Topic Real Estate and Housing

Small Might Be Beautiful, but Bigger Performs Better: Scale Economies in "Green" Refurbishments of Apartment Housing

The energy efficiency of the residential housing stock plays a key role in strategies to mitigate climate change and global warming. In this context, it is frequently argued that private investment and the quality of thermal upgrades are too low in the light of the challenges faced and the potential energy cost savings. While many authors address the potential barriers for investors to increase energy ...

Housing Decisions, Family Types and Gender: A Look across LIS Countries

In this paper we shall examine homeownership trends over the past 3 to 4 decades and discuss differences related to the homeownership gap for women and men, with a focus on most recent trends. We shall compare differences in the US to those in countries with different institutional structures and shall pay particular attention to differences across family types. Our estimation techniques will allow ...

Modernization and Innovation in the Materials Sector: Lessons from Steel and Cement

Since 2007, the European cement and steel sectors have been characterized by substantial surplus production capacity. Hence re-investment in primary production of many materials remains limited and endangers the longer-term economic viability of many plants. Opportunities for innovation and modernization could overcome these challenges. They are linked to new demands for more efficient and lower-carbon ...

Combining Dynamic Allocation and Inclusion of Consumption into the EU ETS Would Be Beneficial: Six Questions to Karsten Neuhoff

War, Housing Rents, and Free Market: A Case of Berlin's Rental Housing Market during the World War I

Before the World War I, the urban rental housing market in Germany could be described as a free and competitive market. The government hardly interfered in the relationships between the landlords and ten- ants. The rents were set freely. During the World War I, the market was hit by several violent shocks. The outbreak of the war led initially to a huge outflow of men from cities to the fronts. Towards ...

German Construction Industry: New Residential Construction at Cyclical Peak - Public Construction Gaining Ground

The construction industry remains a key pillar of the German economy. According to the latest construction volume calculations by DIW Berlin, the value of construction in 2014 and 2015 is forecast to grow far more rapidly than the economy as a whole: by a price-adjusted 3.3 percent and 2.1 percent in 2014 and 2015, respectively. Currently, new residential construction is an important engine for growth ...

Aircraft Noise in Berlin Affects Quality of Life Even Outside the Airport Grounds

Aircraft noise is a particularly problematic source of noise as many airports are located in or near major cities and, as a result, densely populated areas are affected. Data from the Berlin Aging Study II (Berliner Altersstudie II, BASE-II), whose socio-economic module is based on the longitudinal Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) study which has been conducted since 1984, allows us to examine the effect ...

Aircraft Noise Has Negative Impact on Well-Being and Health - Even When Not Perceived as a Disturbance: Five Questions to Peter Eibich

Sowing the Wind and Reaping the Whirlwind? The Effect of Wind Turbines on Residential Well-Being

We investigate the effect of the physical presence of wind turbines on residential well-being in Germany, using panel data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and a unique novel panel data set on more than 20,000 wind turbines for the time period between 2000 and 2012. Using a Geographical Information System (GIS), we calculate the proximity between households and the nearest wind turbine as ...

Using Equity Capital to Unlock Investment in Building Energy Efficiency?

The energy transition will require considerable increases in energy efficiency, particularly in residential buildings. Financial support mechanisms, information and adviceprograms and dedicated training and certification of craftsmen are already in place to stimulate energy efficiency investment. Nevertheless, the required annual rate of thermal building refurbishment of around two percent is so far ...