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Real estate is a capital-intensive industry for which the asset values tend to be highly volatile and uncertain. Transaction costs in the industry are therefore high, and transparency for investors may be low. The need to signal reliable estimates of property assets, in the communication to external stakeholders, can therefore be expected to be of extra importance in this sector. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how real estate firms use big four auditors to signal quality.

The authors use Swedish firm level data containing all limited liability real estate companies in the country to determine the determinants of big four auditors. The data set consists of 34,306 observations and is analyzed through logit regressions.

The results show that big four companies are primarily contracted by large and mature companies, rather than new firms or firms with volatile financial records, although the latter could be expected to have a large need to signal quality. The authors also find that firms listed on the stock market and firms targeting public use real estate are more inclined to use big four companies.

Real estate is a capital-intensive industry for which the asset values tend to be highly volatile and uncertain. Transaction costs in the industry are therefore high, and transparency for investors may be low. The need to signal reliable estimates of property assets, in the communication to external stakeholders, can therefore be expected to be of extra importance in this sector. No prior study of this area has been detected.

Geographical mobility is often considered fundamental to a well-functioning labour market, and thus to the economy as a whole. Typically, geographical mobility can be achieved either through commuting or through migration. Commuting can be considered important for households to have access to job market opportunities and for business to access labour, skills and competencies. Previous research has found commuting patterns to differ between men and women, for example, in the sense that women travel shorter distances and rely more on public transport. However, we also know that factors such as higher education can influence an individual’s decision to commute, possibly because of specialization and a higher salary. As women’s education level approaches, or surpasses, that of men’s, one would expect to see more similarities between the travel behaviour of the two genders. In this study, we analyse gender patterns of commuting in Norway, Serbia and Sweden. We specifically address the issue of gender gap in commuting. Findings show that though there are signs of convergence, there are large regional variations. The gender gap is decreasing primarily in the more urban regions, while it is decreasing less, and even increasing, given the various levels of aggregation, in the more rural areas.

The chapter aims to explore the size and evolution of spatial inequality in Croatia and Serbia with emphasis on labour market developments. The analysis focuses on municipalities (LAU 2 level) in both countries to explore patterns of change in the labour market. We estimate spatial inequality based on the distribution of population, employment, unemployment rates, and wages. We find that regions with major cities in both countries are leading in the recovery from the recent recession, while rural areas are lagging behind. Further, there is a durable trend of both population and job concentration in the capital city area, or in urban areas generally.

This chapter examines observed regional inequalities and centralization tendencies in Norway. Small, rural, municipalities experienced a favourable population development from 1970 to the mid-1980s. After this, the percentage population growth has been strongest in the largest municipalities/cities, and this tendency has accelerated during the last 10–15 years. Data post-1970 strongly support the reasonable hypothesis that population growth is positively related to centrality. The major source of changes lies within the labour market regions, whereas the changes between the regions are modest. Jobs have not become more centralized than households over the period.

A conceptual model is developed, offering a useful taxonomy of municipalities in three dimensions: the unemployment rate, the employment growth, and housing prices. This provides a classification that contributes to clarify the changes in the urban-rural divide. The discussion demonstrates that distinguishing between different categories is important, since different explanations of centralization and regional disparities call for different menus of policy instruments.

We study the relationship between population growth, unemployment rates, and employment growth in Norwegian municipalities, to distinguish between disequilibrium and equilibrium explanations of the situation in regional labour markets. At a national level our results indicate that neoclassical adjustments dominate weakly over amenity-based mechanisms. However, results from many regions support the hypothesis that amenity-based adjustments are dominant for municipalities within a labour market region. One possible explanation is that the diversity in job opportunities is considered as an amenity. A thicker labour market is better fit to meet the demand of workers with specific qualifications.

This chapter investigates how night-time light images acquired from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program’s Operational Linescan System provide spatial and temporal insight into the economic impact of the disintegration of Yugoslavia. First, the chapter provides an overview of the economic development in Yugoslavia using conventional statistics, and second, it presents an analysis of the disintegration of the federation by comparing official statistics with night-time light data. Evaluating the impact of the disintegration of Yugoslavia as a federation and the conflicts arising in the wake of the break up is challenging since reliable data is missing. Therefore, satellite images, as one of the few sources of objective information, are potentially of great importance. We used yearly Operational Linescan System composites covering the period 1992–2013. The analysis is divided into small geographical units (districts) based on the republics in the former Yugoslavia.

While some EU countries have successfully reduced unemployment and increased employment, others could only accomplish partial success; therefore, unemployment rates across the EU are still much higher than in the 1970s. There are still large regional differences in terms of unemployment despite considerable region-specific transactions to counter-act such differences. Different employment outcomes are the consequence of many factors – such as the demographic trends, the general economic situation, the structure of the economy, the existing welfare and labour market situation, or the level of employment protection – but it may also be the outcome of the effectiveness of the local labour market measures. Local action is important for effective employment policies. Where national policies and implementation measures are sufficiently flexible and adjustable, local level actors can develop integrated approaches to economic growth, maximizing employment opportunities and helping to lessen inequalities and social exclusion in their communities. Mobilization and activity of local communities in combating unemployment are essential to translate national and regional strategies into action on the ground. Local actors purportedly best understand local conditions, aspirations, and needs. There is no magic button for overcoming obstacles and problems, but there are some positive experiences that can be applied or adjusted. The chapter describes the activities and experiences of EU and local initiatives and the problems of institutional organizations.

Transaction costs, responsive housing supply, rent controls, tenant protection, and access to credit affect residential mobility – these different parts of housing policy are included in what has been defined as housing regimes, which embrace regulations, laws, norms, and ideology as well as economic factors. In this chapter, we investigate how these regimes change by using institutional theories of path dependence. We use Sweden as an example and study three Swedish housing market reforms during the past decades that may have affected residential mobility, each related to one of the main institutional pillars of housing provision: tenure legislation, taxation, and finance. More precisely, we study the development of the rental regulation since the late 1960s, the tax reform in 1991, and the new reforms on mortgages since 2010. What caused these reforms? What were the main mechanisms behind them, and why did they occur at the time they did? We argue, besides affecting residential mobility, these reforms have the common feature of including interesting elements of path dependence and forming critical junctures that have led the development on to a new path. Institutions of tenure legislation, housing finance, and taxation are often claimed to have effects on residential mobility. Although they are seldom designed with the explicit aim of supporting (or counteracting) residential mobility, they may sometimes do so as more or less unintended consequences.