Developments and convergence of real housing prices in Poland during the COVID-19 pandemic: focus on voivodeship capitals

The paper aims to present and assess the changes in real housing prices in Poland during the COVID-19 pandemic. We analyse transaction prices of residential premises in a multi-family housing (apartments) in the primary and secondary markets within 16 administrative capitals of voivodeships. We use quarterly data on House Prices Database collected by the National Bank of Poland and data on quarterly price indices of consumer goods and services from Statistics Poland. The research period covers the period 2018-2021, with distinction into COVID-19- and pre-COVID-19 periods. We observe the highest housing prices in Warszawa, Gdańsk, Kraków, and Wrocław, while the lowest in Zielona Góra and Kielce. Surprisingly, the growth rate in real housing prices in the pandemic sub-period is lower than in corresponding pre-COVID-19 period. In the COVID-19 sub-period, we observe the most significant increases in real estate prices in Zielona Góra and Szczecin in the primary market, and Kraków, Lublin, and Łódź in the secondary market. Additionally, we reveal the existence of regional price convergence in the housing market in analysed cities, both in primary and secondary markets. However, we do not observe a common price convergence, but only convergence clubs (city-groups) where the housing prices tend to converge in the COVID-19 sub-period.

Market Efficient Portfolios in a Systemic Economy

Diversification vs. Diversity – How is the Efficiency of Markets Affected? Prices aggregate information that is dispersed in the economy; they thereby facilitate the allocation of scarce resources. Inefficiencies may arise from deviations of market prices from their fundamental values. In “Market Efficient Portfolios in a Systemic Economy”, Awiszus, Capponi, and Weber investigate the impact of the trade-off between diversity and diversification on inefficiencies in secondary markets due to asset illiquidity and leverage constraints of financial institutions. The authors identify two key determining factors. These are the systemic significance of the banks and the statistical properties of the fundamental asset shocks. Systemic significance is driven by the banks’ target leverage, their trading strategies, and the illiquidity characteristics of the assets. The paper demonstrates that portfolio diversification is typically not efficient. In fact, efficient portfolio holdings may strongly deviate from this standard paradigm, especially if the banks have similar characteristics.

Perceptions of Debarking Small-Diameter Stems in the Wood Products Community

Sufficiently valuing small-diameter-stem (diameter < 9 in.) woody material in Pennsylvania forest product markets may incentivize increased utilization of that material, a resource opportunity that would provide economic and ecological benefits to the state's forests and forest products community. Debarking is one primary process that could enhance the value of these small-diameter-stem materials for secondary markets. The wood products community in Pennsylvania was surveyed as to their perceptions of the status and value of economical small-diameter-stem debarking. The largest perceived current market for debarked, small-diameter-stem material identified by respondents is for chips for pulp and paper, and anticipated future demand is expected to be highest for chips for pulp and paper, chips for energy, and small-dimension lumber. Respondents who currently supply a given market tend to be more optimistic about that market than respondents who do not serve that particular market. Shredded wood/hog fuel and mulch are the two markets with the lowest overall scores for anticipated benefit of additional processing by debarking. Seventy-six percent of all respondents indicated that economical small-diameter-stem debarking would benefit their operation.

SELL YOUR CARDS TO WHO: NON-FUNGIBLE TOKENS AND DIGITAL TRADING CARD GAMES

The remediation of analog trading card games into digital platforms troubles notions of ownership and highlights the flows of capital through the ecologies of TCGs that previously relied on material artifacts. $2 is a digital trading card game that utilizes Non-Fungible Tokens to address concerns over ownership. However, in the wake of the sale of a $69 Million dollar NFT at Christie's art auction, crypto-art has been embroiled in discourse with respect to artist exploitation, environmental, and other concerns endemic to blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies. This paper examines the implications of NFTs in digital card games via the material histories of trading card games and the way digital TCGs accelerate the extraction of capital from player communities by bypassing traditional secondary markets. $2 proposes to solve these issues of ownership and assure players their cards will retain their value. However, the game relies on the continued existence of the publisher's platform, blockchain infrastructure, and player interest. The game also ignores how cards become valuable. Despite mimicking the artificial scarcity associated with TCGs, it does not take into account the impact metagame trends have on the value of cards. By looking at NFT implementations in games such as $2 we can identify several issues with the technology that might otherwise be overlooked in favor of more common critiques. This also highlights several implications remediation and adaptation herald for digital versions of analog games.

Integrated Approach to Model Liquid Fuels Supply Chain Interactions Due to Disasters and Accidents

Objectives/Scope Historically, facility outages, cyber-attacks, natural disasters, supply interruptions and other disruptions have caused significant impacts to the flow of crude oil and petroleum products. The impacts on assets, primary and secondary markets, and economic indices need to be quantified to address the effects of disruptions efficiently and effectively. Methods, Procedures, Process This paper details the design process that was used to develop an analytical tool to predict the impacts from disruptions, determine the cascading impacts on downstream markets and dependent assets and provide estimates for recovery potential. The entire petroleum supply chain, upstream, midstream, and downstream facilities, were included in the development of the modeling capability. To best capture the supply chain network and geographic dependencies, the area of interest was divided into finite regional markets based on supply and demand market dynamics and connectivity. Extensive review was conducted of historical disruptions to understand the impacts on infrastructure and the petroleum supply chain network interdependencies to support a holistic approach to disruption simulation. Algorithms were developed to determine the probability and severity of damage of disruptions at varying intensities. The modeling capability was designed to utilize a comprehensive up-to-date database and geospatial system. The database was designed considering public, private and proprietary data, the frequency of updates, validity of source, and value added. Results, Observations, Conclusions The petroleum disruption analytical modeling tool that was developed assesses disruptions to the supply chain network and predicts the duration and severity of impacts on facilities and the cascading effect on primary and secondary markets. The tool provides disruption results in tabular, graphical, and geospatial forms for individual assets, regions, and the nation as a whole. For the United States, the tool models 26 geographical regions delineated by refining sectors, mainly along the coastlines, and dependent demand markets. The crude oil and petroleum product supply and demand is balanced for each region using local supply, net imports, interregional connectivity, and the multi-modal transportation network. This paper demonstrates how the analysis tool provides business intelligence insights for the days of stocks available throughout the disruption duration and the total loss in products to the markets. An economic submodule was integrated with the tool that determines the impacts on the crude oil and gasoline price and the resulting impact on Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The model was benchmarked during Hurricane Laura 2020 and the predicted reduction in refining production was 85% of realized losses. Novel/Additive Information The innovative analytical tool simulates disruptions and provides predicted forecast of facility, market, and economic impacts for an extended period of time after the event occurs supporting response, recovery, and planning efforts. The model can be assimilated for any geographical or geopolitical region with consideration given to region specific disruptions. This paper provides case studies exemplifying use cases and model simulated results for petroleum supply disruptions.

Underpricing Luxury: When a Lower Price Results in Higher Reputation

Determining the price point is a vexing problem for firms: price too high and there is no market, but price too low and money is left on the table. Complicating matters further, for many goods there is a secondary market where products can be resold following the initial sale by the firm. Here, the open market determines the price point that end consumers pay. Often that price is higher than the price offered by the firm for goods such as premium handbags, wine, high-end watches, and works of art, so the consumer will see the product’s quality or appeal validated by the market, which leads to a reputation gain for the firm. This phenomenon goes beyond physical products and includes a variety of services, such as live concerts, as reflected in their ticket prices in primary and secondary markets. However, the secondary market can also offer a lower price than the firm’s original offering, which hurts the firm’s reputation. Typically, the luxury market equates higher prices with higher status but neglects the impact of the secondary market. Our research considers the case where initially underpricing a good may be in a luxury firm’s long-term interest. Although underpricing has been used in initial public offering (IPO) markets to increase the firm’s reputation, it has been viewed as a problem or discouraged in other market industries. Our hypothesis is that reputation has long-term value for firms and, in industries where a visible secondary (i.e., resale) market exists for products, price increases after product release lead to gains in reputation as higher resale prices signal quality and value.

The evolution and consequences of digital rights management in relation to online music streaming

Streaming services now provide the dominant way in which music is distributed and consumed online. Digital rights management (DRM) lies at the heart of this trend and has evolved alongside a movement from copy-based to streaming-based consumption. This shift poses a number of new and unique issues. Music streaming services have changed the nature of the product offered, with musical content becoming de-bundled and reduced to a series of permissions covered by DRM and associated licences, leaving users trapped in a permission-based system. This may create tension with copyright law principles regarding personal ownership and exhaustion of rights in relation to secondary markets, but through analysing relevant US and European case law it can be demonstrated that there is little, if any, legal opportunity for digital secondary markets to emerge. There are also further specific consequences which may affect artists relating to musical diversity and the composition of popular music and, also, consequences regarding the changing nature of the Internet itself. In this context copyright remains centrally important, but only in establishing the initial proprietary rights that enable subsequent DRM and licence-based online exploitation, indicative of a re-establishment of record industry power that is now allied to streaming platforms.