskriminerade och på vilket sätt, hur man möter de fördomar man som grupp utsätts för och vad anser de kan identifieras som orsaken till diskrimineringen. Den empiriska delen av studien har genomförts utifrån kvalitativ metod, genom att intervjuer med romska respondenter. De teoretiska utgångspunkterna är baserade på perspektiv gällande diskriminering, stigma och utanförskap med syfte att beskriva de samhälleliga strukturer som påverkar fördomar och diskriminering. Studien visar på att romerna i undersökningen upplever sig vara diskriminerade inom flera livsområden, och de beskriver detta som en del i deras vardag. Orsakerna bottnar i, som de ser, att de fördomar samhället haft i historien lever kvar. De påvisar också att detta orsakat en känsla av att man som individ tillhörande den romska gruppen har ett lägre värde i jämförelse med majoritetssamhället. För att bryta dessa fördomar ser respondenterna att det behövs arbete från två håll, både från majoritetssamhället och romerna där begrepp som trygghet och information är väsentliga. / The existence of discrimination against the Roma has been demonstrated in previous studies and inreports from Diskrimineringsombudsmannen. The purpose of this study is to describe and understand Romaexperience of discrimination. The issues raised are if Roma perceive them to be discriminated and in what way, how they face the prejudices they as a group are exposed to and what they consider to be identified as the cause of discrimination. The empirical part of the study has been carried out using qualitative methodology, through interviews with Roma respondents. The theoretical approach is based on perspective regarding discrimination, stigma and exclusion in order to describe the social structures thatinfluence prejudice and discrimination. The study shows that the Roma in the survey feel they are discriminated in many areas of life, and they describe it as part of their everyday life. The reasons stem from, as they see, that historical prejudice in society remains. They demonstrate also that this causes a feeling that they as individuals belonging to the Roma community have a lower value in comparison with the majority society. To break these prejudices respondents see the need to work on two fronts, both from the majority society and the Roma, where concepts such as feeling of security and information are essential.

En studie gjord av den internationella mäklarfirman Knight Frank placerar den svenska bostadsmarknaden på en fjärde plats i rankingen över världens hetaste bostadsmarknader. Många kommuner i Sverige har upplevt en kraftig prisutveckling på bostäder de senaste åren och det är därför viktigt att studera den svenska bostadsmarknaden och dess priser. Syftet med denna studie är således att undersöka vilka faktorer det är som påverkar prisutvecklingen på småhus i Sveriges kommuner. Studien är en tvärsnittsstudie över 288 kommuner där förändringen i bostadspriserna studeras under åren 1996 till 2015. Studien har utförts med hjälp av en statistisk metod i form av en regressionsanalys som har delats upp i två perioder: 1996 till 2005 och 2006 till 2015. Den beroende variabeln är prisutvecklingen på bostäder och de förklarande variablerna är utbudet av bostäder, förvärvsinkomst, arbetslöshet, befolkning och kommunalskatt. Regressionsanalysen visar att befolkningsökningen är den variabel som är signifikant med prisutvecklingen under den första perioden och alla förklarande variabler utom kommunalskatten ärsignifikanta under den andra perioden. Genom den deskriptiva statistiken kan vi även se ett samband mellan utbud av bostäder per invånare och prisutvecklingen på bostäder. / According to a study by the international real estate firm Knight Frank, the Swedish housing market is in a fourth place in the rankings of the world's hottest housing markets. Many municipalities in Sweden have experienced a strong price trend in housing during recent years. Therefore, it is important to study the Swedish housing market and its prices. The purpose of the study is to examine which factors affect the increase in house prices in Sweden's municipalities. We have made a cross-sectional study of 288 municipalities and studying the change in housing prices from year 1996 to 2015. The study was conducted using a statistical method in form of a regression analysis that has been divided into two time periods: 1996 to 2005 and 2006 to 2015. The dependent variable is the change in housing prices and the explanatory variables are the supply of housing, professional income, unemployment rate, population rate and municipal taxes. The regression analysis show that population growth is the variable that is significant to the price trend during the first period. All the explanatory variables except municipal taxes is significant during the second period. Through the descriptive statistics, we can also see a connection between supply of housing per capita and increases in house prices.

Consumer sentiment has the ability to provide researchers with many avenues to test existing Finance and Economic theories. Chapter 1 introduces the issues that I seek to explore within the area of Behavioral Finance. Chapter 2 utilizes thirty years of consumer sentiment data to explore extant economic theories and hypotheses. In particular, I study the Prospect Theory and the Life Cycle Investment Hypothesis. In addition, I also study how changes in consumer sentiment can foretell future stock returns for firms in different industries and of different sizes. By studying how individuals of different ages display optimism and pessimism through consumer sentiment surveys, I am able to contribute to the literature by shedding additional light on just how the important age is with respect to a person's economic outlook. One particular phenomenon that I discuss in this chapter is downside risk. I will provide further support to the existing literature which shows that gains and losses are not viewed equally by individuals. To account for this discrepancy, this paper models the time series relationship between consumer sentiment and stock returns using asymmetric response models. Chapter 3 builds upon the previous chapter's findings by using consumer sentiment to explore if this index can forecast housing market variables such as changes in home sales and home prices. Given the recent financial market turmoil that stemmed from the U.S. housing market debacle, this chapter is timely. Using widely cited housing indices, I explore regional differences in the U.S. housing market and how the sentiment of local consumers can possibly affect their housing markets. I also include analyses in which the age of the consumer is accounted for to see if evidence of the Life Cycle Investment Hypothesis emerges. This theory postulates that younger individuals are more likely to demand housing as a financial asset and if this were true, I hypothesize that changes in younger individuals' sentiment would have more forecasting power with respect to future housing sales and price changes. Lastly, I conclude this dissertation with Chapter 4 which includes additional discussions of the issues studied.

The aim of this work is an analysis of housing as a source of growth of housing in the Czech Republic. The introductory part will focus on supply and demand for housing in economic theory, basic theory of the housing market and housing policy instruments. It will include further defining the content, meaning and basic forms of State action in the sphere of housing as an important segment of the state social policy, along with the general factors affecting their operation. This part will include identifying the factors and explaining the particularities of social and economic environment of socialist Czechoslovakia, including the intermediate stages of historical development of state intervention in the housing market. The analytical part will be focused on the main factors affecting the housing. The factors will be presented, analyzed and commented on available statistical data, their structure and evolution. In the conclusion of the thesis will be the analysis of housing and segmented offers housing in the capital city of Prague and its surroundings.

Abstract The aim of this study is to examine segregation in the three Swedish municipalities of Uppsala, Gävle and Värmdö. The study attempts to describe the current situation in regards to segregation in the chosen municipalities, the reasons for this and what the municipalities can do to prevent further segregation. In an attempt to find answer to these questions, a literature study has been done and three semi structured interviews with planners working for the municipalities in question. The study shows that different socio economic groups are indeed spatially clustered and a big reason for this is historic decisions in regard to large scale planning and Sweden’s historic housing policies. The interviews show that there are many possible tools for a planner to use when trying to decrease segregation. A large focus is put on creating mixed types of housing in each part of the city and municipality. Creating places for social interaction and good communications are also an important part according to all interviewees. The challenges faced by the planners are lack of economic incentive, the limitations of the planning system and preferences of the population.

Thesis advisor: Fabio Ghironi / Thesis advisor: Matteo Iacoviello / This dissertation studies the implications of housing market heterogeneity for the trans- mission of shocks, welfare and the conduct of monetary policy. In the first chapter I focus on mortgage contract heterogeneity (fixed vs. variable-rate mortgages). I develop and solve a New Keynesian dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model that features a housing market and a group of constrained individuals who need housing collateral to obtain loans. A given proportion of constrained households borrows at a variable rate, while the rest borrows at a fixed rate. The model predicts that in an economy with mostly variable-rate mortgages, an exogenous interest rate shock has larger effects on borrowers than in a fixed-rate economy. For plausible parametrizations, aggregate differences are muted by wealth effects on labor supply and by the presence of savers. More persistent shocks cause larger aggregate differences. From a normative perspective I find that, in the presence of collateral constraints, the optimal Taylor rule is less aggressive against inflation than in the standard sticky-price model. Furthermore, for given monetary policy, a high proportion of fixed-rate mortgages is welfare enhancing. Then, I develop a two-country version of the model to study the implications of housing market heterogeneity for a monetary union as well as costs and benefits of being in a monetary union when there are asymmetric shocks. Results show that consumption reacts more strongly to common shocks in countries with high loan-to-value ratios (LTVs), a high proportion of borrowers or variable-rate mortgages. I also find that country-specific housing price shocks increase consumption not only in the country where the shock takes place. Welfare analysis shows that housing-market homogeneization is not beneficial per se, only when it is towards low LTVs or predominantly fixed-rate mortgages. As for costs and benefits of monetary unions, when there is a technology shock in one of the countries and they are symmetric, the monetary union regime is welfare worsening. However, results are dependent on whether or not countries are symmetric and on the source of the asymmetry. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2008. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics.

Real estate activity is notably influenced by local land use regulation. By acting as redtape costs or explicitly through compensatory payments, such rules typically increase construction costs by reducing supply and increasing demand in the housing market, which leads to higher prices. This is the first study to model the decision-making process of housing supply using a game theoretic approach. To shed light on the roleof regulation and competition in this industry, I employ a static-entry model that incorporates the demand, cost and strategic factors common to the activity. I built aunique data set forthe city of São Paulo, Brazil, with information on the universe ofnew residential buildings launched in the city, along with a history of all licenses requested by the developers tothe government for each project. My empirical results show that the regulation play akey role in developer activity. For the areas with the most intense activity of the city,the bureaucracy in the residential approval process cost annually R$ 47 millions (US$ 14millions) by entrant firm. / A atividade imobiliária é particularmente influenciada pela regulação do uso da terra. Ao agir como \"custos burocráticos\" ou explicitamente por meio de pagamentos compensatórios,essas regras normalmente aumentam os custos de construção ao reduzir a oferta e aumentara demanda de novas residências, o que leva a preços mais altos. Este é o primeiro estudo amodelar o processo de decisão de oferta de residências usando uma abordagem de teoria dos jogos. Para mostrar os efeitos da regulação e da competição nesse setor, eu emprego um modelo de entrada estático que incorpora os fatores de demanda, custo e estratégicos comuns a essa atividade. Eu construí uma base de dados única para a cidade de São Paulo, Brasil, com informações sobre o universo de novos empreendimentos residenciais na cidade, juntamente comum histórico de todas as licenças e alvarás requeridos pelas incorporadoras à Prefeitura para cada projeto. Meus resultados mostram que a regulação tem um papel chave na atividade imobiliária. Para as áreas com atividade mais intensa da cidade, a burocracia no processo de aprovação de novas residências tem um custo média anual de R$ 47 milhões por firma entrante no mercado.