Due to differences in the legal systems and business environments, it is difficult to compare the process of buying and selling land in different European countries. Illustrated by a range of European case studies, this book identifies and discusses the problems of this and similar comparisons. It then examines how ontological modelling can be applied to real estate transactions and advocates this as a basis for comparing the various processes used across Europe. The book consists of four parts: the economic, legal and ontological aspects of real property transactions; a discussion of the current situation in different countries, thus showing the heterogeneity and complexity of processes that have to be captured; whilst the third and fourth parts describe ontological modelling and its benefits for the purpose of understanding the nature of real property transactions together with examples of modelling techniques applied to cadastre and real property.

A clear understanding of what we know, don't know, and can't know should guide any reasonable approach to managing financial risk, yet the most widely used measure in finance today--Value at Risk, or VaR--reduces these risks to a single number, creating a false sense of security among risk managers, executives, and regulators. This book introduces a more realistic and holistic framework called KuU --the K nown, the u nknown, and the U nknowable--that enables one to conceptualize the different kinds of financial risks and design effective strategies for managing them. Bringing together contributions by leaders in finance and economics, this book pushes toward robustifying policies, portfolios, contracts, and organizations to a wide variety of KuU risks. Along the way, the strengths and limitations of "quantitative" risk management are revealed. In addition to the editors, the contributors are Ashok Bardhan, Dan Borge, Charles N. Bralver, Riccardo Colacito, Robert H. Edelstein, Robert F. Engle, Charles A. E. Goodhart, Clive W. J. Granger, Paul R. Kleindorfer, Donald L. Kohn, Howard Kunreuther, Andrew Kuritzkes, Robert H. Litzenberger, Benoit B. Mandelbrot, David M. Modest, Alex Muermann, Mark V. Pauly, Til Schuermann, Kenneth E. Scott, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, and Richard J. Zeckhauser. Introduces a new risk-management paradigm Features contributions by leaders in finance and economics Demonstrates how "killer risks" are often more economic than statistical, and crucially linked to incentives Shows how to invest and design policies amid financial uncertainty

As the title indicates, Essays in Honor of James A. Graaskamp: Ten Years After, is a collection of essays written to honor Graaskamp's major contributions to the field of real estate education and practice over the course of three decades. Upon his death in 1988, the industry lost a major influence for advancing the real estate discipline, both as an academic field and a professional field. The authors in this volume seek to extend Graaskamp's contributions and move the real estate discipline forward. The papers address the challenges posed by the market to return our attention to real estate fundamentals, and to strike a proper balance between Main Street and Wall Street. The authors and editors hope that this book will influence the industry to incorporate many of Grasskamp's ideas into mainstream real estate education and practice. Over the course of his career, Graaskamp made many noteworthy contributions to real estate theory and practice, ideas that if resurrected could offset some of the pressure in the industry to move away from market fundamentals. The authors try to capture the essence of Graaskamp's messages, and intend that the papers serve as a point of departure for discussing the future role and nature of real estate education. Part I focuses on the major contributions to the real estate discipline made by Graaskamp and the Wisconsin Real Estate Program. Part II contains some personal recollections and photos of Graaskamp, and also a summary of the groups that make up the Wisconsin Real Estate Program, a major co-sponsor of this volume. The rest of the book's three main parts are structured around major topics that reflect the multidisciplinary nature of real estate as espoused by Graaskamp. Part III treats real estate feasibility and development, Part IV concentrates on real estate valuation, and Part V discusses institutional economics.