Search results

POLICY PRESCRIPTIONS USUALLY FOCUS ON DEMAND AS A MEANS OF STABILIZING PRICES. AN ECONOMETRIC ANALYSIS SHOWS THAT THE SUPPLY OF PRIVATE HOUSING STARTS IS A FUNCTION OF VARIABLES PROXYING THE ABILITY AND WILLINGNESS OF THE BUILDING INDUSTRY TO EXPAND ITS OUTPUT, THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT VARIABLES BEING THE NUMBER OF BANKRUPTCIES IN THE CURRENT AND PREVIOUS YEARS.

THE RATE OF INFLATION OF HOUSE PRICES REFLECTS THE MARKET SUPPLY AND DEMAND SITUATION. IN THIS ARTICLE, AN ECONOMETRIC ANALYSIS SHOWS THAT THE SUPPLY OF PRIVATE HOUSING STARTS ARE A FUNCTION OF VARIABLES PROXYING THE ABILITY AND WILLINGNESS OF THE BUILDING INDUSTRY TO EXPAND ITS OUTPUT, THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT OF WHICH ARE THE NUMBER OF BANKRUPTCIES IN THE CURRENT AND PREVIOUS YEAR.

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A NORDIC-DOMINATED UNITED NATIONS PROTECTION FORCE IN THE TROUBLED REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA IN 1993 WAS SEEN AS A PRIME EXAMPLE OF UNITED NATIONS CONFLICT-PREVENTION OPERATIONS. IN THIS ESSAY, THE NORDIC CONTRIBUTION IN MACEDONIA IS PLACED IN THE CONTEXT OF U.N. ACTION IN THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA, AS WELL AS WIDER U.N. OPERATIONS, AND IS ALSO SEEN AS A CONTINUATION OF TRADITIONAL NORDIC CONTRIBUTIONS TO PEACEKEEPING. IN ADDITION, THE OPERATION FITS INTO A PARTICULAR LIBERAL-INSTITUTIONALIST VIEW OF EUROPEAN SECURITY, ESPOUSED BY NORDIC LEADERS, THAT VALUES CONFLICT PREVENTION.

ON JUNE 2, 1992, DENMARK HELD A REFERENDUM GIVING THE VOTERS THE OPPORTUNITY TO ACCEPT OR REJECT PARLIAMENT'S RATIFICATION OF THE MAASTRICHT TREATY, WHICH AIMS TO PRODUCE EUROPEAN UNION. BY A NARROW MARGIN, THE DANISH ELECTORATE VOTED TO REJECT MAASTRICHT.

SINCE 1945, THE NORDIC GOVERNMENTS HAVE TEMPERED MILITARY RESPONSE WITH POLICIES FAVORING RESTRAINT AND DETENTE. OVER THE YEARS, THEY HAVE CREATED THEIR OWN PATTERN OF SECURITY POLICIES. RECENTLY, GORBACHEV'S NEW THINKING IN FOREIGN POLICY HAS AFFECTED THE NORDIC REGION. SOME OF THE STATES FEEL LESS THREATENED, ALTHOUGH NEW ELEMENTS OF UNCERTAINTY HAVE ENTERED THE STRATEGIC EQUATION. THE NORDIC STATES ARE ECONOMICALLY IMPORTANT, AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THEIR MARITIME RESOURCES HAS LED TO SOME JURISDICTIONAL DISPUTES. THE FIVE COUNTRIES HAVE ALSO HAD SOME PROBLEMS WITH THE INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER WEST EUROPEAN STATES. THE RAPIDLY-CHANGING SITUATION IN EUROPE WILL PROVIDE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE NORDIC COUNTRIES TO RECONSIDER INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS IN BOTH THE ECONOMIC AND THE MILITARY SPHERES.

IN THE GENERAL ELECTIONS ON SEPTEMBER 15, 1991, SWEDEN'S SOCIAL DEMOCRATS--UPHOLDERS OF THE MIDDLE WAY BETWEEN THE EXTREMES OF CAPITALISM AND COMMUNISM--SUFFERED A SUBSTANTIAL DEFEAT. THE 1991 GENERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN RESEMBLED PREVIOUS ONES INSOFAR AS THE SO-CALLED "BOURGEOIS," OR NON-SOCIALIST PARTIES, THREATENED THE ELECTORATE WITH THE SPECTRE OF CREEPING SOCIALISM WHILE THE SOCIALIST PARTIES WARNED OF ATTACKS ON THE WELFARE STATE. HOWEVER, WITH THE FUNDAMENTAL SHIFT IN EXTERNAL POLICY MANIFESTED IN SWEDEN'S APPLICATION FOR EUROPEAN COMMUNITY MEMBERSHIP, IT BECAME APPARENT FROM OPINION POLLS THAT THE ELECTION WOULD BRING RADICAL CHANGES IN SWEDEN'S INTERNAL POLITICS.

In recent years there has been a growing interest in the process of urban economic development and the role of housing markets in this process is as essential as it is obvious. In order to make progress towards providing answers to some of the important questions relating to the development of towns, it is necessary to try to obtain more precise information on trends in house prices, the level and structure of housing demand and the character of the supply side of the markets. Studies of local housing markets, however, have been constrained by the lack of reliable data on the most important variables and are, therefore, characteristically qualitative and descriptive. Our main objective, therefore, when embarking on the study described below, was to obtain reliable data on which to base analyses of local housing markets.