Similar development of economic fundamentals in Germany over the last two decades did not lead to the same dramatic house price increases as it is in Sweden. What can explain this house price stability over a long period? This thesis attempts to find the answer this question. The first paper in this thesis contains an extended literature review on the studies focused on the factors affecting house prices in the short and in the long run. Existing literature adopts a broad variation of approaches and reaches different conclusions attempting to answer the question about what are the key drivers of house prices. Conclusions often depend on the model specifications and econometric methods applied. Though there is a considerable agreement in real estate economics theory regarding the main factors that affect house prices (or so called “fundamental determinants”), it is hard to find a consistent definition regarding what factors can be considered as “fundamentals” and what factors belong to “non-fundamentals”. The dominating factors that are presented in the majority of the studies are income, population, interest rate, housing stock and unemployment. Studies done after the recent financial crisis put more attention on such factors as the behavior of the market participants, financing conditions and regulations. The characteristics of the bank lending and valuation policies as well as regulations on the rental market have received attention in the research literature, but the impact of these factors on house price dynamics is not measured and not well described. Therefore the other two papers in this thesis aim to provide a better insight in to the factors that create fluctuations in housing markets. The second paper investigates the effects of macroeconomic indicators such as population, income housing stock, mortgage interest rate on house prices. Estimation is done by applying panel data methodology on regional data for major cities in Germany and Sweden and by using yearly observations from 1995 to 2010. Results suggest that the long-run development of apartment prices in Sweden can be explained by changes in such factors as population, disposable income per capita, mortgage interest rate, housing stock, and prices per square meter in the previous period. The price for the previous period has the highest impact in comparison with other factors in Sweden. At the same time for Germany this is the only factor that is valid for long-term house price development. Estimates for fundamental factors such as population, disposable income, mortgage interest rate and housing stock appeared as not significant in house price development in the long run in Germany. A closer analysis has shown that the fundamental factors developed in a similar way in both countries during the analyzed period, though the house prices dynamic is very different. The conclusion is that fundamental factors cannot provide an explanation for the differences in house price developments in two countries and further analysis of institutional differences in the housing markets is done in the third paper. Third paper applies a comparative analysis approach and hypothetico-deductive method in order to examine the differences in the banking policies on mortgage financing and approaches to valuation of mortgage properties in Germany and Sweden.  The results suggest that the extreme rise in Swedish house prices above the long-term trend was created by expanding bank lending policies that was supported by the general macroeconomic factors and regulation environment on the housing market. The main difference between countries in approaches to valuation for mortgage purposes is that in Germany that mortgage is based not on the market value as it is in Sweden, but on the long-run sustainable value, so called “fundamental” value. Mortgage lending value is determined in such a way that is also develops in the same tempo as fundamentals in the long-run and is not that procyclical as market value. Using a long-term sustainable value has a restrictive effect on the housing prices and in such a way stabilizes the market.  One more factor that gives stability to the housing market in Germany is the well-functioning rental market. Third paper contributes to a better understanding of necessary conditions for the house prices to rise in the long run above the fundamentals level and suggests policy solutions that can reduce the risks of housing bubbles and increase financial stability. / Ekonomiska fundamenta hur utvecklats på ungefär samma sätt i Tyskland och Sverige, men medan huspriserna i Sverige stigit kraftigt har de varit stabila i Tyskland. Vad kan förklara denna skillnad? Syftet med denna licentiatuppsats är att försöka förklara det. Den första uppsatsen innehåller en omfattande litteraturöversikt rörande vad som styr huspriser på kort och lång sikt. Den existerande litteraturen innehåller många olika angreppssätt och kommer till olika svar om vad som driver huspriserna. Slutsatserna beror ofta på hur modellerna specificerats och vilken ekonometrisk metod som använts. Det finns dock betydande enighet i ekonomisk teori om vad som är de grundläggande faktorerna som styr huspriserna (så kallade fundamenta) så finns delade meningar om hur dessa exakt ska specificeras och vad som räknas som icke-fundamentala faktorer. De vanligaste fundamentala faktorerna i studierna är inkomst, befolkning, räntenivå, bostadsutbudet och arbetslöshet. Studier gjorda efter den senaste finanskrisen betonar med beteendefaktorer, finansieringsförhållande och regleringar. Egenskaperna hos bankernas långivning och värderingsprinciper liksom effekten av hur hyresmarknaden fungerar har då fått lite utrymme vilket motiverar att de behandlas mer ingående i denna studie. Den andra uppsatsen undersöker effekterna av makroekonomiska indikatorer som befolkning, inkomst, bostadsutbud och räntenivåer på huspriser i Tyskland och Sverige. Studien begränsas till ett antal större städer och bygger på data från 1995-2010. Paneldataanalys används. Resultaten pekar på att den långsiktiga prisutvecklingen i Sverige kan förklaras av sådana fundamentala faktorer, men också att priset föregående period påverkar priset perioden efter. För Tyskland är enbart den sista faktorn av betydelse, dvs utvecklingen av de fundamentala faktorerna påverkar inte prisutvecklingen där. Trots att de fundamentala faktorerna utvecklas på liknande sätt så leder de inte till samma utveckling av huspriserna. Detta motiverar djupare studier av institutionella skillnader mellan bostadsmarknaderna i de båda länderna. Den tredje uppsatsen är en jämförande studie som använder hypotetiskt deduktiv metod för att undersöka om skillnader i bankerna lånepolicy och skillnader i värdebegrepp kan förklara skillnader i prisutveckling på bostäder. Resultaten pekar på att de snabbt stigande priserna i Sverige kan förklaras med en expansiv långivning. En viktig skillnad är att medan långivning i Sverige grundas på aktuellt marknadsvärde medan den i Tyskland bygger på ett långsiktigt värde som ska spegla långsiktiga fundamentala faktorer, ett så kallat "mortgage lending value". Detta värde utvecklas mer sakta och ska inte svänga med konjunkturerna på det sätt som ett marknadsvärde normalt gör. Genom att långivning grundas på detta värde stabiliseras marknaden. En annan faktor som bidrar till att stabilisera de tyska bostadspriserna är att det finns en fungerande hyresmarknad som skapar ett alternativ till att köpa. Bidraget i den tredje uppsatsen är att öka vår förståelse av nödvändiga villkor för att huspriserna inte ska stiga snabbt och att den pekar på åtgärder som kan minska risken för prisbubblor på bostadsmarknaden, och minska risken för finansiell instabilitet. / <p>QC 20150316</p>

Cattle producers are faced with difficult decisions on how they market theircalves. This study examines the different characteristics that play a role in determiningthe price of a group of animals. Identifying characteristics that determine pricedifferentials relative to the price premium given to producers participating in CPH salesis important information when producers are making a marketing decision. The modeldeveloped in this study provides producers with evidence of what characteristics generatethe highest price, as well as relative differences between sales locations and types ofsales. The more information available to producers, the better equipped they are to makedecisions.

The aim of this paper is to study the effect of interest rates on house price changes in Sweden for the case of one and two dwelling buildings. Basically, three procedures were used for analysis. First, correlation analysis was used to investigate and test if there has been any relationship between interest rates and house price in Sweden in the past two decades. Second, multiple regressions analysis with consideration of hetroskedasticity autocorrelation or HAC (newey-west standard) errors was applied to test the impact of changes of interest rates on house price. Finally, distributed lag model was applied to examine the impact of interest on house price through time. The result shows that there is strong inverse relationship between interest rates (governmental bond rates, mortgage bond rates, lending rates and repo rates) and housing price index. The regression coefficients show that the decrease in the interest rate is followed by corresponding increase in the housing price index for all the given interest rates. The other finding is that more than 92 percent variation in the housing price index is explained by changes in interest rates, changes in net house hold disposable income, inflation rate and supply. The result also shows the lag effects of changes of interest rates on housing price. The major implication of this study is that fluctuations in interest affect homebuyers, home sellers, household incomes and investors. The study also suggests that further detail investigation on house price dynamics is crucial for monetary policy.

In the recent years, prices of art have repeatedly broken records, and the interest in investing in fine art photography has been growing. Although there is plenty of research dedicated to studying prices of paintings, fine art photography has been largely overlooked. This thesis aims to shed light on identifying price determinants for this particular medium. A new data set is collected from sold lot archives of Sotheby's and Phillips auction houses, which also provide images of some of the sold items. These images are then used to create new variables describing visual attributes of the artworks. In order to inspect the effect of color-related predictors on price, four different methods are discussed. Color is found to be significant in OLS model, but the effect diminishes when model averaging is applied. Machine learning al- gorithms - regression trees and random forests - suggest that the importance of color is relatively low. The thesis also shows that expert estimates can improved by incorporating available information and using random forests for prediction. The fact that the expert estimates are not very accurate sug- gest that they either do not use all the available information or they do not process it efficiently. 1

This paper analyzes the influence of several factors on rental and purchase price of Real Estate in Prague. The idea is that purchase and rental price could be influenced by different factors. To make a decision about "buy to rent" investment it is necessary to consider both sides. The aim is to conduct thorough analysis to find out whether differential factors exist, and if so, what they are. The comparison of these factors and their separated effects helps to understand the total effect on potential profitability and to make right decision about attractive properties for "buy to rent" investment. The paper serves to inform investors who are making decisions about investment properties.

This thesis explores the price determinants of Bitcoin using a macroeconomic model based on the economic equation of exchange presented by Joseph Wang (2014). The thesis provides a concise and structured introduction to Bitcoin and a comprehensive literature review on Bitcoin. The analysis begins with the application of the functions of money to Bitcoin, arguing that while Bitcoin does fulfill the three classical functions of money to a certain extent, its use remains mainly as a speculative instrument. Wang's model is criticized and amended to reflect the realities of empirically analyzing the Bitcoin market. Using the daily number of transactions and Bitcoin days destroyed as proxies for economic activity and inactivity - to measure Bitcoin's velocity on the block chain - vector autoregression modelling is used to determine if there is Granger causality between the price of bitcoin and the two proxies. The results demonstrate that there is a bidirectional Granger-causal relationship between Bitcoin days destroyed and the price of bitcoin and that there is none between the daily number of transactions and the price of bitcoin; proving Wang's two main assumptions. Impulse- response functions are provided to illustrate and discuss this bidirectional relationship. The results are in line with the...

Med den starka prisuppgången på Stockholms bostadsmarknad som bakgrund är det intressant att undersöka skillnader i prisutveckling för bostadsrätter. Med en teoretisk utgångspunkt i modeller om prispåverkande faktorer har en fallstudie på ett premiumfastighetsbolag i Stockholm utförts. Metodmässigt är studien i huvudsak kvantitativ. Historisk data gällande försäljningar har undersökt och ställts emot bostadsprisindex där skillnader i prisutveckling har kunnat identifieras. Företaget i fallstudien visade sig ha en starkare prisutveckling än både index för Stockholm Stad och respektive SAMS-område, vilket innebär en högre avkastning för investerare i det undersökta företaget jämfört med index. En regressionsanalys har genomförts för att testa hypotesen att ett premiumvarumärke har positiv påverkan på priset på bostadsrätter. Variabeln premiumvarumärke konstaterades statistiskt signifikant enligt modellen som testades och hypotesen kunde bekräftas. Förändringen i pris och prisutveckling i den här studien kan härledas till förändrade preferenser på marknaden, ett starkt varumärke och ett relativt unikt koncept. För att kunna fastställa att ett premiumfastighetsbolags snabbare prisutveckling beror på dessa faktorer krävs dock ytterligare analyser av fler premiumföretag. Sammanfattningsvis konstateras att ett premiumvarumärke i det undersökta fallet påverkar både pris och prisutveckling gällande bostadsrätter positivt. / Due to a rapid increase in housing prices at the Stockholm housing market there is a stated interest to further examine the differences in price development. A study of historical data from a premium property development company has been conducted. With theoretical models describing price determinants as a background data has been analyzed to find variances in price development. The study is primarily quantitative. By comparing historical data with price indices, differences in price development have been identified. The company showed greater price development than both the Stockholm index and each SAMS-area index. This results in a higher return, compared to index, for those who invest in an apartment from the studied company. A regression analysis has been conducted to test the hypothesis that a premium brand has a positive influence on property prices. The variable premium brand turned out to be significant according to the model and the hypothesis could be confirmed. A change in preferences, a strong brand and a relatively unique concept can explain a lot of the differences in price development in this study. To be able to determine that the differences really are due to these factors requires further research on premium property development companies. To summarize, a premium brand has a positive influence on both price and price development.

The following study assesses whether an economic relationship exists between the money supply (i.e. M2), interest rates, and the exchange rate and the retail food price level in the United States. Data for the M2 classification of the United States money supply, the Effective Federals Funds (interest) Rate, and the United States Trade Weighted Exchange Index: Major Currencies for the period from January 1974 through December 2007 are evaluated as they relate to the United States Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers: Food for the same period. The statistical analysis involves an examination of the autocorrelation and partial autocorrelation functions of each variable, a test for the presence of stationarity in each variable(Augmented Dickey-Fuller test), Johansen’s test for co-integrating equations of the variables considered, Granger’s test for causality, and finally an estimation of regression models of United States retail food prices as a function of the money supply, interest rates, and exchange rates. Results indicate that a statistically significant relationship exists among the variables tested. A causal relationship exists between the Federal Funds Rate and the money supply, the money supply and the retail level of food prices, and also between the exchange rate and the retail level of food prices. The implications of the results are assessed through the lens of agricultural producers and processors, investors, lenders, consumers, and monetary and agricultural policymakers. Keywords: retail food prices, money supply, Federal Funds Rate, exchange rate, augmented Dickey-Fuller, Johansen’s test for co-integration, Granger causality

Submitted by José Gonçalves (jjvsgoncalves@gmail.com) on 2017-03-14T22:15:52Z No. of bitstreams: 1 1-2016-17_S1-26282-16-José_Gonçalves.pdf: 1687210 bytes, checksum: b98c061a1cb9f1c2ebfb3d59184c3cd3 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Josineide da Silva Santos Locatelli (josineide.locatelli@fgv.br) on 2017-03-15T12:39:58Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 1-2016-17_S1-26282-16-José_Gonçalves.pdf: 1687210 bytes, checksum: b98c061a1cb9f1c2ebfb3d59184c3cd3 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-15T16:41:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 1-2016-17_S1-26282-16-José_Gonçalves.pdf: 1687210 bytes, checksum: b98c061a1cb9f1c2ebfb3d59184c3cd3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-01-24 / This work project is an empirical study on the key price driven factors of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme. The research examines the prices on the secondary market, from 2009 until 2016, comprehending the second and third phases of the program, performed with an Ordinary Least Squares regression. The independent variables under the scope of this project are not only energy based, but also structured spreads, economic growth proxies and a temperature dispersion indices.First, the results are due to respect of the whole period to present a global picture of the main determinants on the carbon price changes then, the sample is divided according with institutional measures to avoid over allocation and price instability. Evidence suggests the impact of energy-related variables such as Brent, Coal and the Power Price in Germany and in the U.K. on the price of European Union Allowances, especially during the 3rd phase of the scheme. Moreover, fluctuations in the coefficients and in the explanatory variables are highly related with institutional changes on the European program. / Este projeto é um estudo empírico sobre os principais fatores que afetam o preço do Sistema de Comércio de Emissões da União Europeia. A pesquisa examina os preços no mercado secundário, de 2009 até 2016, compreendendo a segunda e terceira fases do programa, através do método dos mínimos quadrados ordinários. As variáveis ​​independentes no âmbito deste projeto não são apenas baseadas na energia, mas também spreads estruturados, aproximações do crescimento económico e índices de dispersão de temperatura. Inicialmente, é analisado todo o período de forma a apresentar uma imagem global dos principais determinantes sobre as mudanças de preços de carbono e, em seguida, a amostra é dividida de acordo com medidas institucionais para evitar a alocação e instabilidade de preços. Os resultados sugerem o impacto das variáveis ​​energéticas, como o preço indicativo dos contractos futuros de Brent, carvão e de energia na Alemanha e no Reino Unido, sobre o preço dos subsídios da União Europeia, especialmente durante a 3ª fase do regime. Posteriormente, as flutuações nos coeficientes e nas variáveis ​​explicativas aparentam estar altamente relacionadas com as mudanças institucionais no programa europeu.

Information recueillie sur les marchés des drogues de synthèse est beaucoup moins avancée que les études sur d'autres marchés de drogues illicites. La classification relativement récente des drogues de synthèse comme substances illicites, couplée avec ses caractéristiques distinctes qui empêchent son observation, a entravé le développement d’évaluations complètes et fiables des caractéristiques structurelles des marchés. Le but de cet article est de fournir un aperçu fiable sur la dynamique interne du marché des drogues synthétiques, en particulier sur ses caractéristiques structurelles et organisationnelles. En utilisant l'information obtenue à partir de 365 drogues de synthèse saisies par les policiers pendant un an, cette étude sera la fusion de deux techniques, soit la composition des drogues illicites et des analyses économiques, afin de tirer des évaluations fiables des caractéristiques structurelles du marché du Québec de drogues synthétiques. Les résultats concernant l'analyse de la composition des drogues indiquent que le marché des drogues synthétiques au Québec est probablement composé d'un nombre élevé de petites structures, ce qui indique un marché compétitif. L'analyse économique a également fourni des informations complémentaires sur le marché des drogues. Selon la région géographique les couts de la production et les relations entre trafiquant et consommateur influencent le prix des drogues. Les résultats de cette recherche mettent l'accent sur la nécessité de concevoir des politiques qui tient compte des différences régionales dans la production de drogue et reflète la nature compétitive de ce marché. / Research gathered on synthetic drug markets trails behind studies on other illegal drug markets. Synthetic drug's relatively recent classification as an illicit substance, coupled with its distinct characteristics that insulate it from detection has hindered the development of reliable assessments of the markets structural features. The purpose of this study is to provide reliable insight into the inner dynamics of Quebec’s synthetic drug industry, focusing on its organizational features. Using information derived from 365 synthetic drugs seized by law enforcement over a one year period, this study will merge two techniques, drug composition and economic analyses, under a common framework to derive reliable and comprehensive assessments of the structure of Quebec's synthetic drug market. Drug composition analysis examines the drug’s chemical and physical profile to make inferences about the market structure while the economic analysis examines price determinants for the same market, providing further insight into its dynamics and distinctive features. Findings from the drug composition analysis indicate that the synthetic drug market in Quebec is likely to be composed of a high number of small structures, indicating a competitive market. The economic analysis provided complementary information, finding that both differential production costs and trafficker-consumer relations may influence price variations, depending on the region. This study concludes by emphasizing that drug composition analysis should be diligently pursued by both researchers and enforcement organizations alike to effectively target and enhance our understanding of the intricate processes that underlie the synthetic drug market.