You are here

UCF Digital Collections ยป ETD Collection

Two Applications of Financial Economics to Real Estate

Download pdf | Full Screen View

Date Issued:
2018
Abstract/Description:
My first essay examines the effects of dividend policy on the liquidity risk of REITs. I argue that the mandatory high cash payouts of REITs reduce investor reliance on the stock market to satisfy their liquidity needs. Using a sample of equity REITs from 1980 through 2015, I find strong empirical evidence consistent with this paradigm. Unlike non-REIT property companies, I find REITs exhibit negative sensitivity to marketwide liquidity shocks; a result that is evident across most property type sectors. Moreover, while my findings are robust across a wide range of portfolios based on size, dividend frequency, leverage, market-to-book, operations type, and the presence of dividend reinvestment plans, smaller REITs mitigate liquidity risk only when their dividend frequency is relatively high. Finally, I find that price sensitivities to marketwide liquidity shocks increase after firms elect to discontinue REIT status. These findings strongly support the notions that investors view dividend payouts as a substitute for liquidity, and that REITs' relatively high mandated payout requirements benefit investors with reduced liquidity risk.My second essay re-examines the ability of the Mills-Muth neoclassical land use theory to explain urban sprawl. I test the robustness of Brueckner and Fansler's (1983) seminal study using data drawn from the 1970 U.S. Census. A repeated sampling test shows that their 1970 sampling methodology led to spurious estimates; their conclusions regarding the economic factors driving sprawl cannot be supported. Nor can they be supported using more recent data from the 2000 and 2010 Census. Given this, I offer two alternate measures of urban sprawl: the traditional population density gradient and a new measure that relaxes the monotonicity constraint implied by traditional density gradients. I find the factors identified by neoclassical theory better explain sprawl when using the density gradient and the non-monotonic measure than the Brueckner-Fansler approach.
Title: Two Applications of Financial Economics to Real Estate.
44 views
29 downloads
Name(s): Dibartolomeo, Jeffrey, Author
Gatchev, Vladimir, Committee Chair
Chen, Honghui, Committee Member
Turnbull, Geoffrey, Committee Member
Harrison, David, Committee Member
Schnitzlein, Charles, Committee Member
University of Central Florida, Degree Grantor
Type of Resource: text
Date Issued: 2018
Publisher: University of Central Florida
Language(s): English
Abstract/Description: My first essay examines the effects of dividend policy on the liquidity risk of REITs. I argue that the mandatory high cash payouts of REITs reduce investor reliance on the stock market to satisfy their liquidity needs. Using a sample of equity REITs from 1980 through 2015, I find strong empirical evidence consistent with this paradigm. Unlike non-REIT property companies, I find REITs exhibit negative sensitivity to marketwide liquidity shocks; a result that is evident across most property type sectors. Moreover, while my findings are robust across a wide range of portfolios based on size, dividend frequency, leverage, market-to-book, operations type, and the presence of dividend reinvestment plans, smaller REITs mitigate liquidity risk only when their dividend frequency is relatively high. Finally, I find that price sensitivities to marketwide liquidity shocks increase after firms elect to discontinue REIT status. These findings strongly support the notions that investors view dividend payouts as a substitute for liquidity, and that REITs' relatively high mandated payout requirements benefit investors with reduced liquidity risk.My second essay re-examines the ability of the Mills-Muth neoclassical land use theory to explain urban sprawl. I test the robustness of Brueckner and Fansler's (1983) seminal study using data drawn from the 1970 U.S. Census. A repeated sampling test shows that their 1970 sampling methodology led to spurious estimates; their conclusions regarding the economic factors driving sprawl cannot be supported. Nor can they be supported using more recent data from the 2000 and 2010 Census. Given this, I offer two alternate measures of urban sprawl: the traditional population density gradient and a new measure that relaxes the monotonicity constraint implied by traditional density gradients. I find the factors identified by neoclassical theory better explain sprawl when using the density gradient and the non-monotonic measure than the Brueckner-Fansler approach.
Identifier: CFE0006995 (IID), ucf:51619 (fedora)
Note(s): 2018-05-01
Ph.D.
Business Administration, Dean's Office CBA
Doctoral
This record was generated from author submitted information.
Subject(s): REIT -- Real Estate -- Urban Sprawl -- Liquidity Risk -- Dividends
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006995
Restrictions on Access: public 2018-05-15
Host Institution: UCF

In Collections