Tony R. Wingler

The Effects of Zoning on Population and Employment Density

This article examines zonings impacts on population and employment density. It develops a model to explore the effects of zoning on the density of residential and nonresidential land use. Drawing on this model, density gradients that incorporate the effects of zoning are estimated for Greensboro, North Carolina. The model is used to simulate the effects of a change in restrictive-use residential zoning. The simulation shows that a 1 percent increase in the level of restrictive-use residential zoning across all neighborhoods in the city is associated with a 0.3 percent increase in gross population density and a 0.1 percent decline in net density (intensity). It suggests that restrictive-use zoning affects both the density and the intensity of residential land use through its effects on the value of residential land.

The measurement of returns in asset pricing models

Abstract Common to most capital asset pricing studies is the use of a market model to derive an estimate of beta. The market model assumes that returns are measured in percentage form as opposed to some other measure such as net present value. A recently developed ML estimation procedure and associated likelihood ratio testing are applied to judge whether the use of percentage return measures is consistent with the observed market data.