| 1. |
- Bellman, Lina
(författare)
-
In the mind of the property appraiser : Studies of commercial property valuation
- 2022
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- A transparent market provides participants with as much information as possible. In Sweden, where the environment of commercial properties is highly transparent various actors still need to minimise some continuing information asymmetry, and one possibility is to hire property appraisers.Transparent commercial property markets are often regulated by governments and professional institutions. The combination of regulation and socialisation through memberships in professional associations and shared educational backgrounds, training, work experience, and institutional frameworks serve to produce and reproduce professional values and identities. The overall aim of this thesis is to describe and analyse the Swedish profession of property appraisers as expressed through members’ perceptions and use of various standards and methods, ways of gathering information gathering, assessments of value-influencing factors, and their confidence in their own assessments when valuing commercial properties.The repertory grid technique was used to collect and analyse empirical data and to map the thought patterns of respondents in two main samples. The repertory grid interviews in 2010/2011 included about half of the appraisers in Sweden (67 of 138), and in 2015 just over half (81 of 145).This thesis concludes that Swedish authorised property appraisers use country dependent valuation standards and methods, but there are signs of their increased adoption internationally. Swedish appraisers gather and assess information in a similar way. Their aggregated thought patterns demonstrate relatively strong homogeneity and moderate complexity. However, the findings also reveal that appraisers’ thought patterns differ depending on the university from which they graduated. The appraisers graduated from the highest ranked university simplify their valuation judgements more than do other appraisers.During the valuation process, property appraisers gather and assess a large amount of information considered relevant for estimations of a property object’s market value. Four types of information (local environment, location, rental income, and discount rate) seem to have the greatest impact on the estimated market value. The appraisers further perceive that these information types is common in that the decisions in the information gathering stage is critical to the entire valuation process when using clients as information sources. This seems to affect their perceived confidence at the assessment stage and, in turn, the final estimated market value. In situations where the appraisers have low confidence, they are left dependent on the clients, which risks reducing their independence.
|
|
| 2. |
- Borg, Lena
(författare)
-
Procurement Contracts, Innovation and Productivity in the Construction Sector : Five Studies
- 2015
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- With its size, large number of actors, and its impact on everyday life, the construction sector plays an important role in every nation’s economy and in the improvement of the built environment. The recognition of this fact by the sector, in combination with the reputation for being conservative, problematic, having low productivity growth, and low pressure for change leads to a focus on different strategies that can be used to improve of the sector. Suggestions to improve the productivity in sector have been many during the years. One example is enhanced procurement contracts that encourage long-term orientations to improve the performance outcome and increase innovations.This thesis consists of five studies with specific objectives. The overall objective is, however, to increase the understanding of how to enhance the conditions to improve the construction sector. This is a response to the concerns that the actors on the market have difficulties carrying out necessary measures to make improvements in the construction sector. Procurement contracts were studied in two ways; bundled procurement contracts with service as a key to create incentives for innovations (Paper II) and the difficulty in evaluating the effects of different procurement contracts because of unclear concepts (Paper I). Innovations were also studied in two ways: the importance for creating incentives for “good” innovations and how to open up for more transparency with respect to innovation (Paper III), and the direct and indirect effects a specific innovation have in the design choices of construction in profit-maximising firms (Paper IV). Policies are based on data and misleading data can lead to mistaken recommendations. Indications of measurement errors in the calculations of productivity have been reported which leads to an interest to increase the reliability of productivity calculations (Paper V).The first paper has the focus to make the evaluation process easier, for the scholar, the actors on the market as well as for governmental institutions which formulate policies, by trying to make the relation between different contract types clearer with a new framework for structuring procurement contracts. The second papers are showing that bundling construction with service will not automatically increase profit for firms in the sector, rather that it might be an alternative way to transfer the risk in construction projects. Moral Hazard problems can also reduce the potential positive effects.Paper III wants to shift the focus from the quantity of innovations to how incentives can nourish “good” innovation and suggests a new classification system for technical innovations. The objective is to achieve increased transparency and reduced information asymmetry in the construction sector. Paper IV takes it starting point in an indicated shift in developers’ planning and construction practices for laundry facilities in owner-occupied multi-family buildings. The mapping of the shift shows that a change in regulations can have an effect on how we build, and that developers are using spaces in innovative ways, which in turn can have unforeseen external effects. The finding indicates that even though the number of appliances has increased since the 1990s, the energy consumption has not necessarily increased during the usage phase, depending on the energy performance of the appliances and on user behaviour.Paper V highlights the effects of including more rigorously and detailed gathered indicators of characteristics in the calculations of productivity development figures in the sector. By including more cost-driving characteristics, it should be easier to distinguish pure price changes from price changes related to increase in quality. It is, important to bear in mind that there are several projects yearly that are delivered on time, within budget, with good quality and where innovations have been used. Seen against the background of this thesis, it can indeed be stated that improvements are needed if we intend to create an innovative friendly work environment that will contribute to productivity growth. However, the contribution here is also a warning that the evaluation tools that are used to describe the sector might not measure what we intend to measure.
|
|
| 3. |
- Hasselgren, Björn, 1962-
(författare)
-
Government's Role for Transport Infrastructure : Theoretical Approaches and Historical Development
- 2013
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis analyzes and discusses the development of the Swedish government’s role as owner and financier of roads and railroads from the 1930s until the 2010s. The influence on the development of the government’s role from two main theoretical paradigms is discussed and analyzed. These are:a) neoclassical and welfare economics; andb) new institutional economic theory with an organizational focus.The thesis shows that there has been a shift from an institutional view on the organization and financing of the road and railroad systems following the nationalization in the 1930-40s, to a view more based on welfare economics from the 1970s.Technology, economics and politics are three important factors influencing the development of the transport systems and of the government’s role. In the thesis these factors are covered in a co-evolutionary approach applied for analysis of the historical development. This approach connects to a dynamic view on organizations and firms in institutional theory.Over time there have been shifts in the strength of the factors (technology, economics and politics) influencing the development. There have also been controversies around financing principles and contradictions between different elements in the policies actually pursued over time. One such controversy has been whether to aim for full cost coverage or for marginal cost coverage.The thesis discusses how planning and coordination in the transport infrastructure sector can come about. A centralized public sector planner mode is contrasted towards a private sector spontaneous ordering mode. It is argued that it is difficult for a centralized planner to collect the necessary information and transform it into deepened knowledge in order to coordinate. A decentralized spontaneous ordering mode might though allow for including the necessary knowledge.The thesis illustrates a number of trade-offs that must be taken into consideration when discussing a possible future development for transport infrastructure and the government’s role. The following aspects are discussed:- the balance between public and private as the basic organizing principle;- the balance between government and regions/local governments when it comes to- the geographical division of responsibility; and- the balance between the national and EU levels for strategic transport infrastructure planning and coordination, also in relation to spontaneous coordination and centralized planning.The government has acted reluctantly and pragmatically and gradually developed its ownership role and the general policies in the sector. The government’s emphasis on market failure as its basic assumption has become stronger over time.The thesis brings a deepened understanding of the long-term development of the government’s ownership and policy formation in the transport infrastructure sector in relation to the two theoretical paradigms. This combination of a historical view with the theoretical economic background gives new insights into the past and future of the government’s role for transport infrastructure.
|
|
| 4. |
- Hou, Yongzhou, 1970-
(författare)
-
Urban Housing Markets in China
- 2009
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis focuses on problems of prices and risks in the housing markets of urban China. What drives the dynamics of housing prices across regions is not only of great interest for academic researchers but also of first importance for policy makers. It is also interesting to pay attention to the issue of housing bubbles at a city level and risk allocations from an institutional view. To address the issues, the thesis applies both qualitative and econometric approaches in analyzing the urban housing markets of China. The first paper reviews articles mainly published in Chinese core journals. The existing studies are mainly concerned with such six topics as institutions, policy, land, finance, price and market. The first three topics involve the public housing allocation system reform, such fiscal and monetary tools as tax and interest rate, and the land reserve system. The housing finance treats such subjects of mortgages, bubbles and financial systems, while housing prices explore factors such as land prices, construction cost and exogenous forces like income. Finally, the housing market addresses housing circles and the relationship between housing demand and supply.In paper 2, the housing price dynamics is investigated at a national level and across regions by using the panel data with 30 provinces over 7 years (2001-2007). The empirical results suggest that the estimates for the fundamentals of income, user cost, housing stock and employment are robust at a national level, implying that there exists a stationary equilibrium relation in the long run between the housing price and the fundamentals above. The speed of price adjustment varies considerably across regions in the East, Midland and West.Then the housing markets in Beijing and Shanghai are examined in Paper 3 to quantify possible existence of a bubble in the two metropolitan areas. This article uses an integrated strategy involved with such fundamentals as interest rates, rent, income and GDP. The results show that Beijing might have been on the way of forming a housing price bubble between 2005 and 2008, and that there possibly existed a bubble in Shanghai from 2003 to 2004.By comparing the risk allocation in China with that in Sweden, Paper 4 explores the difference of actual risks taken by various actors. The banks and governments appear to take more risks in China, especially as the Chinese developers have a weaker financial situation than in Sweden. Households have more choices to reduce the risk by purchasing various kinds of insurance products and also by binding the interest rate.
|
|
| 5. |
- Zalejska-Jonsson, Agnieszka, 1978-
(författare)
-
In the Business of Building Green : The value of low-energy residential buildings from customer and developer perspectives
- 2013
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- An overarching aim of this research was to investigate the comprehensive value of green residential buildings as seen from two perspectives: that of the developer and that of the occupant (the customer). The dissertation consists of studies presented in seven papers. The studies conducted to investigate the developer’s perspective focused on construction cost and potential profit (papers I and VII). The customer’s perspective was examined with three approaches: the impact that energy and environment have on the decision to purchase (or rent) an apartment (paper V), willingness to pay for a green apartment (paper VI) and finally, the occupants’ satisfaction with the dwelling and indoor environment (papers II, III and IV). The first paper examines whether increased investment costs are profitable, taking into account the reduction in operating costs. The investment viability is approached by comparing investment in conventional and green residential building, particularly passive houses, using real construction and post-occupancy conditions. The increased investment costs in energy-efficient building were also the focus of paper VII. In this paper, the aim was to study how technologies used in energy-efficient residential building construction affect the available saleable floor area and how this impacts on the profitability of the investment. Potential losses and gains of saleable floor area in energy-efficient buildings were assessed using a modelled building and analysed with the help of the average construction cost.Papers II and IV present results from a study of occupants’ satisfaction and indoor environmental qualities. Both papers aim at comparing and analysing responses from occupants living in green and conventional buildings. Paper III focuses on a similar subject, but investigates occupants’ satisfaction among all adults living in multi-family buildings in Sweden, providing a national context for the results presented in papers II and IV. The results indicate that occupants are generally satisfied with their dwellings, but indoor environment proved to have a statistically significant effect on overall satisfaction.The results in paper V indicate that energy and environmental factors have a minor impact on customers’ decision to purchase or rent an apartment. However, availability of information on building energy and environmental performance may have an effect on the likelihood of the buyers’ being interested in environmental qualities and consequently an impact on their decision. The study presented in paper VI shows that customer interest in energy and environmental factors has a significant impact on stated willingness to pay for green dwellings. The paper discusses the stated willingness to pay for low-energy buildings and buildings with an environmental certificate and attempts to assess the rationale of the stated willingness to pay for low-energy dwellings given potential energy savings.
|
|
| 6. |
|
|
| 7. |
- Abdi, Adel
(författare)
-
Efficient Winter Road Maintenance : A Study of Technical and Contractual Issues
- 2014
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Since ancient times, roads have tied people and cultures together. Roads have been createdwith the aim of facilitating trade and cultural exchange among different regions in the world. After the technologic development in vehicle industry and dramatically increase of motoring in the world during the past century road communication has gained a great importance for transporting people and goods. Thus, good safety and accessibility on roads all year round is now a vital necessity for a healthy economy in all modern societies. In order to keep roads safe, available for use with high transport quality they need to be maintained in real time. One of the most difficult tasks in this context is to keep the roads in good condition and accessible even during winter. The main objective of this doctoral thesis is to attempt to specify the most efficient ways of executing winter road maintenance. The preliminary issue in this context is whether it is the use of current assistive tools, that is, technical aspects that should be optimized and developed or whether it is the way in which winter maintenance services are procured and outsourced, that is, contractual aspects that should be improved which could give the optimal impact for both clients and contractors and make winter road maintenance more effective, or both issues. In order to define the outline of the research project a comprehensive state of the art survey was initiated with the intention of collecting and gaining insights into the earlier studies in the research area. Three basic areas associated with the performance of winter road maintenance were considered to be most relevant for review due to the anchorage between the areas. The selected areas were climatological, technical and contractual aspects. The literature review was followed by an electronic questionnaire survey. The results of the study in this stage showed that current technical methods almost functioned in a reasonable manner but there was an imprecise dissatisfaction with the current maintenance contract. The second stage of the research consisted of a number of additional empirical investigations in order to identify contractual problematic issues behind the current winter road maintenance in Sweden. Generally, those factors that are rarely considered as potential underlying causes to costly performance of winter road maintenance in Sweden were studied in this research project for example improper use of related technical assistive tools, procurement of improper bundled winter services and inappropriate contract structure. This thesis consists of six papers, five of which are related to each other, and the first one is completely independent but within research area. Findings in the thesis contributes to extend understanding about; how designing appropriate contracts can improve winter road maintenance, how proper use of assistive tools can reduce unnecessary winter road maintenance costs and minimize road traffic disruptions and delays, how a partnering structure in contracts can create confidence and trust between clients and contractors that in turn leads to minimizing or eliminating conflicts and disputes between parties involved, how choice of appropriate procurement methods through proper bundling of winter road services can contribute to shorten the procurement process and create incentives for contractors, and how selection of proper payment mechanisms can contribute to higher service quality of performed winter road measures. Additionally, an adequate knowledge and understanding of climate, proper knowledge of road weather and its impact on winter road traffic is essential for contribution of better planning of how to maintain the road network during winter. Since understanding about winter issues and its effect on winter road traffic is far from complete and winter road maintenance in the cold regions is a similar challenge, broad and complex, the results of this research may even contribute to improving winter maintenance problems in the countries with severe winters like Sweden.
|
|
| 8. |
- Anop, Sviatlana, 1974-
(författare)
-
Apartment price determinants : A comparison between Sweden and Germany
- 2015
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Similar development of economic fundamentals in Germany over the last two decades did not lead to the same dramatic house price increases as it is in Sweden. What can explain this house price stability over a long period? This thesis attempts to find the answer this question.The first paper in this thesis contains an extended literature review on the studies focused on the factors affecting house prices in the short and in the long run. Existing literature adopts a broad variation of approaches and reaches different conclusions attempting to answer the question about what are the key drivers of house prices. Conclusions often depend on the model specifications and econometric methods applied. Though there is a considerable agreement in real estate economics theory regarding the main factors that affect house prices (or so called “fundamental determinants”), it is hard to find a consistent definition regarding what factors can be considered as “fundamentals” and what factors belong to “non-fundamentals”. The dominating factors that are presented in the majority of the studies are income, population, interest rate, housing stock and unemployment. Studies done after the recent financial crisis put more attention on such factors as the behavior of the market participants, financing conditions and regulations. The characteristics of the bank lending and valuation policies as well as regulations on the rental market have received attention in the research literature, but the impact of these factors on house price dynamics is not measured and not well described. Therefore the other two papers in this thesis aim to provide a better insight in to the factors that create fluctuations in housing markets.The second paper investigates the effects of macroeconomic indicators such as population, income housing stock, mortgage interest rate on house prices. Estimation is done by applying panel data methodology on regional data for major cities in Germany and Sweden and by using yearly observations from 1995 to 2010. Results suggest that the long-run development of apartment prices in Sweden can be explained by changes in such factors as population, disposable income per capita, mortgage interest rate, housing stock, and prices per square meter in the previous period. The price for the previous period has the highest impact in comparison with other factors in Sweden. At the same time for Germany this is the only factor that is valid for long-term house price development. Estimates for fundamental factors such as population, disposable income, mortgage interest rate and housing stock appeared as not significant in house price development in the long run in Germany. A closer analysis has shown that the fundamental factors developed in a similar way in both countries during the analyzed period, though the house prices dynamic is very different. The conclusion is that fundamental factors cannot provide an explanation for the differences in house price developments in two countries and further analysis of institutional differences in the housing markets is done in the third paper.Third paper applies a comparative analysis approach and hypothetico-deductive method in order to examine the differences in the banking policies on mortgage financing and approaches to valuation of mortgage properties in Germany and Sweden. The results suggest that the extreme rise in Swedish house prices above the long-term trend was created by expanding bank lending policies that was supported by the general macroeconomic factors and regulation environment on the housing market. The main difference between countries in approaches to valuation for mortgage purposes is that in Germany that mortgage is based not on the market value as it is in Sweden, but on the long-run sustainable value, so called “fundamental” value. Mortgage lending value is determined in such a way that is also develops in the same tempo as fundamentals in the long-run and is not that procyclical as market value. Using a long-term sustainable value has a restrictive effect on the housing prices and in such a way stabilizes the market. One more factor that gives stability to the housing market in Germany is the well-functioning rental market. Third paper contributes to a better understanding of necessary conditions for the house prices to rise in the long run above the fundamentals level and suggests policy solutions that can reduce the risks of housing bubbles and increase financial stability.
|
|
| 9. |
- Anund Vogel, Jonas, 1981-
(författare)
-
Incentivising Innovation in the Swedish Construction Industry
- 2020
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Almost 40 percent of global final energy use and CO2 emissions are connected to buildings and building-related activities; it is therefore important to incentivise the design and construction of resource-efficient buildings. Unfortunately, energy demand and associated emissions in the sector continue to grow. Such incentives will help achieve energy and environmental targets, reduce costs, and make smart and sustainable buildings and cities possible at a larger scale. Because novel technologies carry risks alongside their advantages, developers, contractors and consultants must have incentives to reduce and share those risks in a rational way if we are to meet the crucial long-term societal goals of reduced use of resources and emissions. I hypothesise that there are legal and institutional frameworks (rules, building codes, regulations, standard contracts, etc.) that result in weak or negative incentives for construction industry actors to invest in, propose, and install resource-efficient technologies. If the hypothesis holds true, then the goal is to identify ways to better incentivise construction industry actors to fully engage in the design and construction of smart and sustainable buildings. To tackle this, four studies were carried out using a mixed-method approach. Paper 1 identifies 38 barriers to energy efficiency in Swedish multifamily buildings. The next study (Paper 2) develops a categorisation framework in order to understand where to engage to overcome or bypass barriers to energy efficiency. Paper 3 and 4 are devoted to analysing two sets of barriers and propose possible solutions to overcome or avoid them: (1) how the current legal framework guiding start and operation of housing co-operatives (mainly the Co-operative Act) influences incentives for engaging in resource-efficient construction, and (2) how the legal instrument for collaboration between developers and consultants incentivises resource-efficient construction. In this case, the contract under investigation is the General Conditions of Contract for Consulting Agreements for Architectural and Engineering Assignments (ABK 09)”. Changes to these two sets of legal and institutional frameworks could have a significant impact on how buildings are designed, produced and used. The changes proposed could incentivise construction industry actors to fully pursue the creation of smart, sustainable buildings that deliver services to users and reduce negative environmental impacts stemming from both the building construction and operation phases.
|
|
| 10. |
- Blomé, Gunnar
(författare)
-
Organizational and economic aspects of housing management in deprived areas
- 2011
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation consists of five papers with different objectives. The overall objective is to improve knowledge of effective policies regarding socially deprived large housing estates. All studies deal with the real estate context from a housing company decision-making perspective. The first two papers focus on organisational issues and the following three papers deal with economic issues related to the development of a specific housing area. The research is based on case studies which involve specific methodologies such as interviews, direct observation and collecting data from company accounts. The main message of this thesis is that landlord policies and resources spent on operation and maintenance contribute to local area development. It is also underlined that there is a need for a paradigm shift in Swedish housing, since the regulatory framework appeared to be inadequate. The experience from this study shows that many problems can be solved within the existing laws and through efficient customised property management, but landlords need more effective incentives to improve their policies further. The first two papers address issues about how to organise local management resources in large housing estates. Three different functions were identified: customer service, (e.g. fault-reporting); the letting process; and caretaking (day-to-day management and control over indoor and outdoor areas). The models where more decisions are decentralised lead to better information about the local conditions, make it easier to coordinate work in an area, create more motivation for the staff and make it easier to involve the tenants. This was particularly valuable for socially deprived estates, but the decentralised model raised some moral hazard problems, e.g. the local team create their own agenda, are pressured by certain tenants to give them advantages and that the result is lack of control and consistent housing policy in the company. The third paper deals with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in housing management. Different types of costs are identified and related to the estates’ social condition. The results indicate that a CSR-based management policy leads to approximately 4.5 percent lower annual operation and maintenance costs which improved the company’s profitability, especially if the higher standard of maintenance, made higher rents possible. The study also identified three other benefits of CSR; improved tenant relationship, goodwill and business opportunities and the study is a first step towards a better understanding of the economic consequences of CSR in a real estate-context. The fourth paper analyses the return of the Swedish slumlords, with a focus on a specific area in Malmö. The tenants stayed even though the rent was higher and the quality was lower than in neighbouring areas because of a combination of three factors; rents were paid by different forms of welfare payment, lack of alternatives because of queues to other areas and because some tenants saw an advantage in the “no questions” asked policy that the slumlord followed. It is further argued that the property owners found this slum strategy as profitable either because they hoped to find a “bigger fool” to sell to or because the decision makers in the company had not invested their own money. The study concludes that both tenants and investors were in the end losers, but not the company managers.The fifth paper is an economic evaluation of renovation in socially deprived housing estates. The empirical data indicates that it is profitable to use a clear and active housing management strategy, especially if the rent levels are affected by the standard of management by the landlord. The results also show that the landlord’s policy had positive social effects, both in the form of tenant welfare and in the form of lower costs for Police and the Fire department. The study also indicates that it can be difficult to justify large scale investment purely from a business perspective.
|
|
| 11. |
|
|
| 12. |
- Granath Hansson, Anna, 1971-
(författare)
-
Institutional Prerequisites for Housing Development : A comparative study of Germany and Sweden
- 2015
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The housing shortage in Swedish growth regions has been heatedly debated for a number of years. Extensive reform proposals have been made by market actors and academics. The former center–right government in power until 2014 emphasized reform of the urban planning process. The current “red–green” government has ongoing planning reform on its agenda, but has instead emphasized investment subsidies. In the debate, the German housing market has been put forward as a positive example.This licentiate thesis compares the early stages of housing development in Germany and Sweden to find any differences that could provide interesting points of discussion related to further housing market reform in Sweden. As the scope of such an analysis could be very wide, this thesis is restricted to urban planning law and implementation, and to city initiatives to increase housing supply, including the affordable housing segment.The first step of the research project was to identify the major problems related to Swedish planning law and its implementation and to map the current state of reform. The identified problems encompassed issues related to municipal strategies for housing construction, the urban planning process, the appeal process, areas classified as of national interest, regulations, development agreements, and municipal land allocation. The article “The Planning Process in Sweden: current debate and reform proposals” summarizes the government inquiries, bills, and reforms introduced to date and gives an outlook on possible future urban planning reform in light of recent political developments.Second, the urban planning and appeal processes in Germany and Sweden were compared. The article “Promoting Planning for Housing Development: what can Sweden learn from Germany?” discusses three alternative processes in German local planning (i.e., private initiative, facilitated procedures in built-up areas, and omission of the local plan under certain circumstances) as well as the organization of planning authorities and city demands for affordable housing. The conclusion includes a proposal for a facilitated local housing plan, the introduction of private initiative in planning, and ways to improve planning authority organization in Sweden. When it comes to planning-related city demands for affordable housing, more research drawing on extensive international experience is required.Third, city strategies for housing construction were compared in the article “City Strategies for Affordable Housing: the approaches of Berlin, Hamburg, Stockholm and Gothenburg.” Although the housing shortages in these four cities differ somewhat in structure, the tools for implementing housing policy related to construction are similar and address organization, urban planning, land allocation, and subsidies. The German cities have a more active housing policy, cooperating with developers and using tools more consistently, than do their Swedish counterparts. They are also more likely to reach their construction goals.The overall findings of the research project stress the importance of political incentives in the formation of active housing policy.
|
|
| 13. |
- Hullgren, Maria, 1960-
(författare)
-
Essays on mortgage rate choice in Sweden
- 2013
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Buying a home is for many households the financially most important purchase they will make. The choice of mortgage instrument is also of importance in that it will determine a household’s financial exposure. In the aftermath of the 2007–2008 financial crisis in the United States, the potential consequences for borrowers and the financial system became apparent in many countries. Even though the choice of mortgage is described as a very complex transaction, international studies have found that borrowers are less than optimally knowledgeable about the possible future consequences of their choice. This lack of knowledge has raised concern and prompted calls for more research on differences between mortgage markets and factors affecting consumers’ mortgage choice.This thesis answers this call by empirically exploring the Swedish case and by offering an expanded knowledge about factors that influence borrowers’ mortgage choice. The thesis consists of five papers, and, in most cases, interviews and questionnaires were used to collect the data, depending on which type of data collection was considered best suited to serve the purpose of the individual paper. A close reading approach was also applied in one of the papers.The findings indicate that in a Swedish setting, there are factors affecting borrowers’ mortgage choice that have not previously been fully explored in the literature: the media and bank advisors. During the period studied, a negative correlation existed between the media and the choice of fixed rate mortgages, whereas a positive correlation existed between bank advisors and the choice of fixed rate mortgages. The study on advice given by a bank advisor also shows the advocacy of a mix of fixed and adjustable mortgage rates. Further findings corroborate those of earlier international studies, such as the impact of income, education, financial literacy and loan-to-value ratios on mortgage choice.A general conclusion that can be drawn from the findings in the Swedish context is that the most financially vulnerable borrowers—those with lower income, lower education and/or higher loan-to-value ratios—are more likely to choose higher levels of fixed rate mortgages (or lower levels of adjustable rate mortgages). In doing so, they avoid exposing themselves to liquidity problems, which can be caused by increasing mortgage rates, and make future mortgage expenditures more predictable. These findings contradict much of the concern that both scholars and financial authorities have expressed about households’ choice of mortgage instrument. Hence, these findings are of importance not only to research on mortgage choice but also to policymakers and the financial industry.
|
|
| 14. |
- Hullgren, Maria, 1960-
(författare)
-
The Mortgage Rate Choice
- 2010
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
|
|
| 15. |
- Högberg, Lovisa, 1983-
(författare)
-
Building Sustainability : Studies on incentives in construction and management of real estate
- 2014
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis summarizes the results from several studies with connection to sustainability in construction and management of real estate. Here, the concept sustainability includes environmental, social and economic dimensions and focus is on the actors with the best possibilities to impact real estate, namely the real estate owners and the developers. The thesis consists of six papers. Real estate owners’ perception of and incentives and strategies for sustainability was studied in four ways: incentives for energy efficiency and other sustainability issues in connection to renovation (papers I and II), factors that characterize firms with an ambitious approach to energy efficiency (paper V) and economic incentives for energy efficiency (paper VI). Developers’ behavior and impact on sustainability was studied in two ways: how developers’ planning and construction methods may influence energy consumption for future residents (paper III) and how developers relate to requirements for building environmental certification levels (paper IV).The first paper aims to clarify how housing firms see and treat energy efficiency matters in connection to renovation of multi-family buildings constructed during the 1960’s and 70’s. Interviews with housing firms resulted in four ideal housing firm types illustrating that housing firms have more or less incentives to improve energy efficiency. The second paper aimed to study a model for renovation of buildings in a residential area in peripheral Stockholm and to assess how it considers environmental, social and economic sustainability as well as technical concerns.Paper V builds on the results in paper I and aims to identify factors, on a firm level as well as in the surroundings of the firm, that characterize housing firms who own multi-family buildings from the 1960’s and 70’s and who have an ambitious approach to energy efficiency.Paper VI uses information from energy performance certificates to study whether better energy performance increases the selling price of single-family homes, which would increase owners’ incentives to improve energy efficiency.Paper III takes its starting point in an indicated shift in developers’ planning and construction practices for laundry facilities in owner-occupied multi-family buildings. The paper aims to clarify whether a shift has actually occurred from communal laundry rooms to in-unit laundry appliances and to illuminate the impact this could have on residents’ energy consumption for laundry. Paper IV reports the study of how developers who have adopted the environmental certification system LEED relate to the requirements for specific certification levels and how updated requirements risk undermining developers’ incentives for sustainable construction.
|
|
| 16. |
- Högberg, Lovisa
(författare)
-
Incentives for energy efficiency measures in post-war multi-family dwellings
- 2011
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Energy efficiency is an important question to society as well as to individuals and firms. Improving energy efficiency in the building sector is considered an important means to climate mitigation. For real estate owners energy is also a central expenditure item and reducing energy consumption may directly reduce operation costs while at the same time serve as insurance against future energy price increases. Since new buildings only add a few percent annually to the building stock, the potential to reduce total energy consumption primarily lies within the existing building stock. The building stock is ageing and the post-war part of the stock that is in need of renovation is growing. This has been suggested as a window of opportunity to improve energy efficiency, but so far the results have been few. Several factors have been put forward to explain the so called energy efficiency gap – the difference between actual and optimal energy efficiency – one of which is split incentives. What adds to complexity in this case is that distinct differences have been observed in the level of ambition between the real estate companies that have renovated so far. Some companies have undertaken extensive renovation and energy efficiency measures, whereas other companies have done little more than urgent maintenance measures. It seems that real estate owners in general don´t have strong economic incentives to improve energy efficiency in connection to renovation – but what can then explain the differences between strategies? This licentiate thesis examines the incentives among real estate owners to improve energy efficiency, particularly in post-war, multi-family buildings in need of renovation. The purpose is to add knowledge about decisions concerning measures that improve energy efficiency - in terms of incentives, barriers and different motives for real estate owners’ strategies and actions. Results show that real estate owners lack strong economic incentives to invest in energy efficiency in multi-family buildings and the level of investment is dependent on the different motivations, grouped in three levels of ambition, that real estate companies have. One important conclusion is that the heterogeneity between companies that was exposed in the interviews and survey implies that they will not respond similarly to policy stimuli. The heterogeneity should thus be considered when designing policy measures so that public and company resources can be allocated as efficiently as possible, as there are many challenges facing owners of post-war residential buildings. Another conclusion is that from an economic point of view it is important to take the interaction between different measures into account, e.g. between physical measures and measures focusing on changing household behavior.
|
|
| 17. |
- Jingryd, Ola
(författare)
-
Impartial legal counsel in real estate conveyances : the Swedish broker and the latin notary
- 2012
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Fastighetsöverlåtelser sker på olika sätt och med inblandning av olika aktörer i Europas länder. Behandlingen av fastighetsöverlåtelser i EU:s medlemsstaters rättsordningar kan grovt delas in i fyra kategorier, som har nära samband med de klassiska rättsliga ”familjerna": 1) Den latinsk-tyska notariemodellen, där notarius publicus spelar en central roll, 2) den delvis avreglerade holländska notariemodellen, 3) solicitormodellen, som förekommer på de brittiska öarna och där överlåtelser av hävd genomförs av advokater samt 4) den nordiska modellen med ett reglerat fastighetsmäklaryrke. De jämförande studier som har genomförts med avseende på dessa modeller har främst fokuserat på de ekonomiska effekterna, särskilt med avseende på sambandet mellan reglering och transaktionskostnader, med stort fokus på den latinsk-tyska notariens roll. Även om dessa studier odiskutabelt är av stort värde, är de ofullständiga i så måtto att de inte tar hänsyn till de rättsliga och institutionella ramarna för respektive modell. Inte heller beaktas de funktioner som respektive modells nyckelaktörer fyller. En av dessa funktioner är juridisk rådgivning, vilket kan omfatta allt från enkla upplysningar till normativa råd om hur kunden lämpligen bör agera. Föreliggande avhandling undersöker, jämför och analyserar vilken juridisk rådgivning köpare och säljare av fastigheter kan räkna med att få – utan att anlita juridiskt ombud – enligt den latinska-tyska modellen respektive den svenska modellen. Mer specifikt jämförs den svenska fastighetsmäklaren och den latinska notarien med avseende på den roll respektive profession spelar i fastighetsöverlåtelser samt deras skyldighet att ge råd och vägledning till parterna. Studien genomförs i två steg: först en allmän översikt över respektive professions skyldigheter och ställning gentemot parterna, följt av en mer detaljerad redogörelse för deras rådgivningsplikt. I den första delen studeras Sverige och nio notarieländer: Argentina, Belgien, Brasilien, Frankrike, Tyskland, Mexiko, Portugal Puerto Rico, och Spanien. I den andra delen studeras Sverige och Frankrike på ett mer djuplodande sätt. De två professionerna har framför allt två gemensamma huvuddrag: en skyldighet att vara opartisk och en rådgivningsplikt. Den svenska fastighetsmäklarens och den franska notariens respektive rådgivningsplikt är förbluffande lika och består i: 1) att genomföra kontroller för att fastställa vissa fakta, främst rörande säljarens förfoganderätt och rättsliga belastningar i köpeobjektet, 2) att lämna relevant information, 3) att ge adekvat rådgivning, och 4) att upprätta nödvändiga handlingar på ett sätt som är anpassat till den enskilda transaktionen. Skyldigheten att vara opartisk och rådgivningsplikten utgör tillsammans en specifik funktion i fastighetsöverlåtelser, som i Sverige utövas av fastighetsmäklaren och i Frankrike och övriga notarieländer av notarien: opartisk rådgivning. Önskvärdheten och ändamålsenligheten i de olika modellerna kan bedömas och diskuteras ur flera perspektiv, inte minst ett ekonomiskt perspektiv. Generellt uttryckt kan en modell sägas vara önskvärd om den producerade nyttan överstiger kostnaderna. Frågan är hur man på ett adekvat sätt mäter nytta och kostnader. Genom att begränsa rättsekonomiska studier till sådana faktorer som lätt kan mätas, främst pekuniära kostnader, riskerar man att få en ofullständig bild eftersom det kan finnas nytta och kostnader som man inte lyckats mäta och därmed inte tagit hänsyn till. Exempelvis är frågan om i vilken utsträckning staten bör ingripa på marknaden inte bara en ekonomisk fråga, utan även en ideologisk fråga. Hur mäter man sådan nytta och sådana kostnader? Ett alternativt sätt att utvärdera de olika modellerna är att studera deras institutionella robusthet, det vill säga deras förmåga att ge de önskade resultaten. Till exempel kan skadliga incitament för nyckelaktörer såsom mäklare och notarier ha en ogynnsam effekt på utförandet av deras tilldelade uppgifter. Framtida forskning bör fokusera på dessa frågor.
|
|
| 18. |
- Jonsson, Berth, 1944-
(författare)
-
Transportation asset management : Quality related accounting, measurements and use in road management processes
- 2010
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Today there are shortcomings in monitoring, control, analyses, learning and reporting of the results of activities and operations in the road management processes. There are also shortcomings in transparency and verifiability, in knowledge of road management’s costs and life cycle costs, of the road capital’s standard and condition and in measures of quality deficiency costs, productivity and maintenance backlog. The starting points for different applications of the model are taken from experience of the subprocesses in practical road management, independent analyses of activities, operations and results, presence at directors’ meetings (in an independent co-opted capacity) and literature reviews. It is my belief that the problems can largely be solved with transparent, verifiable information that is relevant to the sub-processes. A model has been designed with the transport policy’s requirements at the focus for all sub-processes’ applications without repeating errors as regards internal control, use of standard values and index adjustments. For each component, the model provides quality-related information about its current condition and condition value, acquisition value, replacement value and standard target value with the effects of measures carried out. Changes in standard and condition of new construction, improvements, maintenance and consumption can be shown in the model. Information can also be found on a component’s consumption cost, index adjustment and successively accumulated life cycle costs. Quality deficiency costs, inefficiencies, maintenance backlog, cost drivers, productivity and, for example, expected funding needs can be calculated by computer. The model has been tested and this document also describes the model’s implementation project at the SNRA. Most of the road network’s components have been registered for a long time in the SNRA’s road and traffic data bank as compulsory or optional phenomena. The remaining components will to a large extent be entered automatically. Some will require inventorying. In theory, the quality-related accounting will thus have access to information about every individual component in the entire state-administered road network. For at least 75% (80% in the implementation project) of the total value o fthe road capital, current condition information will exist for each individual component in the road network. The information, that constitutes “best available knowledge” of the components’ current functional condition, is administered in dedicated administration systems and comes from different kinds of inventories. The values of the remaining components can be appraised systematically on the basis of individually assessed technical length of life and, for example, planned maintenance. The model shows that decisions to carry out measures can also be based on “best available knowledge” of socioeconomic effectiveness, consideration of the environment, climate and energy in a life cycle perspective, customers’ (society’s and road-users’) expectations and political demands for fairness. These requirements are systematically worked into the limit values for “as constructed” and “worst acceptable condition”. The condition interval between the limit values shows the component’s functional consumption margin provided that the transport policy’s requirements are taken into consideration. The information makes it possible to consider and stipulate requirements regarding the development of components’ accumulated life cycle costs in procurements. Contractors will have a natural focus on increased productivity and cost increases in projects should be smaller. The model makes the long term planning process more efficient and shortens lead times. Prices, costs, accumulated life cycle costs and various types of deviations can be analysed continuously to achieve systematic learning from good examples and failures. In the project follow-up, deviations are automatically divided within the system into causes dependent on time, quantity, and unit price. Control and monitoring with analyses and learning can be made more effective through automatic monitoring against control limits. The concept of quality-related accounting of road capital should be a part of the international discussion around models for Transportation Asset Management (TAM).
|
|
| 19. |
- Lind, Hans
(författare)
-
Theoretical understanding of stability of alloys for hard-coating applications and design
- 2015
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The performance of modern hard coating materials puts high demands on properties such as hardness, thermal stability and oxidation resistance. These properties not only depend on the chemical composition, but also on the structure of the material on a nanoscale. This kind of nanostructuring will change during use and can be both beneficial and detrimental as materials grown under non-equilibrium conditions transforms under heat treatment or pressure into other structures with significantly different properties. This thesis aims to reveal the physics behind the processes of phase stability and transformations and how this can be utilized to improve on the properties of this class of alloys. This has been achieved through the application of various methods of first-principles calculations and analysis of the results on the basis of thermodynamics and electronic structure theory.Within multicomponent transition metal aluminum nitride alloys (TMAlN) a number of studies have been carried out and presented here on ways of improving high temperature stability and hardness. Most (TMAl)N and TMN prefer a cubic B1 structure while AlN is stable in a hexagonal B4 phase, but for the purposes of hard coatings the metastable cubic B1 AlN phase, isostructural with the TMN phase is desired. It will be shown how the introduction of additional alloying components, such as Cr, into (TiAl)N changes the thermodynamic stability of phases so that new intermediary and metastable phases are formed during decomposition. In the case of such a (CrAl)N phase it is shown to have greater thermodynamic stability in the cubic phase than the pure AlN, resulting in improved high temperature hardness. Also, the importance of treating not just the binodal decomposition through the formation energy relative to end products but also the impact of spinodal decomposition from its second derivative due to the topology of formation energy surfaces is emphasized in the thesis. The impact of pressure on the AlN phase has also been studied through the calculation of a P-T diagram of AlN as part of a (TiAl)N alloy.During the study of chemical alloying of TM components into AlN the alloying of low concentrations of these TM were treated in great detail. What is generally referred to as the AlN phase in decomposition is not entirely pure and can be expected to contain traces of any alloying components, such as Ti and Cr or whatever other metals may be present. Low concentration alloying of Cr, on the order of 5-10% is also shown to be stable with regard to isostructural decomposition. Detailed analysis of the effect of Ti and Cr impurities in AlN has been carried out along with a systematic search of AlN alloyed with small amounts of other TM components. The impact of these impurities on the electronic structure and thermodynamic properties is analyzed and the general trends will be explained through the occupation of impurity states by d-like electrons.Theoretical treatment of such impurities is not straightforward however. AlN is an s-p semiconductor with a wide band gap while TM impurities generate states of a d-like nature situated inside the band gap. Such localized impurity states are expected to give rise to magnetic effects due to spin dependent exchange, in addition strong correlation effects might have to be taken into account. For that reason the use of hybrid functionals with orbital corrections according to the mHSE+Vw scheme, developed specifically for this class of materials, has been used and shown to influence the results during calculation of impurities of Ti and Cr.In nanocomposite multilayered structures, composed of very thin layers of one material sandwiched between slabs of another, such as layers of SiN between TiN or ZrN, the material properties are greatly affected by the interfaces. In addition to the thermodynamic effects and lattice strains of the interfaces one also has to consider the atomic vibrational motion in the interface structure. Hence, dynamical stability of these thin multilayers is of great importance. As part of this thesis, results on the thermodynamic and dynamical stability of both TiN-SiN layers and ZrN-SiN will be presented. It will be shown that due to considerable dynamical instability in the interface structure of monolayered B1 SiN sandwiched between isostructural layers of B1 ZrN along (111) interfaces this structure cannot be expected to grow, instead preferring the stable (001) direction of growth.
|
|
| 20. |
- Lindqvist, Sylwia
(författare)
-
Transaction cost and transparency on the owner-occupied housing market : An international comparison
- 2011
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation consists of four essays with specific objectives. The overall objective is, however, to seek a further understanding of the issue of cross-border residential transaction markets. While the first two essays focus specifically on transaction processes and costs in a number of selected countries, the two subsequent essays shift their attention towards the EU’s Internal Market and the impact of differences between the countries, with relation to the transparency of transaction markets. The research is primary based on studies of written sources, subject-specific literature and legislation. The main message is that organization of the transaction process affects transaction costs in different ways. It can be argued that efficiency is associated with a lowering of transaction costs. The efficiency of different structures depends on our perspective. Transparency is associated with the organisation of transactions and their needs, though the term is somewhat unclear. Generally, the term may refer to the ability of transaction participants to observe information concerning the transacting process, thereby increasing their knowledge to make informed decisions. Thus it can be argued that a better basis for the decision-making process presupposes information disclosure, more standardized transaction practices, synchronized legal systems, and both legible and transparent regulations. This leads to the design of a transparency system, which is based on an understanding of the need for the system and its goal. Although reaching transparency will be both complex and time-consuming, this study draws attention to certain key aspect of the need to encourage transparency. The first two essays focus on how residential transactions are organized in selected countries and on the costs for carrying out these transactions. Essay II works with two hypotheses concerning the relation between the organizational structure and the transaction costs. The study shows that transaction processes and costs differ considerably between the countries and as a result it is difficult to arrange the countries in a clear way according to their rules. Moreover, there is no clear connection between a broker’s education level and how large a part in the process s/he plays. The total transaction costs excluding taxes vary from approximately 3 up to 8.5 percent. The costs are lower when the recording system is well arranged, when a broker has a bigger part in the process and when a conveyancer is impartial. In the countries where a broker has a higher education level and plays bigger part in the process, the broker’s commission is not any higher when compared to other countries in the study. The study shows also that transaction costs are lower in the countries where the broker has a more neutral role and where fewer parties are involved in the process. Thus in order to avoid high transaction costs, it is important to avoid situations where both buyer and seller have their own agents. Furthermore, the availability of standardized information about properties may increase the efficiency of the market even though it increases the short run transaction cost. Essay III provides a theoretical framework for an analysis of the concept of transparency in residential property transactions within the EU’s internal market and tries to identify the essential factors that need to be addressed with respect to transparency of procedural, regulative and economic features. Essay IV seeks a further understanding of the issue of transparency in the residential property transaction market and attempts to define the state of transparency on the basis of selected EU-countries, in accord with five specific dimensions. The essential points are that an increase in cross-border transactions increases demand for easy access to information in other countries, and that the studied literature focuses on the coordination of legal systems, which produces systems that are more uniform and legally secured, and on broadening the mortgage market. Some of the aspects analysed in the study are far from transparent while others may be considered relatively transparent. The degree of transparency in the EU’s internal market is determined by how transparency is defined, since something may be transparent based on a certain criteria but not on others, especially when the concept is a relative one and subject to changes. The study raises some key aspect as a basis for discussion about the encouragement of transparency.
|
|
| 21. |
- Muyingo, Henry, 1964-
(författare)
-
Property Maintenance : Concepts and determinants
- 2009
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Introduction Strategic property management aims at balancing the question of how the needed space is to be secured, maintained, increased or disposed of in a cost effective manner under a mixture of decisions and actions. In recent years, the interest in building maintenance has increased as more and more of the housing stock built after the Second World War is in need of major renovation. For example, approximately 1 million dwellings were constructed in Sweden in the period 1960-1970. Currently there is growing concern about the expected huge cost of maintaining this aging housing stock especially in the portfolio under municipal ownership. Private housing companies have been shown to report lower maintenance costs than those in the public sector but which are the factors that can explain the apparent differences? During the last decade there has also been a growing trend of governments diversifying themselves of their properties and/or outsourcing the property management. A question of interest is whether it is advantageous to do so and if the maintenance management differs substantially between the government sector and the industrial sector which is seen as business oriented and with a production centred maintenance strategy. In a number of industries there has been a paradigm shift in maintenance whereby the focus is no longer only on availability but reliability and cost effectiveness. New maintenance strategies and policies such as reliability centred maintenance have seen the light of day though without winning ground within property management. Shouldn’t building maintenance be handled in the same way? This licentiate thesis focuses on the strategic management of housing properties under public and private ownership as well as the management of special purpose properties in the government and industrial sectors in relation to the ongoing discussion about neglected maintenance. The purpose is to contribute to the process of cost efficient and effective maintenance both in the housing sector and in the management of special purpose properties through underscoring the factors that lead to differences in the maintenance levels in the different categories. Method The questions above are analysed through a theoretical part that discusses the concept of maintenance and strategies in building maintenance in relation to other industries. The thesis also contains an empirical part that is based on a survey in the form of a questionnaire on housing maintenance and an econometric analysis of the maintenance costs contained in the financial reports of the municipal and private housing companies as well as a questionnaire on among others how state and county governments as well as industrial companies have secured the availability and management of their special purpose properties. The thesis consists of four papers the first two of which are co-authored with Hans Lind. It starts by demarcating the concept of maintenance in the context of standard investment theory followed in paper 2 by a discussion of the term “maintenance strategy” and some stylized facts concerning building maintenance in Sweden. Maintenance strategies and approaches used in some other industries are presented as a background to an analysis of why building maintenance is different. The various factors that affect the maintenance costs reported within the housing sector are surveyed and analysed in paper 3 before the results from a survey on management of special purpose properties in the state and county governments as well industry sector are presented in paper 4. A questionnaire was used to get a broader material about aspects that were difficult to observe directly, including views about underlying factors. Results From the perspective of investment theory everything that is usually classified as maintenance is also an investment. The concept of maintenance can in a number of situations be taken to be unnecessary. A review of strategies from other industries reveals a focus on systematic data collection and cost analysis before action is taken and a move away from time scheduled maintenance to acting on the condition of the object. However building maintenance contains a substantial degree of corrective maintenance with a high degree of opportunistic maintenance and detailed maintenance planning is not ideal due to constantly changing needs and demands. An important result is from the surveys and econometric analysis which indicate that the ownership category has a significant effect of approx. 35 per cent on the maintenance costs reported by the housing companies. Furthermore a major factor affecting the cost level in the housing companies is the influence of external factors such as pressure from the media and politicians. The degree of special property ownership in the surveyed companies is high and the probability of the leasing market increasing in the coming five years is very low. According to the respondents there is very little neglected maintenance in the industry in contrast to the government sector especially in the counties. Furthermore, the maintenance plans in the public sector were shorter than those in the private sector. Discussion The outstanding result from the surveys is that classification of activities as maintenance or investments in both housing and special purpose properties differs in that the public sector companies lean more towards maintenance than investment in their accounting and have a higher degree of adherence to laid maintenance plans. The distinct difference in the pay-back duration used by the government sector as compared to that in the industry sector in effect lowers the effectiveness of the government sector as the lower required rate of return allows the government sector to have more activities that appear to be profitable. Maybe the problem to worry about should not be that of neglected maintenance in this sector but that of unprofitable maintenance that should not be carried out. This might also just explain why more activities are classified and dealt with as investments by the industry and not by the county or state companies or the municipal housing companies. Conclusion There are strong arguments for saying that building maintenance rationally differs from the kind of maintenance and maintenance planning that could be observed in some of the other industries and the concept of maintenance is much more suitable in a world where there are smaller changes and where it is believed to be possible to know long in advance what is rational to do. The divergence in classification of activities even within the same category and company revealed by the two surveys is problematic as it complicates comparison of activities and services provided as well as benchmarking and it should be given appropriate attention by the managers. This goes to show the great need to use the same well defined concepts in order to benchmark and develop more efficient maintenance management strategies. Future research Though each building is unique the goal should be to develop a model that is rational given the specific uncertainties that characterise a building and the institutional system in which decisions are made. The limited size of the sample and the lack of transparency and uniformity in the financial reports constrain the research efforts in this study. However research is needed towards a clearer and more transparent classification of maintenance activities with the purpose of not only reducing the gap between the reported maintenance costs of the companies but also increasing the comparability in the branch. This will help to isolate and possibly limit the external influence in the management of the companies especially in the municipal housing sector.
|
|
| 22. |
- Nordlund, Bo
(författare)
-
Valuation and Performance Reporting in Property Companies Accouding to IFRS
- 2008
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Applying a historical cost accounting (HCA) concept in property companies led on many occasions to a situation where everyone knew that the figures in balance sheets and income statements were wrong from a market perspective, but the analysts knew how the figures had arisen. Applying a fair value accounting (FVA) concept has led to a situation, on many occasions, where almost everyone believes that the figures in balance sheets and income statements accurately and fairly reflect reality, whereas few have sufficient knowledge how these figures have arisen.Appraisal of property is a complex issue. One of the most important conclusions from the research reported in this thesis is that disclosure regarding applied methods, significant assumptions in property valuations and statements about the connections between appraised values and market evidence needs refinement in financial reports, according to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). As the uncertainty in property valuations cannot be removed, it has to be managed. Providing explicit disclosure about valuations is one important way to manage this issue by reducing the gap of information asymmetry between those who perform valuations and those who are users of financial statements.Other findings reported are connected to issues of consistent application of IFRS other than disclosures about valuations. Such an issue is the border between maintenance expenses and capitalised costs regarding component replacements. On many occasions companies seem to interpret IFRS accounting rules differently in this respect. This could lead to distorted reporting of net operating income (NOI) levels.Another conclusion reported is that NOI for financial reporting purposes are not equivalent to NOI used for real-estate appraisal purposes. In this thesis it has been shown that differences may turn up regarding rental income and maintenance costs in this respect.Fair value adjustments in income statements are another issue handled in this thesis. Empirical studies showed that a majority of the property companies studied reported such adjustments above financial items in the income statement, which seems to be in line with the intentions of the IFRS rules.
|
|
| 23. |
- Palm, Peter
(författare)
-
Challenges of Commercial Real Estate Management : An analysis of the Swedish commercial real estate industry
- 2015
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Avhandlingen består av fem artiklar som var och en adresserar ett specifikt område inom förvaltning av kommersiella fastigheter. Det övergripande syftet med avhandlingen är att se till de utmaningar förvaltning av kommersiella fastigheter innebär. De två första artiklarna utgör en plattform för resten av avhandlingen och är en kartläggning av branschen. Artikel I fokuserar på branschens kund och service medvetenhet i deras årsredovisningar. Artikel II är en uppföljande intervjustudie av företagen i artikel I gällande ledningens uppfattning gällande vilka organisations frågor som är av strategisk natur för att leverera god kundservice. Tredje artikeln adresserar kontorsmarknaden och hur fastighetsägarens organisatoriska attribut påverkar annonseringstiden av kontorslokaler. Den testar eventualiteten att internet som marknadsplats för uthyrning av kontor är en så kallad lemons market, där företrädelsevis ”dåliga” objekt marknadsförs. De två sista artiklarna studerar sedan incitament i förvaltningsorganisationen om den bedrivs in-house eller är outsourcad. Den första av dessa två berör specifikt hur incitament för att genomföra arbetsuppgifter regleras och den andra artikeln ser istället till hur beslutsfattaren säkerställer sig information från förvaltningen för att kunna ta väl informerade beslut. I första artikeln får vi med oss att den kommersiella fastighetsmarknaden i Sverige är kundorienterad. Vi kan konstatera att branschen redan före 2004 hade gjort skiftet från produkt orientering till kund/service orientering. Däremot kunde vi inte konstatera att kundfokus hade ökat i företagens årsredovisningar mellan åren 2004-2008. Slutsatsen från artikel II är att oavsett förvaltningsorganisation, in-house eller outsourcad, är argumentationen från ledningen i dessa företag att val av organisering av förvaltningen är bottnad i service leveransen till deras kunder/hyresgäster. Tredje artikeln är ett test av internet som marknadsplats för kontor i Malö CBD där teorin om market for lemons testas. Organisering av förvaltningen var en av kvalitetssignalerna, tillsammans med storlek, kontor på orten och om företaget varit i Hyresnämnden. Slutsatsen är att vi inte kan förkasta hypotesen om att marknadsplatsen är en market for lemons. Slutsatsen från artikel IV och V lyfter fram skillnaden i hur incitament skapar i förvaltningsorganisationerna, då den är organiserad in-house alternativt outsourcad. Förvaltningen i outsourcade organisationer regleras primärt av kontraktet, mellan ägarbolaget och service bolaget som de är anställda av, där det stipuleras när och hur de förväntas leverera såväl information som kund service. Förvaltningen i företagen med in-house förvaltning arbetar istället genom frihet under ansvar där de bedöms genom resultatet av deras service istället för genom checklistor och Job beskrivningar. Oavsett organisering av förvaltningen så finns där inte några monetära incitament för förvaltaren som baseras direkt på deras individuella prestationer.
|
|
| 24. |
- Song, Han-Suck, 1968-
(författare)
-
Essays on risk and housing
- 2009
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- There is a series of different types of risk on the housing market and related industries. The six papers in this doctoral dissertation are about a number of the many dimensions of risk management on the housing market. The main message of this thesis is that it should be possible for different actors in the housing market to improve risk management. Indeed, the last years’ financial turmoil has revealed that it should not only be possible, but also necessary, to improve risk management at all levels of the economy: at household, corporate, regional, national and international level. Although the complexity of the environment in which we live and act makes it very difficult to predict and quantify risk, the development of risk management techniques should make it possible to better indentify, and reduce risk. The first paper provides a systematic overview of a wide selection of methods or strategies used in different countries to expand but also to maintain home ownership among low income households. The second paper further discusses mortgage and home equity insurance instruments discussed in the first paper. This paper also discusses how a rental insurance policy, as an alternative to traditional rent regulation, may be constructed. Paper 3 develops a formula that might be used in order to value the rental insurance option discussed in paper 2. The fourth paper focuses on the housing building sector by discussing potential benefits of strategic alliances that the different actors in the housing construction market may establish in order to pool resources and manage development risks. The challenge of constructing reliable home price indexes has attracted scholars for many years. Paper 5 develops monthly quality-adjusted price indexes for condominiums (housing cooperative apartments) based on a unique dataset covering sales in the whole of Stockholm municipality from January 2005 to June 2009. Finally paper 6 pays attention to the large increase in housing cooperative conversions sine the 1990s, by deriving a closed-form valuation formula that might be used to value the embedded option an owner of a multi-family rental property has to sell it to a housing cooperative.
|
|
| 25. |
|
|
| 26. |
- Staffansson Pauli, Karin
(författare)
-
The real estate industry from a gender perspective
- 2011
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The Real Estate Industry from a Gender Perspective is a study about the real estate industry in Sweden. The real estate industry, an industry dominated by men, is facing at least two major challenges in the future; there is a generational shift and an educational shift in the industry. The industry has to be able to attract both women and men in the future. In this study my overall aim is to create understanding of the real estate industry, from a gender perspective, and to do so I will create understanding how the gender structure is created in the industry, and why it is constituted as it is. I use the theoretical approach of doing gender, where the assumption is that gender is created in interaction and it varies in time and place. My empirical material is commercial real estate companies and housing companies in Sweden. I initially mapped annual reports to see how the number of women and men was constituted in the companies and in different positions in the years of 2001 and 2008. I used the information from the mapping for my respondents to react upon, interviews was made with younger graduate women and men, and women working as CEO´s. There is a vertical and horizontal division between women and men in the organizations, men are to a greater extent CEO´s and more often in technical positions, women are more often in the supporting positions. The position of the real estate manager is a key position to do career in the industry and is symbolized as a masculine position. What I found was that there is “something going on” about the gender structure in the industry, but slowly. There are the same proportion of women and men in the industry in 2001 as it is in 2008, both in the commercial real estate companies and housing companies. There are more women working as CEO´s and in the management boards in the housing companies than in the commercial real estate companies. Different organizational gendered processes create the gender structure, that form the divisions, as symbols and images, interaction and identity, these processes try to answer how the gender structure is created in the industry. I found that the hegemonic engineering masculinity and the homosocial enactment made by men is part of the answer why it is created as it is.
|
|
| 27. |
- Ahmadi, Zahra, 1966-
(författare)
-
Market orientation and public housing companies in the Swedish declining market
- 2016
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The licentiate thesis consists of three papers with the particular topic in public housing. They discuss how the public housing companies manage the transition to higher economic demands meeting increased customer and market requirements. These studies focus specifically on how the public housing company deal with market challenges associated with the decision to demolish, maintain and/or new construction. Market-oriented perspective can be a tool for the public housing companies to achieve better customer value and enhance economic development. Although the market orientation concept has contributed to valuable improvements in research, the thesis assumes that it is necessary to distinguish between that the public housing companies operate market-oriented to meet customer requirements and their focus on innovation.Paper I develops market/innovation types and then investigates how public housing companies adapt to these types. It was found that economic conditions in the municipality have a major impact on the housing companies, causing them to act innovatively and create superior customer value by innovations. The study confirms that the implementation of market and innovation orientation contributes to competitive advantages in growing markets, while weak economic conditions impair implementation in declining markets.Paper II addresses how public housing companies in declining markets act based on the concept of market intelligence. This study suggested and tested whether there is a positive link between collecting customer information, disseminating it in the organization, and responding to customer needs, and whether this link has an impact on strategic performance. The result shows that weak links exist in the process; the efficiency of intelligence distribution in public housing companies is affected mainly by their responsiveness to customer needs.Paper III also addresses the public housing companies’ market strategies in declining markets. This study, based on a market-strategic perspective, compares how public housing companies act in relation to customer wants compared to the private housing market. The result shows that public housing companies are more engaged in carrying out new construction, renovation, and reconstruction, as well as taking more social responsibility compared to the private sector. In particular, their concern for the customers’ social needs is evident.
|
|
| 28. |
- Bonde, Magnus, 1979-
(författare)
-
Economic studies of Green Commercial Buildings in Sweden
- 2013
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Climate change has risen to become one of our most critical global issues to resolve. Greenhouse gas emissions have been identified as one of the main causes for increased global temperature. As most energy production causes emission of greenhouse gases, a more energy efficient real estate sector could reduce the global greenhouse gas emissions. This reduction could be dramatic, as the real estate sector accounts for quite a large share of the society’s total energy usage. However, it is argued that even economically profitable investments are not being conducted to the full extent, leaving an “energy efficiency gap”. From an economic perspective there are multiple hinders that hampers environmental and/or energy efficiency investments (e.g. transaction costs, split incentives, capital constraints).This licentiate thesis studies environmental issues from an economic point of view in the commercial built environment in Sweden. The main purpose is to illustrate how different real estate actors respond to building environmental and/or energy performance, with focus on barriers, actions and economic outcome/impact. The thesis consists of an introductory essay and two articles.The first article studies the implementation of green leases. The study showed that complex contract structure involving different parties easily create so called “split incentives”, which can be very hard to resolve by additional agreements. This could be one explanation to why some profitable energy efficiency investments are not being realized. Furthermore, the study showed that the building owners were quite risk averse, in the sense that they were reluctant to conduct energy efficiency investments with longer pay-off periods than the current lease term. As Swedish commercial leases have a short contract length, this myopic view hampers energy efficiency investments with longer pay-off periods. An additional result from the study was the emotional aspect, from the tenant’s point of view, to invest in somebody else’s property. In general, the tenant considered building improvements to be the landlord’s responsibility. All in all, a conclusion that could be drawn is that the separation of building ownership and usage may have a negative impact on the leased commercial building stock’s energy performance.The second article studies whether energy performance affects the appraised value of office buildings. The overall result was that the energy performance rating had no impact on the commercial office buildings’ market values. The study indicated that rents, “time of valuation”, changes in vacancy rates, location and “low building age” had the greatest impact on assessed market values. This result could be due to that the correlation between energy usage and maintenance costs is low. Further explanation could be that the specified model suffers from multicollinearity, as the effect of improved energy efficiency cannot be separated from the building age or rent.The including studies support the notion that energy efficiency measures are difficult to implement and appraise to the full extent. Hence, future research is going to focus on how “green” features better could be incorporated into real estate valuation practices as well as evaluation of how environmental certified buildings are actually performing (concerning rents, energy usage, user satisfaction etc.).
|
|
| 29. |
- Brunes, Fredrik, 1968-
(författare)
-
Essays on behavioural economics and cost overuns
- 2015
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation consists of five essays, four on cost overruns and one on behavioral economics witha focus on real estate investments. The main aim of the thesis was to answer the questions:• Is it common with cost overruns in infrastructure projects?• What explains the cost overruns?• What can be done to prevent cost overruns?This thesis contributes to the current state of knowledge within the field:• It is yet another evidence that cost overruns are a significant problem.• Optimism bias is an explanation of cost overruns. However, the thesis adds, by Article two, arationality explanation.• Dismisses in part the Successive method as a tool to reduce cost overruns.• Provide recommendations on how action against cost overruns can be systematized.The first article, which is a result of my Licentiate thesis deals with real estate investments and the fact that investors sometimes are influenced by behavioral aspects that make them deviate fromwhat is rational. The result is some what uncertain but shows that investors in these cases were influenced by myopic behaviour.The second article deals with cost overruns and rationality. The question is whether it can be rational in a procurement, using a unit‐price contract, to expect cost overruns. The result shows that it is possible in situations where the decision maker has to take renegotiation costs and monitoring costs into account.The third article examines how well the successive method can pvents cost overruns. Established results in research on cost overruns indicated that strategic factors, psychological factors (optimism bias) and technical factors are important to explain cost overruns. The review suggests that the Successive method has limitations as a method to reduce cost overruns because it cannot deal with strategic and psychological factors.The fourth article focus on why cost overruns incurred. The article presents a new framework based on microeconomic cost theory and also results based on a survey to project managers in infrastructure projects, suggesting that cost overruns are common and that cost overrun mainly aredue to the optimism bias.The issue addressed in the fifth article is what can be done to prevent cost overruns. The conclusion, based on questionnaire survey and literature review, suggests that a variety of policy measures are needed at different levels such as (1): Organizational macrostructure where e.g. cost overruns in a project in one region leads to less projects in that region.(2) Organizational quality: improved transparency within organizations to see where and when cost overruns occur. (3) Organizational processes: e.g. the use of external reviewers.
|
|
| 30. |
- Cronquist, Eva, 1959-
(författare)
-
Spelet kan börja : Om vad en bildlärarutbildning på samtidskonstens grund kan erbjuda av transformativt lärande
- 2015
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- To enter higher education means making new experiences and develop newunderstanding within a knowledge field. The situation could also entail, for thestudent, an entirely different self-understanding. This licentiate thesis deals withthis kind of learning process.The overall aim of this licentiate thesis is to analyze what an art teachers education,founded on contemporary conceptual art, can offer in terms of transformativelearning. The point of departure is adults learning processes as renegotiations ofprevious interpretations which can be transformed to new understanding. The studyanalyzes what aspects of transformative learning are reflected in students' texts andimages, produced as part of the studied course. The licentiate thesis also discussespossibilities and constraints of this learning process. The study was conducted as acase study based on a hermeneutic approach. Material was collected from thecourse blog which consisted of students' texts and images.The study results show a transformative learning process which students experiencedas emotionally tumultuous because their self-image, as future art teachers, isrenegotiated. The situation contains a dimension of learning which I call "twistingand turning" in which new understanding is being formed. This situation requires aself-reflexive creative approach. The result generates questions about therelationship between the content of the education (what) and the learner (who) in anart teachers education founded on a non-traditional base. This applies above all ineducations that challenge students' prior understanding of a field. One could alsoask how adult learning is staged as relearning in higher education. The studydevelops a concept of reflexive creativity which contains a more abstract level thanjust problem solving. The idea of reflexive turn in art education, based onconceptually contemporary art, is also discussed.
|
|
| 31. |
- Dunder, Kristina, 1961-
(författare)
-
Clinical Manifestations of Coronary Heart Disease and the Metabolic Syndrome : A Population-based Study in Middle-aged Men in Uppsala
- 2004
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- During the past decades the knowledge concerning risk factors and pathophysiology of coronary heart disease (CHD) has substantially increased. However, despite identification of important risk factors CHD remains the leading cause of death in the western world.The metabolic syndrome is a cluster of metabolic disorders such as hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, low HDL-cholesterol, and glucose intolerance associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.The studies in this thesis are epidemiological in their character, and examine the relationships between different aspects of CHD and the metabolic syndrome in a population-based study of middle-aged men (ULSAM).The findings indicated that serum lipids were important risk factors for the development of both angina pectoris demanding revascularisation and acute myocardial infarction (MI). Proinsulin and blood pressure were independent predictors of MI only, suggesting these factors to be involved in thrombosis and plaque rupture. It was also found that antihypertensive treatment with beta-blockers and thiazide diuretics resulted in increased fasting blood glucose concentrations in subjects with an insulin resistant state with elevated proinsulin concentrations. Both proinsulin concentrations and increase in fasting blood glucose were associated with increased risk of developing future MI. The finding of a new Q/QS-pattern on the resting ECG, regardless of history of MI, was associated with impaired insulin secretion and was an independent predictor of total and cardiovascular mortality. A risk prediction score for MI including proinsulin and the ratio between apolipoprotein B and apolipoprotein A1 was developed in middle-aged men. This score was predictive for future fatal and nonfatal MI, and proved to be at least as good as the Framingham and the PROCAM scores, being based on traditional risk factors.In summary these studies provide further knowledge about the associations between CHD and the metabolic syndrome and the possible importance of new markers of cardiovascular risk such as proinsulin and the apolipoproteins.
|
|
| 32. |
- Johansson, Hans, 1956-
(författare)
-
Towards a Holocene tephrochronology for the Azores
- 2015
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The Azores is situated in the North Atlantic Ocean and is one of the most active volcanicregions in the Northern Hemisphere. The volcanic history of the islands is fairly wellknown and several explosive trachytic eruptions have been reported but the geochemicalcompositions of the glass component of the tephra as well as the dispersal oftephras to distal areas are less well known. The purpose of this study is twofold: (1) topresent major element geochemistry of the glass component from several historic aswell as prehistoric tephras, including the trachybasaltic Capelinhos AD 1957‐58eruption on the island of Faial, and the trachytic explosive eruptions of Sete Cidades(c. AD 1440), Fogo A (c. 5000 BP), Fogo AD 1563 and Furnas AD 1630 on the island ofSão Miguel; (2) to present a refined tephrostratigraphy for the island of Pico. Analyses ofmajor element geochemistry suggest that tephras from the three active stratovolcanoeson São Miguel can be separated in biplots showing e.g. FeOtot vs.TiO2 and FeOtot vs. CaO.The tephrostratigraphy of Caveiro bog on the island of Pico is based on a radiocarbondated core with eight tephra layers extending back to c. 7000 BP. All tephras are oftrachybasaltic/basaltic trachyandesitic composition except the oldest layer, which is ofbasanitic composition. An attempt was made to correlate the tephra record of Caveirobog with the previously investigated Lake Caveiro. A tephra‐based correlation betweenthe Caveiro bog and Lake Caveiro is not straightforward and only three tephras inCaveiro bog can possibly be correlated with tephras found in the sediments of LakeCaveiro.Proximal glass data from the Furnas volcano on São Miguel suggest that distal cryptotephrasfound in Ireland may have an origin in the Azores and not on Jan Mayen aspreviously has been suggested. The similarity of the proximal tephras on São Miguel anddistal tephras in Ireland is demonstrated by high similarity coefficients (>0.95) andbiplots showing major element composition also support a correlation between Azoreaneruptions and distal tephras in Ireland. Thus, trachytic tephras erupted from explosiveeruptions on the island of São Miguel may have a potential to contribute to theconstruction of a European‐wide tephrochronology framework.Trachytic tephras erupted from explosive eruptions on the Azores may be more widelydispersed than previously thought and may provide useful isochrones for correlation ofpaleoclimate archives in the north‐central Atlantic, North Africa and the Iberian regions.The trachybasaltic/basaltic trachyandesitic tephras erupted from cinder cones on PicoIsland are probably only useful for a local tephrochronology in the Azores region, andnot for a wider Atlantic or European framework.
|
|
| 33. |
- Kulander, Maria, 1967-
(författare)
-
Do the elderly move at the right time?
- 2013
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- For many years the policy in Sweden has been to help the elderly to stay in their current homes as long as possible. Is this a good policy for the elderly and is this a good policy from a welfare perspective? The study focused on two aspects of the moving pattern for the elderly. Are the household staying in their current home because it is optimal from the household’s point of view or because there is some kind of transaction cost? Is the optimal solution for the household also the best option for the society as a whole concerning moving chains for all age categories?This study was carried out in Gävle, a medium sized city of approximately 70 000 inhabitants about 100 km north of Stockholm. The housing market is in general in equilibrium and the prices are about the average for the Swedish housing market which makes Gävle an interesting case. Gävle has also a tradition of researchers active within the housing sector. As an introduction to the main questionnaire study a pilot study was carried out during 2011 focusing on managers and persons living at nursing home in Gävle. The questions were focusing on transaction costs that may arise while moving when you are older. Five managers were interviewed and 18 persons living at different nursing homes.As an alternative to moving to some kind of elderly living, the elderly can get various kinds of home service for a reduced fee. This means that it is important to separate the question “is the elderly moving to a smaller dwelling (downsizing) at the "right" time?” and the question “are they moving to some kind of elderly living at the "right" time?” As the pilot study showed that the decision to move to elderly living in the form of nursing home often is made by social authorities the focus was shifted to those considering downsizing within the ordinary housing sector. In total 1000 questionnaires was sent out to households in the age group 65-85 year within the ordinary housing sector, out of which 660 answered.The study has only covered the information aspect to a minor extent, but if a person is satisfied with their current situation, as most households were, it should be lack of incentives rather than lack of information that is that prohibits the move, except for the oldest categories. Concerning the tax system, the study does not indicate that this is something that prohibits the elderly from moving, but this conclusion may depend on the price level of dwellings and it is therefore hard to generalize. Even if the tax system is not a problem, the concern for the monthly expenses is more of a problem. The monthly expenses may increase while downsizing because this may mean a newer and therefore more expensive dwelling. As the social network decreases with age and the health may deteriorate it may be possible to influence especially single-person households over 80 year that live in 3-5 room. Here direct subsidies to downsize and help to find better alternatives – like in U.K - might help elderly to go through with a move.
|
|
| 34. |
- Muyingo, Henry, 1964-
(författare)
-
Property management and maintenance in the multifamily housing sector in Sweden
- 2016
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Several studies and government reports have indicated that a large number of apartments in Sweden built during the 1960s and 1970s require extensive refurbishment and that there is concern that some companies in the rental housing sector and in the tenant-owner cooperative (TOC) sector may have difficulties carrying out the needed activities. The overall purpose of the thesis is to increase the understanding of the factors that influence the decisions made within the multi faceted property management of multifamily housing in Sweden which would mitigate some of the shortcomings. Econometric analysis and semi-structured interviews as well as questionnaires carried out within the TOC sector as well as the public and the private rental housing sectors provide the basis of the conclusions arrived at. The aim is to contribute to raising efficiency in maintenance and property management within the housing sector in Sweden. The major conclusions presented in the thesis are that: maintenance as a concept is unnecessary from a decision-making perspective as the concept of investment embraces all the relevant decisions; maintenance models in manufacturing industries could be applied within the housing sector but building maintenance is different and should be grounded on a strategy that allows for the continuous adjustment of maintenance plans based on a regularly up-to-date decision support system in the company or TOC; reported maintenance costs within the municipal (public) and the private rental sectors in Sweden continuously diverge mainly due to principal-agency issues of a socio-political character, in the form of political involvement in the operations of public housing companies, as well as the way companies define maintenance together with the timing of the maintenance measures; hidden incentives in the form of cooperative members, managers or service providers that seek short term gains together with the lack of a long-term perspective in the decision-making as well as a high turnover rate of committee members are major challenges to efficient property management within the Swedish TOC sector. Similarly, the information asymmetry between the professionals (constructors as well as service providers) and the amateur decision-makers in the managing committees, especially in cooperatives with newly constructed buildings, is a substantial source of losses in efficiency within the operations of the TOCs. Major contributions of the thesis are that: it promotes the view of maintenance as an investment and highlights the possibility of cost saving through the linking together of several measures as well as the challenges involved; it points to the need within the housing sector for better decision support tools as well as knowledge transfer and sharing; it calls for the government to promote policies that would reduce the degree of information asymmetry between the procurers of services within the TOC sector and the construction companies as well as other service providers. A requirement of formal competence and certification could be a step towards increasing the degree of qualified decision making and efficiency in property management within the housing sector. How this could be implemented nationwide in the different housing sectors is an issue worth further investigation.
|
|
| 35. |
- Nilsson, Annika
(författare)
-
Housing Finance in Kampala, Uganda : To Borrow or Not to Borrow
- 2017
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Housing is an important part of development processes and typically requires long-term finance. Without long-term financial instruments, it is difficult for households to smooth income over time by investing in housing. However, in developing countries the use of long-term loans is limited, particularly among the middle-class and lower income individuals. Most people in developing countries build their houses incrementally over time without long-term loans. The limited use of long-term loans is generally seen as a symptom of market failures and policy distortions. This thesis empirically explores constraints to increase housing loans and factors that determinate the demand for different types of loans for investment in land and residential housing. The study is conducted in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. The thesis looks at supply and demand of loans. Most of the data on the supply side is collected through interviews and literature studies. The demand side is investigated through questionnaires to household where data is collected in four surveys targeting different household groups. The findings indicate that in the context of Kampala, there are factors affecting the demand for housing loans that have not previously been fully explored. The surveys on the demand for housing loans among middle income groups suggest that a main reason for not taking a long-term loan is not limited access but the risk of losing the property due to the foreclosure process in case the borrowers fail to pay back the loan on time. Therefore they prefer to take short-term loans, so called salary loans that are not secured on their property, even though they are more expensive than a loan secured on their formal land ownership. The findings from the informal settlements show that the low demand for loans is more dependent on affordability and the short maturity of credits that they can access. Other findings are more in line with earlier international studies, such as inefficient land administration as a constraint for formalizing land and using land as security. The distribution of land rights and the system of land administration and management requires upgrading of land policies and their impacts. Information asymmetries also undermine the identification and credit rating of borrowers. Lack of long term funding is another constraint to increase long- term loans. A general conclusion that can be drawn from the findings is that those that need and can afford a loan for investment in land and/or housing prefer to take short-term loans instead of a larger long-term loan secured on their land. In doing so, they avoid exposing themselves to the risk of losing their land due to the foreclosure process in case they fail to pay back the loan disbursements on time. These findings contradict much of the concerns that both scholars and financial providers have expressed about households choice of loans. Even though there are obstacles on the supply side, understanding the demand side is very important.
|
|
| 36. |
- Nyström, Johan, 1979-
(författare)
-
Partnering : definition, theory and evaluation
- 2007
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The concept of partnering in the construction industry stands for a collaborative way of working. Examples of partnering projects can be found on every continent. As suggested in the title this thesis makes contributions to three areas of partnering research: the definition of partnering, the theory behind partnering and how to evaluate the effects of the concept. The thesis consists of six papers with the following main results. A new definition of the concept is provided with the partnering flower in the first paper. This definition model is a concrete, flexible and structured way to define partnering. It forces people to concretise and pinpoint which components they include in partnering in a specific setting. The second paper uses contract theory to understand how partnering can be justified from an efficiency perspective. Partnering can either be seen as something that neutralises opportunism when there is an incomplete contract or something that reduces transaction costs for renegotiation of complete contracts when new information arises. Paper 3 is an empirical study of attitudes towards partnering in the Swedish construction industry, which complements the preceding studies. Among the results can be mentioned that support for the definition of partnering presented in paper 1 is found and that most respondents do not see partnering just as a new fad - a result that is consistent from 2004 to 2006. With the theory and the definition settled, it remains to evaluate the effects of partnering. This is done in two steps. The first step (in paper 4) is through reviewing earlier evaluations and providing suggestions on how the assessments can be improved. One of these suggestions is applied in paper 5, with a quasi-experimental evaluation of partnering comparing ten partnering projects to ten similar non-partnering projects. With improved data, mainly based on site meeting minutes, and a more well-founded method, no support can be found for the strong positive outcome of partnering reported in earlier evaluations. The final paper makes a contribution to economic contract theory by questioning one of the essential assumptions in this literature, the distinction between observable and verifiable characteristics. This aspect surfaced during the study of partnering contracts and contract theory.
|
|
| 37. |
- Pertola, Peter
(författare)
-
Belysningsfrågor i byggprocessen : Orsaker till brister och förslag till en förbättrad process
- 2012
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The fundamental questions in this licentiate thesis are why we do not have better lighting in our buildings and what can be done to improve the situation. Focus is how issues related to lighting are handled during the construction process and one hypothesis is that good intentions concerning lighting in the early stages of the process to a large extent can disappear during the later stages of the process.Beside a literature review, the report is built on a combination of my own experiences from many years of work in the sector and interviews with actors in a number of selected projects.The theoretical framework used is transaction cost analysis where contract design and its effects is a central question. It is difficult to write a complete contract that captures all important aspects and what the result will be then depends on the short- and long term incentives of the actors. A key question is how to create incentives for different types of contractors to do the "right" thing.Results concerning current problems can be summarized as follows:Lack of commitment, competence and knowledge among actors in different stages of the construction process.Competence and knowledge may exist but are not used in the right way at the right time.Decisions are made with a too short time horizon.The focus on private gain overshadows ambitions to take a holistic perspective.The construction process has characteristics that might it difficult to learn from earlier projects.Control and follow-ups are often inadequate.The proposals that are put forward concerns three key areas - Competence, Incentives and Resources - and can be summarized as follows:More resources should be allocated to early stages of a project.Design should be made in closer cooperation between client, architect and technical consultants.Long-term partnering-like relations should be established between the client and especially the architect/technical consultant. This also creates room for development of competence and knowledge on both sides.The project should be carried out as a Design-Bid-Build project as the possibilities to control details of the project then are higher.
|
|
| 38. |
- Sundfors, David, 1980-
(författare)
-
Performance Metrics for Sustainability Value
- 2016
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The trend that started with Green Building has moved on into Sustainable Building. But how do we know that something is really sustainable? This project started out with the intention to find a small set of performance indicators for commercial buildings, which could be continuously measured and monitored over time, which would give a good indication of the level of sustainability of the building and as such, and be presented as an additional part in a valuation. Since it has been shown several times over by now that properties that can prove they are sustainable generate a higher market price, these performance indicators would be interesting from the perspective of a valuation professional. In order to find these parameters, the project began with three of the international environmental certification systems and one Swedish system, to study which parameters are considered important in these systems. Following that study, surveys and interviews within the real estate business in Sweden provided an insight into how performance is measured today. Lastly, by combining those studies with a review of the sustainability information considered important by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) from a valuation professional’s point of view and an updated literature review, a simple set of indicators could indeed be identified. There is however, still a problem with defining their actual impact on market price. Other authors have come to the conclusion that although sustainability can be measured to some extent, incorporating that information into valuation of the property in a statistical secure way is not yet possible. We need to increase our knowledge about the performance of our built environment and the presented key performance indicators in this thesis would help us do just that. We can also see that real estate owners in many cases already gather much information about their buildings, but they lack the incentives to share that data with others.
|
|
| 39. |
- Warsame, Abukar
(författare)
-
Performance of Construction Projects : Essays on Supplier Structure, Construction Costs and Quality Improvement
- 2011
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The performance of the construction industry and its contribution to the welfare of society in comparison to other industries such as the manufacturing industry has lately been the focus of many commissioned reports and academic research publications. The so-called “iron triangle” of time, cost and quality have been the most important metrics of construction project performance, especially for the selection of appropriate procurement methods. The perceived inefficiencies emanate from, among other things, increasing construction costs, conflicts and client dissatisfaction, the fragmented nature of the industry, low competition, cost overruns and delays, and lack of quality improvement. There is observed disparity in increases in housing construction costs and an apparent lack of quality improvement of infrastructure transport projects. In Sweden, metropolitan regions experienced higher construction cost increases, while small regions showed less costs increases during economic booms. In order to address these perceived inefficiencies, numerous strategic and project level decisions that influenced the way that publicly owned properties and projects are procured, constructed, operated, and maintained have been made. The decision to transfer quality-related activities and quality assurance responsibilities from client to contractor approximately 25 years ago is one of the decisions that could have an impact on current quality of infrastructure transport projects. The disparity in increases in construction costs and quality improvement concerns could not only influence the performance of construction projects, but also can affect the way different actors in the sector interact with each other and achieve their divergent objectives.The aim of this study is twofold. First, it tries to explain the observed disparity increases in construction costs between big (metropolitan) and medium/small regions. Second, it attempts to ascertain the extent of quality problems in infrastructure transport projects after the transfer of quality assurance responsibilities, and suggests measures that could improve the quality of infrastructure transport projects. Surveys and interviews were used as a means to collect data concerning both supplier structure in relation to housing construction costs and quality of construction projects. Other empirical data from a secondary source were also used.The first part of the research offers an understanding of the behavior of contractors in specific economic situations, specifically by taking into consideration the long-run relationship between contractors and owners/developers. It ascertains that if contractors/subcontractors display opportunistic behavior during the economic boom, the result will be increased higher construction costs. We utilized transaction cost theory in exploring construction sector structures in an attempt to understand changes in the sector from an efficiency perspective. The analysis can also enrich the current understanding of the governance structure of Swedish construction firms and how they could influence construction costs.As the response from the survey suggests, quality of infrastructure projects has not decreased after the transfer of quality assurance from client to contractor. However, the high number of respondents that indicated quality is the same as before the transfer raises a concern of lack of quality improvement. Respondents have overwhelmingly indicated that the lack of public client competence was one of the contributing factors of quality problems. It is argued that with client competence it is important to build-up through proper knowledge management, incentive systems, and training. Further, the retention of new skilled and experienced workers is an essential element for continuous quality improvement goals and objectives. A second opinion practice from independent experts and committees that focuses on the quality aspect of the projects can be introduced in the provision of infrastructure transport projects. Finally, it is argued that without client competence and a company culture that creates the right incentives, no procurement method can guarantee high quality.
|
|
| 40. |
|
|
