The Postwar Restructuring of the British Housing and Labour Markets: A Critical Comment on Thorns

1984 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Hamnett

In a recent paper in this journal, Thorns sought to relate together changes in the labour and domestic property markets in Britain since World War II. He argued that it was important to analyse the operation of these markets and the extent to which they operate to reinforce social inequalities. In this paper, it is argued that, although the issues Thorns raises are important ones, his analysis and conclusions are marred by his treatment of regional differences and trends in the rate of house price inflation over time. By generalising from data over a single year, Thorns sought to show that there was a strong link between the gains received from the labour market and those from the domestic property market. Although there is no evidence at the regional level to support Thorns's assertions regarding the growth of interregional differentials in average house prices over time (if anything the evidence shows the reverse), it is suggested that the regional scale may not be the most appropriate scale of analysis, and some evidence is presented which indicates the possibility of growing inner-city/suburban differentials. Finally, it is argued that the concentration on owner occupiers may well obscure the equally, if not more important, changes which are occurring in the distribution of owner occupiers and council tenants. It is argued that there is a growing social and spatial polarisation between the two main tenures at the intraurban level; some evidence from London is presented to support this.

2017 ◽  
Vol 107 (2) ◽  
pp. 331-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharina Knoll ◽  
Moritz Schularick ◽  
Thomas Steger

How have house prices evolved over the long run? This paper presents annual house prices for 14 advanced economies since 1870. We show that real house prices stayed constant from the nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century, but rose strongly and with substantial cross-country variation in the second half of the twentieth century. Land prices, not replacement costs, are the key to understanding the trajectory of house prices. Rising land prices explain about 80 percent of the global house price boom that has taken place since World War II. Our findings have implications for the evolution of wealth-to-income ratios, the growth effects of agglomeration, and the price elasticity of housing supply. (JEL C43, N10, N90, R31)


2021 ◽  
pp. 0308518X2198894
Author(s):  
Peter Phibbs ◽  
Nicole Gurran

On the world stage, Australian cities have been punching above their weight in global indexes of housing prices, sparking heated debates about the causes of and remedies for, sustained house price inflation. This paper examines the evidence base underpinning such debates, and the policy claims made by key commentators and stakeholders. With reference to the wider context of Australia’s housing market over a 20 year period, as well as an in depth analysis of a research paper by Australia’s central Reserve Bank, we show how economic theories commonly position land use planning as a primary driver of new supply constraints but overlook other explanations for housing market behavior. In doing so, we offer an alternative understanding of urban housing markets and land use planning interventions as a basis for more effective policy intervention in Australian and other world cities.


1977 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Earl J. Hamilton

Wars in early modern times, although frequent, generated little price inflation because of their limited demands on real resources. The invention of paper currency and the resort to deficit financing to pay for wars changed that situation. In recent centuries wars have been the principal causes of inflation, although since World War II programs of social welfare unmatched by offsetting taxation have also fueled inflationary flames.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Lo ◽  
Michael James McCord ◽  
John McCord ◽  
Peadar Thomas Davis ◽  
Martin Haran

Purpose The price-to-rent ratio is often regarded as an important indicator for measuring housing market imbalance and inefficiency. A central question is the extent to which house prices and rents form part of the same market and thus whether they respond similarly to parallel stimulus. If they are close proxies dynamically, then this provides valuable market intelligence, particularly where causal relationships are evident. Therefore, this paper aims to examine the relationship between market and rental pricing to uncover the price switching dynamics of residential real estate property types and whether the deviation between market rents and prices are integrated over both the long- and short-term. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses cointegration, Wald exogeneity tests and Granger causality models to determine the existence, if any, of cointegration and lead-lag relationships between prices and rents within the Belfast property market, as well as the price-to-rent ratios amongst its five main property sub-markets over the time period M4, 2014 to M12 2018. Findings The findings provide some novel insights in relation to the pricing dynamics within Belfast. Housing and rental prices are cointegrated suggesting that they tend to move in tandem in the long run. It is further evident that in the short-run, the price series Granger-causes that of rents inferring that sales price information unidirectionally diffuse to the rental market. Further, the findings on price-to-rent ratios reveal that the detached sector appears to Granger-cause those of other property types except apartments in both the short- and long-term, suggesting possible spill-over of pricing signals from the top-end to the lower strata of the market. Originality/value The importance of understanding the relationship between house prices and rental market performance has gathered momentum. Although the house price-rent ratio is widely used as an indicator of over and undervaluation in the housing market, surprisingly little is known about the theoretical relationship between the price-rent ratio across property types and their respective inter-relationships.


2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (01) ◽  
pp. 043-045
Author(s):  
Aleksić Vuk ◽  
Spaić Milan

AbstractWe report the case of a 75-year-old female patient who underwent primary debridement of the penetrating craniocerebral injury at the age of 5 years. The injury was caused by the explosive shrapnel wound in the parietal right-side region because of an air raid in Yugoslavia in 1944 during World War II (WWII) combat. The scull defect that remained was not repaired. The patient developed the severe allodinic pain syndrome in the skin over the cranial defect, 70 years after the surgery. The skin over the cranial defect was infolded inside the skull and stretched over the bony ridge. The pain was relieved by cranioplasty that restored the cranial vault and reversed the infolding skin over the craniectomy defect. The mechanism of the pain and its relation with the morphologic changes of the primary craniectomy and brain debridement over time are discussed.


1981 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 1109-1124 ◽  
Author(s):  
M C Fleming ◽  
J G Nellis

A survey is made of all official and unofficial sources of statistics on house prices in the UK. This is followed by a critical appraisal of the evidence they provide about national and regional price levels and about house price inflation. Attention is focused on two crucial factors: the representativeness of the data and the heterogeneity of houses. It is concluded that incomplete coverage of all house transactions means that most series tend to overstate price levels and that intertemporal and interregional comparisons are sensitive to the composition by type of houses traded.


Author(s):  
Sally M. Horrocks

Commentators and politicians have frequently argued that the performance of the British economy could be significantly improved by paying more attention to the translation of the results of scientific research into new products and processes. They have frequently suggested that deficiencies in achieving this are part of a long-standing national malaise and regularly point to a few well-worn examples to support their contention. What are conspicuous by their absence from these debates are detailed and contextual studies that actually examine the nature of the interactions between scientists and industry and how these changed over time. This paper provides one such study by examining three aspects of the relationship between the Royal Society, its Fellows and industrial R&D during the mid twentieth century. It looks first at the enthusiasm for industrial research to be found across the political spectrum after World War II before examining the election as Fellows of the Royal Society of men who worked in industry at the time of their election. Finally it considers the extent to which industrial R&D was incorporated into the way in which the Royal Society presented itself to the outside world through its Conversazione. Despite the absence of formal structures to translate the results of the work of scientists employed in other institutional contexts to industry, there is much evidence to indicate that there were plenty of other opportunities for the exchange of information to take place.


2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 949-967 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Higley ◽  
Jan Pakulski

Abstract Using Machiavelli’s metaphors, Vilfredo Pareto theorized that over time psychosocial propensities of ruling elites – manifested by predominant personality traits, mentalities, beliefs, and actions – are those of “foxes” or “lions”. Either propensity renders a ruling elite, especially its leaders, prone to bias, closure, and cumulating blunders. This degenerative process leads to a severe economic-political crisis and wide elite circulation, during which groups and persons disposed toward the opposite propensity gain power. Pareto’s theory has much intuitive appeal, but its breadth and elasticity, together with the empirically elusive qualities of elites, risk tendentious applications. Taking this risk, we examine what through Pareto’s lens appear to be cycles of circulation and degeneration among American and British elites since shortly after World War II.


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