Using GIS to measure the impact of the Canterbury earthquakes on house prices in Christchurch, NZ

Author(s):  
Sandy Bond ◽  
Sofia Dermisi

Purpose Canterbury, New Zealand, experienced two significant earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 with a devastating impact on both houses and land. Negative media attention to the potential financial risks of living near or on the new Technical Category 3 (TC3) land or on land in a flood zone has fuelled the perception of uncertainty over the negative property price impacts. This research aims to determine if residents’ perceptions of the risks associated with various types of land zones (e.g. TC1, TC2 and TC3) are reflected in property prices. Design/methodology/approach This research analyses sale price patterns and the relationship between sale prices and house characteristics before and after both earthquakes. A three-step approach was taken by applying: an average trend analysis, Geographic Information Systems’ (GIS) hotspot analysis to identify possible spatial differentiations between the before and after-effects of the earthquakes and hedonic modelling to quantify the effect of house characteristics on sale price while controlling for and comparing three land zones (TC1 to TC3). Findings The data suggest that average sale prices increased after both quakes in TC1 and TC2 in contrast to TC3 zones, while close to 8,000 structures were demolished in red zones from 2010-2013 (supply was reduced). The econometric modelling suggests that higher sale prices are achieved by: newer houses across all land zones and more recent sale agreements only in TC1 and TC2 zones. Other observations include the effect of certain exterior façade materials on sale prices on the overall data set and in the individual TC1 and TC3 zones. In conclusion, the results suggest that although caution might exist for the TC3 zone, the quality of the house can override the stigma attached to the TC3 zones. Research limitations/implications A confounding factor in the research was that approximately 7,800 homes were rezoned red and/or demolished between 2010 and 2013 changing the supply and demand balance. Further, banks and other lenders updated their requirements for new lending on properties in the Canterbury region, requiring a number of reports from professionals such as structural engineers, geotechnical engineers and valuers before any new lending would be approved. Additionally, immediately after the September and February earthquakes, there was a 21-day stand-down period for earthquake-cover in Canterbury and without adequate insurance cover banks would not advance mortgage money, causing a short-term slowdown in the residential property market. Practical/implications The outcomes of this research will be of interest to government agencies tasked with assessing compensation for affected property owners. For example, the Earthquake Commission (EQC) developed a Diminution of Value Methodology for Increased Flooding Vulnerability that formed the basis of a High Court declaratory judgment decision in December 2014 that cleared the way for the EQC to start settling properties with increased flooding vulnerability. The EQC methodology was informed by the results of similar studies to this one, from around the world. Homeowners and rating valuers will also be interested in the results to understand how house prices have been affected by market perceptions towards earthquake damage, particularly in the worst-affected areas. Originality/value This study fills a research void regarding the price impacts of residents’ perceptions of the risks associated with various types of land zones that reflect the expected future liquefaction performance of the land.

2015 ◽  
Vol 81 (23) ◽  
pp. 8118-8125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Veses-Garcia ◽  
Xuan Liu ◽  
Daniel J. Rigden ◽  
John G. Kenny ◽  
Alan J. McCarthy ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTShiga-toxigenic bacteriophages are converting lambdoid phages that impart the ability to produce Shiga toxin to their hosts. Little is known about the function of most of the genes carried by these phages or the impact that lysogeny has on theEscherichia colihost. Here we use next-generation sequencing to compare the transcriptomes ofE. colistrains infected with an Stx phage, before and after triggering of the bacterial SOS response that initiates the lytic cycle of the phage. We were able to discriminate between bacteriophage genes expressed in the lysogenic and lytic cycles, and we describe transcriptional changes that occur in the bacterial host as a consequence of Stx phage carriage. Having identified upregulation of the glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) operon, confirmed by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR), we used phenotypic assays to establish the ability of the Stx prophage to confer a greater acid resistance phenotype on theE. colihost. Known phage regulators were overexpressed inE. coli, and the acid resistance of the recombinant strains was tested. The phage-encoded transcriptional regulator CII was identified as the controller of the acid response in the lysogen. Infection of anE. coliO157 strain, from which integrated Stx prophages were previously removed, showed increased acid resistance following infection with a nontoxigenic phage, ϕ24B. In addition to demonstrating this link between Stx phage carriage andE. coliacid resistance, with its implications for survival postingestion, the data set provides a number of other potential insights into the impact of lambdoid phage carriage on the biology ofE. coli.


2016 ◽  
Vol 61 (01) ◽  
pp. 1640002 ◽  
Author(s):  
WASANTHA ATHUKORALA ◽  
WADE MARTIN ◽  
PRASAD NEELAWALA ◽  
DARSHANA RAJAPAKSA ◽  
CLEVO WILSON

One of the most evident casualties of a natural disaster is the property market. The private and social costs from such events run into millions of dollars. In this paper, we use a unique dataset to examine the impact on residential house prices affected by natural disasters using a hedonic property (HP) values approach. For this purpose, we use data before and after a wildfire and floods from Rockhampton in central Queensland, Australia. The data is unique because one suburb was affected by wildfires and another was affected by floods. For the analysis, three suburbs namely Frenchville, Park Avenue and Norman Gardens are used. Frenchville was significantly affected by wildfires in the latter part of 2009 and to a lesser extent in 2012, while Park Avenue was affected by floods at the end of 2010, January 2011–2013. Norman Gardens, which was relatively unaffected, is used as a control site. This enables us to examine the before and after effects on property values in the three suburbs. The results confirm that soon after a natural disaster property prices in affected areas decrease even though the large majority of individual houses remain unaffected. Furthermore, the results indicate that the largely unaffected suburb may gain immediately after a natural disaster but this gain may disappear if natural disasters continue to occur in the area/region due to the stigma created. The results have several important policy decision and welfare implications which are briefly discussed in the paper.


2007 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-130
Author(s):  
Benoit Julien ◽  
◽  
Paul Lanoie ◽  

This paper provides the first study on the impact of noise barriers on the price of adjacent houses based on a repeat sale analysis (RSA). RSA allows us to empirically examine the differential between the prices of houses sold before and after an event that may have affected their value, and after other relevant variables such as the evolution of the real estate market and major renovations performed on the house are controlled. This paper focuses on the neighborhood of Laval, a suburb of Montreal, where a large noise barrier was built in 1990 along a highway. The data set contains transaction information on 134 houses that were sold at least twice from 1980–2000. The empirical result will show that the noise barrier induced a decrease of 6% in the house prices in our sample in the short run, while it had a stronger negative impact of 11% in the long run.


2019 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 234-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy A. Delbridge ◽  
Robert P. King

PurposeThe USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) made several changes to the crop insurance products available to organic growers for the 2014 crop year. Most notably, a 5 percent premium surcharge was removed and organic-specific transitional yields (t-yields) were issued for the first time. The purpose of this paper is to use farm-level organic crop yield data to analyze the impact of these reforms on producer insurance outcomes and compare the insurance options for new organic growers.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a unique panel data set of organic corn and soybean yields to analyze the impact of organic crop insurance reforms. Actual Production History values and premium rates are calculated for each farm and crop yield sequence. Producer loss ratios and subsidized premium wedges are compared for yield, revenue and area-risk products before and after the instituted reforms.FindingsResults indicate that RMA succeeded in improving the actuarial soundness of the organic insurance program, though further refinement of organic t-yields may be necessary to accurately reflect the yield potential of organic producers and avoid reductions in program participation.Originality/valueThis paper provides insight into the effectiveness of reforms intended to improve the actuarial soundness of organic crop insurance and demonstrates the effect that the reforms are likely to have on new and existing organic farms. Because this analysis uses data collected independently of RMA and includes farms that may or may not have purchased crop insurance, it avoids the self-selection problems that might affect analyses using crop insurance program data.


2021 ◽  
pp. 135481662110088
Author(s):  
Sefa Awaworyi Churchill ◽  
John Inekwe ◽  
Kris Ivanovski

Using a historical data set and recent advances in non-parametric time series modelling, we investigate the nexus between tourism flows and house prices in Germany over nearly 150 years. We use time-varying non-parametric techniques given that historical data tend to exhibit abrupt changes and other forms of non-linearities. Our findings show evidence of a time-varying effect of tourism flows on house prices, although with mixed effects. The pre-World War II time-varying estimates of tourism show both positive and negative effects on house prices. While changes in tourism flows contribute to increasing housing prices over the post-1950 period, this is short-lived, and the effect declines until the mid-1990s. However, we find a positive and significant relationship after 2000, where the impact of tourism on house prices becomes more pronounced in recent years.


2011 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 989-994 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Plüss-Suard ◽  
A. Pannatier ◽  
C. Ruffieux ◽  
A. Kronenberg ◽  
K. Mühlemann ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTThe original cefepime product was withdrawn from the Swiss market in January 2007 and replaced by a generic 10 months later. The goals of the study were to assess the impact of this cefepime shortage on the use and costs of alternative broad-spectrum antibiotics, on antibiotic policy, and on resistance ofPseudomonas aeruginosatoward carbapenems, ceftazidime, and piperacillin-tazobactam. A generalized regression-based interrupted time series model assessed how much the shortage changed the monthly use and costs of cefepime and of selected alternative broad-spectrum antibiotics (ceftazidime, imipenem-cilastatin, meropenem, piperacillin-tazobactam) in 15 Swiss acute care hospitals from January 2005 to December 2008. Resistance ofP. aeruginosawas compared before and after the cefepime shortage. There was a statistically significant increase in the consumption of piperacillin-tazobactam in hospitals with definitive interruption of cefepime supply and of meropenem in hospitals with transient interruption of cefepime supply. Consumption of each alternative antibiotic tended to increase during the cefepime shortage and to decrease when the cefepime generic was released. These shifts were associated with significantly higher overall costs. There was no significant change in hospitals with uninterrupted cefepime supply. The alternative antibiotics for which an increase in consumption showed the strongest association with a progression of resistance were the carbapenems. The use of alternative antibiotics after cefepime withdrawal was associated with a significant increase in piperacillin-tazobactam and meropenem use and in overall costs and with a decrease in susceptibility ofP. aeruginosain hospitals. This warrants caution with regard to shortages and withdrawals of antibiotics.


2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (12) ◽  
pp. 1071-1089
Author(s):  
Alan Chan ◽  
Bruce G. Fawcett ◽  
Shu-Kam Lee

Purpose – Church giving and attendance are two important indicators of church health and performance. In the literature, they are usually understood to be simultaneously determined. The purpose of this paper is to estimate if there a sustainable church congregation size using Wintrobe’s (1998) dictatorship model. The authors want to examine the impact of youth and adult ministry as well. Design/methodology/approach – Using the data collected from among Canadian Baptist churches in Eastern Canada, this study investigates the factors affecting the level of the two indicators by the panel-instrumental variable technique. Applying Wintrobe’s (1998) political economy model on dictatorship, the equilibrium level of worship attendance and giving is predicted. Findings – Through various simulation exercises, the actual church congregation sizes is approximately 50 percent of the predicted value, implying inefficiency and misallocation of church resources. The paper concludes with insights on effective ways church leaders can allocate scarce resources to promote growth within churches. Originality/value – The authors are the only researchers getting the permission from the Atlantic Canada Baptist Convention to use their mega data set on church giving and congregation sizes as per the authors’ knowledge. The authors are also applying a theoretical model on dictatorship to religious/not for profits organizations.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Zhang ◽  
Yuran Li ◽  
Mark Frost ◽  
Shiyu Rong ◽  
Rong Jiang ◽  
...  

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the critical role played by cultural flow in fostering successful expatriate cross-border transitions.Design/methodology/approachThe authors develop and test a model on the interplay among cultural intelligence, organizational position level, cultural flow direction and expatriate adaptation, using a data set of 387 expatriate on cross-border transitions along the Belt & Road area.FindingsThe authors find that both organizational position level and cultural flow moderate the relationship between cultural intelligence and expatriate adaptation, whereby the relationship is contingent on the interaction of organizational position status and assignment directions between high power distance and low power distance host environments.Originality/valuePrevious research has shown that higher levels of cultural intelligence are positively related to better expatriate adaptation. However, there is a lack of research on the effect of position difference and cultural flow on such relationship. Our study is among the first to examine how the interaction between cultural flow and organizational position level influences the cultural intelligence (CI) and cultural adjustment relationship in cross-cultural transitions.


2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 353-398 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. McCord ◽  
Sean MacIntyre ◽  
Paul Bidanset ◽  
Daniel Lo ◽  
Peadar Davis

Purpose Air quality, noise and proximity to urban infrastructure can arguably have an important impact on the quality of life. Environmental quality (the price of good health) has become a central tenet for consumer choice in urban locales when deciding on a residential neighbourhood. Unlike the market for most tangible goods, the market for environmental quality does not yield an observable per unit price effect. As no explicit price exists for a unit of environmental quality, this paper aims to use the housing market to derive its implicit price and test whether these constituent elements of health and well-being are indeed capitalised into property prices and thus implicitly priced in the market place. Design/methodology/approach A considerable number of studies have used hedonic pricing models by incorporating spatial effects to assess the impact of air quality, noise and proximity to noise pollutants on property market pricing. This study presents a spatial analysis of air quality and noise pollution and their association with house prices, using 2,501 sale transactions for the period 2013. To assess the impact of the pollutants, three different spatial modelling approaches are used, namely, ordinary least squares using spatial dummies, a geographically weighted regression (GWR) and a spatial lag model (SLM). Findings The findings suggest that air quality pollutants have an adverse impact on house prices, which fluctuate across the urban area. The analysis suggests that the noise level does matter, although this varies significantly over the urban setting and varies by source. Originality/value Air quality and environmental noise pollution are important concerns for health and well-being. Noise impact seems to depend not only on the noise intensity to which dwellings are exposed but also on the nature of the noise source. This may suggest the presence of other externalities that arouse social aversion. This research presents an original study utilising advanced spatial modelling approaches. The research has value in further understanding the market impact of environmental factors and in providing findings to support local air zone management strategies, noise abatement and management strategies and is of value to the wider urban planning and public health disciplines.


2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 915-934 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gianluca Ginesti ◽  
Adele Caldarelli ◽  
Annamaria Zampella

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of intellectual capital (IC) on the reputation and performance of Italian companies. Design/methodology/approach The paper exploits a unique data set of 452 non-listed companies that obtained a reputational assessment from the Italian Competition Authority (ICA). To test the hypotheses, this study implemented several regression analyses. Findings Results support the argument that human capital efficiency is a key driver of corporate reputation. Findings also reveal that companies, which obtained reputational rating under ICA scrutiny, show a positive relationship between IC elements and various measures of financial performance. Research limitations/implications The study focuses on a single country; it is not free from the imprecisions of Pulic’s VAIC model. Practical implications This paper recommends companies that are interested to achieve a robust reputation should consider the human capital as a strategic intangible asset. Second, the results suggest that companies with an ICA reputational rating are able to leverage their intangibles to potentiate performance and competitiveness. Originality/value This is the first empirical investigation on the contribution of IC in generating value for corporate reputation. Additionally, the study contributes to the literature on the link between IC and performance by examining a sample of firms not yet explored in prior research.


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