Pauline van den Berg

Factors Influencing the Planning of Social Activities: Empirical Analysis of Data from Social Interaction Diaries

Results of a study on the planning of social activities are reported. Data collected in the Netherlands from social interaction diaries were used to estimate a multinomial logistic regression model to analyze whether a social activity is prearranged, routine, or spontaneous as a function of personal and household characteristics, social activity characteristics, and characteristics of the contacted person. The results show that the planning of social activities is significantly influenced by gender, presence of children, education level, income, and time spent on work and school. Social activity characteristics were also found to have a significant effect. Social activities scheduled later in the day are less likely to be routine. In contrast, social activities of longer duration and taking place on the weekend are more likely to be routine or planned. The location, the main purpose of the social interaction, and detailed characteristics of with whom the social interaction took place were also found to affect the scheduling process significantly.

Locations that support social activity participation of the aging population

Social activities are an important aspect of health and quality of life of the aging population. They are key elements in the prevention of loneliness. In order to create living environments that stimulate older adults to engage in social activities, more insight is needed in the social activity patterns of the aging population. This study therefore analyzes the heterogeneity in older adults’ preferences for different social activity location types and the relationship between these preferences and personal and mobility characteristics. This is done using a latent class multinomial logit model based on two-day diary data collected in 2014 in Noord-Limburg in the Netherlands among 213 respondents aged 65 or over. The results show that three latent classes can be identified among the respondents who recorded social activities in the diary: a group that mainly socializes at home, a group that mainly socializes at a community center and a group that is more likely to socialize at public ‘third’ places. The respondents who did not record any interactions during the two days, are considered as a separate segment. Relationships between segment membership and personal and mobility characteristics were tested using cross-tabulations with chi-square tests and analyses of variance. The results suggest that both personal and mobility characteristics play an important role in social activity patterns of older adults.

Corporate real estate risks: A survey on risk perception amongst corporate real estate practitioners

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the corporate real estate (CRE) risks that might influence the added value of CRE to the shareholder value of an organization and to analyze if there are differences in perception of these risks according to job and company specifics of the respondents. Design/methodology/approach – A literature study was carried out to identify the CRE risks. In addition, a number of interviews were held with CRE specialists to complete the list of risks. An inventory of the risk perception was gathered by making use of a survey among 70 end-users, 16 CRE consultants and 2 CRE academics. Differences are analyzed making use of Kruskal–Wallis tests, Mann–Whitney U tests and t-tests. Findings – In total, 43 risks in six different categories were identified. It turned out that the risk perception differentiates the most per geographical location or industry segment. The size of the organization (number of employees) does not appear to influence the way in which the risks are...