List of ongoing and completed research projects
The rent building process between real estate and retail trade firms (ongoing)
Commercial real estate companies and retail trade companies have different perspectives on future economic developments and structural change. Physical retail trade firms have already before the Covid-19 outbreak had to adapt to increased e-commerce. Some have asked for a decrease in rent, but commercial real estate (landlords) have been concerned about a negative effect on valuations. In a project that focuses on variables that influence the rent building process, we intend to find differences between real estate and retail trade companies on an overall level, but also for difference regions, types and size of firms. Theories that make up the basis for the scientific investigation are backward looking anchoring and forward looking rational expectations. With multivariate analysis, we intend to find results that make differences visible also for the actors in the rent building process. The project is supported by Handelsrådet, and is a collaboration with HUI Research, Svensk Handel, Fastighetsägarna, City Samverkan, among others.
Financing of commercial real estate, and the transformation from bank to market financing (ongoing)
Two master students, Fanny Algstedt and Hilda Skoglund, wrote their master theses during the spring of 2020 about the financing of commercial real estate companies. In a first step, they quantitatively analyzed different financing strategies for different types (sizes) of commercial real estate companies. In a second step, they qualitatively analyzed and interviewed some actors regarding the driving forces for the transformation from bank financing to market financing. In collaboration with the two master students, I elaborate further and write a scientific article on the risks with this development, the situation in the times of Covid-19, and the pros and cons with market financing of commercial real estate in a Swedish context. The Swedish developments could be of interest for countries starting out with mainly bank financing and foreseeing a similar future development of increased market financing.
Stock market participation and social network/learning (completed)
This project investigates the interaction effects between financial literacy and how bank customers learn (from the bank, media or private social network) when investing in direct stock ownership. The bank register data and survey data have information about bank customers’ preferences regarding their learning, their financial literacy and their investments in the stock market, both in terms of investing or not investing, and investing in stocks as a share of total investments. In collaboration with Stockholm Business School, the project aims to contribute to literature on stock market participation, building on earlier research (e.g., van Roiij, Lusardi and Alessie, 2011; Liang and Guo, 2015).
The importance of exchange forms for saving behavior (completed)
Exchange forms make up an important part of relationship marketing, focusing on transactional and relational exchange. We also included an interimistic form put forward by Lambe, Spekman and Hunt (1994), since bank customers could interact repeatedly in a short period of time. We found it important to aim for a deeper understanding of whether bank customers save differently if they have a relationship with their bank advisor, or if they handle their finances in an interimistic or transactional manner. Our findings – using 90,000 bank customers in a random sample of objective register data and more than 15,000 responses in subjective survey data – are that face-to-face meetings with the advisor increases saving in mutual funds and the number of saving products. We also found that all three exchange forms have a positive effect on saving behavior. Subjective relational attributes are strongest in objectively defined relational customer groups, but also – although to a decreasing extent – in interimistic and transactional customer groups.
Empirical evidence of bank customer behavior (completed)
Using the same bank customer data, I have continued my research by including more aspects of behavioral finance and economics studying inter alia i) bank customers risk tolerance by comparing objective and subjective risk measures, ii) bank customers’ saving motives and their use of financial advisors, including gender aspects, iii) overconfidence, financial literacy, financial interest, and education, and iv) comparing the importance of financial literacy and financial interest for bank customers’ risk preferences. The findings in these projects within the financial sector can easily be transferred to the real estate sector, since risk, overconfidence, anchoring, etc. are important parts of real estate studies.
Real estate economics - how infill influence house prices (completed)
As part of a project within real estate economics, we have studied how infill influences house prices in the nearby areas. The project used a large data set, regressions and cluster analysis, and found that only in areas with lower incomes and more public housing, and with more inhabitants born abroad, the spillover effect was significant and positive.
