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The COVID-19 pandemic, a sudden and disruptive external shock to the USA and global economy, profoundly affected various operations. Thus, it becomes imperative to investigate the repercussions of this pandemic on the US housing market. This study investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on a crucial facet of the real estate market: the Time on the Market (TOM). Therefore, this study aims to ascertain the net effect of this unprecedented event after controlling for economic influences and real estate market variations.

Monthly time series data were collected for the period of January 2010 through December 2022 for statistical analysis. Given the temporal nature of the data, we conducted the Durbin–Watson test on the OLS residuals to ascertain the presence of autocorrelation. Subsequently, we used the generalized regression model to mitigate any identified issues of autocorrelation. However, it is important to note that the response variable derived from count data (specifically, the median number of months), which may not conform to the normality assumption associated with standard regression models. To better accommodate this, we opted to use Poisson regression as an alternative approach. Additionally, recognizing the possibility of overdispersion in the count data, we also explored the application of the negative binomial model as a means to address this concern, if present.

This study’s findings offer an insightful perspective on the housing market’s resilience in the face of COVID-19 external shock, aligning with previous research outcomes. Although TOM showed a decrease of around 10 days with standard regression and 27% with Poisson regression during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is noteworthy that this reduction lacked statistical significance in both models. As such, the impact of COVID-19 on TOM, and consequently on the housing market, appears less dramatic than initially anticipated.

This research deepens our understanding of the complex lead–lag relationships between key factors, ultimately facilitating an early indication of housing price movements. It extends the existing literature by scrutinizing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the TOM. From a pragmatic viewpoint, this research carries valuable implications for real estate professionals and policymakers. It equips them with the tools to assess the prevailing conditions of the real estate market and to prepare for potential shifts in market dynamics. Specifically, both investors and policymakers are urged to remain vigilant in monitoring changes in the inventory of houses for sale. This vigilant approach can serve as an early warning system for upcoming market changes, helping stakeholders make well-informed decisions.

We investigate the role of fiscal policy, through several measures of government revenues and expenditures and redistribution, on disposable and market income inequality and economic growth as well as the interaction between inequality and growth for 31 European countries from 1995 to 2019.

We use a simultaneous equations model to assess the linkage between economic growth, inequalities and fiscal policy variables.

(1) While disposable income inequality has a negative effect on all fiscal policy variables, market income inequality has a mixed effects; (2) for Eastern European countries, public consumption and direct taxation positively influence economic growth; conversely, for Western European countries, the effects are negative; (3) disposable and market income inequality have a positive effect on growth for Eastern European countries, and a negative influence on growth for Western European countries; (4) growth contributes to the increase of disposable and market income inequality for Eastern European countries; for Western European countries, the effects are opposite; and (5) fiscal policy allows for the attenuation of disposable income inequality.

The different results between the role of market and disposable income inequality levels lead us to suggest tax progressivity as an important feature to consider when analyse the trivariate relationship between inequalities, fiscal policy and growth. Furthermore, there are different dynamics between inequality and growth, and the role of fiscal policy, on both Eastern and Western European countries.

The purpose of this study is to quantify the impact of electricity power outages on the local housing market in South Africa.

This study uses the autoregressive distributive lag (ARDL) and quantile autoregressive distributive lag (QARDL) models on annual time series data, for the period 1971–2014. The interest rate, real income and inflation were used as control variables to enable a multivariate framework.

The results from the ARDL model show that real income is the only factor influencing housing price over the long run, whereas other variables only have short-run effects. The estimates from the QARDL further reveal hidden cointegration relationship over the long run with higher quantile levels of distribution and transmission losses raising the residential price growth.

Overall, the findings of this study imply that the South African housing market is more vulnerable to property devaluation caused by power outages over the short run and yet remains resilient to loadshedding over the long run. Other macro-economic factors, such as real income and inflation, are more influential factors towards long-run developments in the residential market.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine the empirical relationship between power outages and housing price growth.

The paper aims to examine the role played by property tax in influencing strategic decisions regarding marital separation and divorce in Italian municipalities.

The empirical analysis is conducted on a sample of 6,458 Italian municipalities by applying the ordinary least squares (OLS) and instrumental variables (IVs) approaches.

The estimation results show a small increase in marital separations and divorces as the difference between the municipal secondary and primary home tax rate increases. Specifically, an increase of 1‰ in the property tax rate differentials is accompanied by an increase of six marital separations and four divorces per 1,000 inhabitants.

The main limitation of the analysis is that the strategic behavior of the married couple is inferred from econometric analysis with data aggregated at the municipal level. To investigate this phenomenon more precisely, it would be useful to have individual data collected by surveys on strategic divorce decisions due to property tax incentives.

This study contributes to the scant existing literature on the tax incentives for strategic divorce. It is the first study to empirically investigate the effects of property tax on separation and divorce decisions by investigating the Italian context. In Italy, a property tax was introduced in 1993, encouraging “false” divorces by spouses with a second home since the tax on the secondary home was set at a rate higher than that on the primary residence. Moreover, there were no tax deductions and no additional tax breaks on the secondary home, while they were established on the primary one. Higher property taxes and the absence of tax breaks on the secondary home may have encouraged a strategic behavior whereby many married couples filed for false separation and divorce in order to recover part of property tax rebates.

This study explores whether targeted microcredit can effectively alleviate households’ multidimensional relative poverty (MdRP) in rural China in the new era following the poverty elimination campaign and discusses it from a gendered perspective.

This study applies a fixed-effects model, propensity score matching (PSM) and two-stage instrumental variable method to two-period panel data collected from 611 households in rural western China in 2018 and 2021 to explore the effects, mechanisms and heterogenous performance of targeted microcredit on households’ MdRP in the new era.

(i) Targeted microcredit can alleviate MdRP among rural households in the new era, mainly by reducing income and opportunity inequality. (ii) Targeted microcredit can promote women’s empowerment, mainly by enhancing their social participation, thereby helping alleviate households’ MdRP. The effect of the targeted microcredit on MdRP is more significant in medium-educated women households and non-left-behind women households. (iii) The MdRP alleviation effect is stronger in villages with a high degree of digitalization.

Learn from the experience of targeted microcredit. Accurately identify poor groups and integrate loan design into financial health and women empowerment. Particularly, pay attention to less-educated and left-behind women households and strengthen coordination between targeted microcredit and digital village strategies.

This study clarifies the effect of targeted microcredit on women’s empowerment and households’ MdRP alleviation in the new era. It also explores its various effects on households with different female characteristics and regional digitalization levels, providing ideas for optimizing microcredit.

This study aims to explore the connection between demographic traits and the choice of attraction patterns among international repeat tourists.

The study employed a questionnaire survey to collect data from 1550 international repeat tourists who visited Tanzania between November 2022 and July 2023. Convenient sampling was employed as tourists were selected from the three international airports of Tanzania, namely Kilimanjaro International Airport, Julius Nyerere International Airport, and Abeid Aman Karume International Airport. A multinomial logistic regression model was used to examine the impact of socio-demographic characteristics on the selection of attraction patterns among international repeat tourists.

The study revealed that demographic factors, including age, marital status, income level, occupation, and education level, exhibit statistically significant correlations with preferences for distinct attraction patterns. This significance was established through a p-value of less than 0.05 for all the aforementioned variables.

This study is primarily focused on international repeat tourists, thereby limiting insights into the preferences of domestic tourists. To better inform strategies aimed at attracting a larger domestic tourist base, future research may prioritize the investigation of choice of attractions patterns among domestic tourists in relation to their demographic characteristics.

This study contributes to the nuanced understanding of international tourist behavior by unraveling the extent to which demographic traits impact tourists’ choices of attraction patterns, thereby providing insights crucial for effective marketing strategies, improved visitor experiences, and sustainable tourism development strategies.

This study aims to investigate the determinants of United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar consumers’ perceptions of organic food.

Using a survey approach and focusing on six known determinants identified from empirical studies, data were analysed using a mean difference analysis and a multi-regression model.

Citizens in both countries had similar access to organic food products, yet consumer perceptions differed significantly. Given the geographical, cultural and topographical proximity and similarities of these countries, differences in the mean values indicate that targeted or bespoke marketing is required to attract customers.

One limitation of this study its sample size that may limit the generalizability of its results. However, the highly statistically significant results offset this to some extent as the differences the authors have demonstrated are likely to be real. These do require confirmation by further similar studies. The study relied on a random sample of respondents who might have exhibited bias in answering questions.

The two countries central to this research study, the UAE and Qatar, have vested interests in supporting the organic food product market that mainly concern supporting and promoting the health of their citizens and the environment. As shown in this paper, the key obstacles preventing consumers’ accessing organic products are availability and price. With appropriate governmental subsidies and logistics support, however, these barriers can be overcome.

If governments are sincere in their declarations that the health and welfare of their citizens is of prime importance, they will support attempts to promote the sale and consumption of organically grown food. The results of this study can help to inform such policies.

This study provides insights into the most important factors that influence consumers’ attitudes towards organic foods. This study fills a gap in the existing research on consumer buying behaviour for organic food in two Middle Eastern countries.