Elevation: Folding the Interior

<p>This research anticipates that by repurposing the interior of existing and vacant historic architecture, significant to the community it serves, the life span of buildings can be prolonged. This in turn will lead to the progress of New Zealand’s history in architecture. This research proposes to introduce a transient intervention, in which design disregards the site context and is influenced by the historic materials. The design offers new and relative functions for buildings, thereby offering a stay of demolition, for a period of time. It reasons that the process of repurposing can be done exclusively through interior development, using installation methods that will not compromise the integrity of the historic materials. This will enable the design to be removed and the architecture to be returned to the condition it was in prior to the engagement of this research design. It is assumed by research that at this time the building’s historic value will outweigh the perceived financial gains of redevelopment. Change is inevitable in society. However, architecture is not so malleable and tends to resist change. It needs help adjusting with time. When communities develop, buildings do not always meet their increasing demands. They can become too small or the programme loses relevance. According to Johannes Cramer and Stefan Breitling “architecture should outlive humans” (Cramer), however, Heritage New Zealand notes that in the last fourteen years 26 historically listed buildings have been demolished to accommodate redevelopment, in New Zealand. This research takes three sites from Lower Hutt to represent this architecture in need. Each will give new insight for physical material and intangible features which are important to retain when working to preserve historic architecture.</p>

Elevation: Folding the Interior

<p>This research anticipates that by repurposing the interior of existing and vacant historic architecture, significant to the community it serves, the life span of buildings can be prolonged. This in turn will lead to the progress of New Zealand’s history in architecture. This research proposes to introduce a transient intervention, in which design disregards the site context and is influenced by the historic materials. The design offers new and relative functions for buildings, thereby offering a stay of demolition, for a period of time. It reasons that the process of repurposing can be done exclusively through interior development, using installation methods that will not compromise the integrity of the historic materials. This will enable the design to be removed and the architecture to be returned to the condition it was in prior to the engagement of this research design. It is assumed by research that at this time the building’s historic value will outweigh the perceived financial gains of redevelopment. Change is inevitable in society. However, architecture is not so malleable and tends to resist change. It needs help adjusting with time. When communities develop, buildings do not always meet their increasing demands. They can become too small or the programme loses relevance. According to Johannes Cramer and Stefan Breitling “architecture should outlive humans” (Cramer), however, Heritage New Zealand notes that in the last fourteen years 26 historically listed buildings have been demolished to accommodate redevelopment, in New Zealand. This research takes three sites from Lower Hutt to represent this architecture in need. Each will give new insight for physical material and intangible features which are important to retain when working to preserve historic architecture.</p>

Generating market-creating innovation by working backwards from the future

Purpose What is required to deliver innovation that meets evolving customer needs is a process of learning from the future. Design/methodology/approach The major financial gains in the digital economy usually flow from generating innovations that create entirely new markets by turning non-customers into customers. Findings Amazon has developed a highly productive value-creation approach called the PR/FAQ process. It starts by imagining the customer’s needs in the future and then describing in detail the offering that would meet those needs. Practical/implications To get more consistent success in generating market-creating innovations, explicit attention to non-users is needed. Originality/value Exponential advances in digital technologies, and the interactions between them, are expanding the possibilities for market-creating innovation.

The globalizability of temporal discounting

Economic inequality is associated with extreme rates of temporal discounting, which is a behavioral pattern where individuals choose smaller, immediate financial gains over larger, delayed gains. Such patterns may feed into rising global inequality, yet it is unclear if they are a function of choice preferences or norms, or rather absence of sufficient resources to meet immediate needs. It is also not clear if these reflect true differences in choice patterns between income groups. We test temporal discounting and five intertemporal choice anomalies using local currencies and value standards in 61 countries. Across a diverse sample of 13,629 participants, we found highly consistent rates of choice anomalies. Individuals with lower incomes were not significantly different, but economic inequality and broader financial circumstances impact population choice patterns.

Does investment in palm oil trade alleviate smallholders from poverty in Africa? Investigating profitability from a biodiversity hotspot, Cameroon

In this study we investigate whether the increasing investment in smallholder oil palm plantations that contributes to deforestation is motivated by financial gains or other factors. We evaluate the financial viability of smallholder farmers selling fresh fruit bunches (FFBs) to intermediaries or agro-industrial companies with mills, or processing the FFBs in artisanal mills to produce palm oil. We use data collected in four oil palm production basins in Cameroon and carried out a life cycle assessment of oil palm cultivation and CPO production to understand financial gains. We use payback period (PBP), internal rate of return (IRR), benefit cost ratio (BCR) and net present value (NPV) for 1 ha of oil palm plantation over 28 years at a base discount rate of 8% to asses viability. Our results show that smallholders make more money processing their FFBs in artisanal mills to produce CPO than selling FFBs to intermediaries or agro-industrial companies with mills. The sensitivity analysis show that land ownership is the single most important parameter in the profitability of investment in palm oil cultivation and trade. In addition to land cost, smallholders suffer from borrowing at high interest rates, high field management costs, while recording low on-farm FFB/processing yields. To improve the financial viability of smallholders investing in oil palm cultivation, measures are needed to encourage them to access land, get loans at reduced interest rates, reduce the cost of field management, adopt good agricultural practices to improve on-farm FFB/processing yields, as well as to generate additional revenue from the sale of other products.

ON PORTFOLIO OPTIMIZATION: ARE THERE FINANCIAL GAINS OF USING ALTERNATIVE COVARIANCE METHODS?

Purpose: The study evaluates the performance of alternative variance-covariance estimators as a fundamental ingredient to portfolio optimization. Methodology: The study estimates eleven covariance matrices on the data of Pakistan stock exchange's non-financial sector firms covering the period from July 2006 to June 2020. The accuracy and efficiency of covariance estimators are assessed through two evaluation parameters: root mean square error and minimum variance portfolios (risk behavior). Main findings: Empirical findings based on evaluation parameters suggest that more complex covariance estimators in the equity market of Pakistan yield no additional financial gains than the equally weighted portfolio of estimators. Application of the study: As the estimation of the variance-covariance matrix is one of the essential elements of portfolio construction, this study guides investor(s) on selecting an appropriate covariance estimator among eleven estimators endorsed by literature. Novelty/ originality of the study: Based on detailed analysis, the study documents that investor(s) of the Pakistan stock exchange cannot gain any additional benefit from more complex and tricky methods of variance-covariance estimators compared to a portfolio of estimators for the non-financial sector. Investors are advised to consider the equally weighted portfolio of estimators when formulating their investment strategy.

No free rides: winners and losers of the TTC U-pass

This paper explores the financial gains and losses for students from the U-Pass scheduled to be implemented by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) at universities in Toronto, Ontario in fall 2019. The U-Pass offers students unlimited travel on the TTC for $70 per month, but students are unable to opt-out. Toronto already has high existing student transit ridership and fares that are not integrated across municipal boundaries, setting a context in which U-Pass impacts different students in different ways. This study uses data from the 2015 StudentMoveTO survey to determine the financial losses and gains from students across different campuses, commute modes, and geographies. Students that benefit live within the City of Toronto and use TTC to get to school, while those expected to experience welfare losses either live outside of Toronto or live close enough to their campus to walk or bike to school. 1. An article about U-Pass in Toronto, used the key words: transit fares, student travel, equity

No free rides: winners and losers of the TTC U-pass

This paper explores the financial gains and losses for students from the U-Pass scheduled to be implemented by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) at universities in Toronto, Ontario in fall 2019. The U-Pass offers students unlimited travel on the TTC for $70 per month, but students are unable to opt-out. Toronto already has high existing student transit ridership and fares that are not integrated across municipal boundaries, setting a context in which U-Pass impacts different students in different ways. This study uses data from the 2015 StudentMoveTO survey to determine the financial losses and gains from students across different campuses, commute modes, and geographies. Students that benefit live within the City of Toronto and use TTC to get to school, while those expected to experience welfare losses either live outside of Toronto or live close enough to their campus to walk or bike to school. 1. An article about U-Pass in Toronto, used the key words: transit fares, student travel, equity

Why Join a Team?

We present experiments exploring why high ability workers join teams with less able coworkers when there are no short-term financial benefits. We distinguish between two explanations: prosocial preferences and expected long-term financial gains from teaching future teammates. Participants perform a real-effort task and decide whether to work independently or join a two-person team. Treatments vary the payment scheme (piece rate or revenue sharing), whether teammates can communicate, and the role of teaching. High ability workers are more willing to join teams in the absence of revenue sharing and less willing to join teams when they cannot communicate. When communication is possible, the choice of high ability workers to join teams is driven by expected future financial gains from teaching rather than some variety of prosocial preferences. This result has important implications for the role of adverse selection in determining the productivity of teams. This paper was accepted by Yan Chen, decision analysis.