Hans R. Isakson

A Comparative Study of Ethical Beliefs of Master of Business Administration Students in the United States with Those in Hong Kong.

In this article, the authors investigated personal beliefs and values and opportunism variables that might contribute to the academic dishonesty of American and Hong Kong master of business administration (MBA) students. They also compared American and Hong Kong MBA students with respect to their personal beliefs and values, opportunism, and academic dishonesty variables. Results showed that American MBA students who were idealistic, theistic, intolerant, and not opportunistic were likely to behave ethically. Hong Kong MBA students who were idealistic, intolerant, positive, and not opportunistic tended to act morally. Hong Kong students tended to be less theistic, more tolerant, more detached, more negatively oriented, more relativistic, less achievement-oriented, and more humanistic-oriented than were their American counterparts.

The Nearest Neighbors Appraisal Technique: An Alternative to the Adjustment Grid Methods

This study presents a new appraisal technique, dubbed the Nearest Neighbors Appraisal Technique, which vastly reduces the subjectivity of the traditional adjustment grid methods while eliminating the need to adjust for subject-comparable differences on a piecemeal basis. Any number of appraisers who apply this technique to the same property at the same point in time will get the exact same estimate of value. The technique avoids piecemeal adjustments by capturing all subject-comparable differences in a single measure. Using single-family sales data, the technique is found to be more accurate than any of the adjustment grid methods and hedonic price regression estimation procedures. Copyright American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association.

An Analysis of the Influence of Location in the Market for Undeveloped Urban Fringe Land

This paper blends and extends the Colwell and Munneke (1997) and Isakson (1997) models of urban land values to include a spatiotemporal plattage component. By including a monocentric term in the Isakson model, we arrive at a Colwell and Munneke-type model with a temporal component included in the plattage term. We further extend this model to include a spatiotemporal effect in the plattage term and demonstrate the use of geostatistical plattage models. (R14)

A Brief History of Native American Land Ownership

This study examines the literature in several fields in order to paint a picture of the history of the relationship between Native Americans and land. The study is especially interested in how this relationship evolved over time and in identifying the key events that mark changes in this relationship. Literature from archeology, anthropology, economics, and Native American studies are examined in order to gain insight into the evolution of how Native Americans have related to land over the past few thousand years. Most of the emphasis in this study is upon the more recent past, primarily because it is more relevant to the present (and future), and because there is more information available.

The impact of energy prices: A housing market analysis

Abstract This paper investigates the effect of energy costs on the housing market response. As the effect of energy costs has not been specifically investigated before in the literature, both a linear and non-linear model were investigated. The choice of the appropriate model was determined using the Box-Cox transformation technique. The chosen model was then validated. The results reveal that in the Spokane, Washington, area, where energy costs are relatively low, energy prices do not have a significant effect on market response. However, applying the same methodology to areas where energy costs are higher might produce different results.

Residential space heating : An analysis of energy conservation

Abstract The energy signature technique is used to analyse the marginal benefits of various types of energy conservation in residential space heating and certain systematic errors frequently committed by utility companies in estimating these benefits. The results indicate that the marginal price of energy and the change in the balance point temperature of a dwelling are the most significant factors in determining the value of energy saved each year. Utilities in the 27 cities studied do not consider the effects of changes in the balance point temperature of a structure when estimating energy savings. Regional differences are also examined.

A note on a non-stationary point source spatial model

A point source, non-stationary covariance structure model is proposed, having only one additional parameter over a standard, stationary covariance structure, spatial model. Additionally, the proposed model is demonstrated to fit better than the three extra parameter, point source, non-stationary spatial model proposed by Ecker and De Oliveira (Commun Stat Theory Methods 37:2066–2078, 2008). The proposed model is fit from a Bayesian perspective and illustrated using a house sales dataset from Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Analysis of the Characteristics of Individual Investors in Real Estate Securities and Income-Producing Property

Analysis of the responses to a nationwide survey of investors demonstrates that individuals who invest in real estate differ in a predictable way from those who invest in assets other than real estate. Two types of real estate investment vehicles are studied: income‐producing (rental) property and real estate securities. A multiple group discriminant analysis model is presented which successfully classifies prospective investors into four groups (owners of income property only, real estate securities only, both, neither) with a predictive accuracy more than double the chance probability of correct classification. The results provide insights useful in policy analysis and the design and marketing of real estate investments.

Ethics of Future Business Managers: The Influence of Beliefs and Values on Ethical Attitudes

Academic cheating is a common problem on today’s college campuses. It is a problem in which many students participate. This research is designed to study the beliefs and value orientations of students related to cheating. The focus is to attempt the determination of which types of personal values dissuade students from contemplating cheating and which personal values are prevalent in those who engage in academic misconduct.

Hidden Cost of Federal Energy Legislation

President Carters energy iniatives have aroused the interest of business, but the impact of federal energy legislation on costs has been largely ignored by them. The limitations of the legislation and its effect on the cost of manufacturing, marketing and distribution, accounting, reporting, and capital expenditure are discussed.