Business College Researchers Cited for Strong Record of Publication in Top Real Estate Journals
Researchers at Old Dominion University's College of Business and Public Administration (CBPA) have been published in the top three real estate journals more often than almost every other business school in the world.
Of the 415 universities around the world that had at least one article published by faculty members in the three journals, ODU researchers ranked 13th, according to a tally by researchers at Florida International University. The journals are Real Estate Economics, Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics and Journal of Real Estate Research.
Michael Seiler, Robert M. Stanton Chair of Real Estate in the CBPA, is ranked as the 11th most prolific individual journal article author by the same rankings, out of 845 authors who were published at least once.
These lists will be published in the Journal of Real Estate Practice and Education and Journal of Real Estate Literature, and will be updated annually every December.
Seiler's work has been gaining international attention, particularly his study of strategic default in the mortgage market - the practice of homeowners who can afford to pay their mortgage choosing, for financial gain, to default.
Since arriving at ODU in 2008 from Hawaii Pacific University, Seiler has published a number of groundbreaking studies incorporating the human element in real estate decisions.
In 2011 he founded IBERE, the Institute for Behavioral and Experimental Real Estate (www.IBERE.org).
"There are numerous real estate research centers around the world whose goal it is to examine current issues of national and international relevance to the field," Seiler said.
These centers borrow theories from economics and finance to understand current issues, operating on the assumption that real estate markets are fully efficient, and individuals operating in these markets always act rationally. But what if people make impulsive decisions, not grounded in logic?
"At IBERE, we adapt our models to incorporate the knowledge that people have bounded rationality. That is, our brains regularly take mental shortcuts on a subconscious level that sometimes results in flaws or biases in our decision-making," Seiler said.
Working with Andy Collins, research assistant professor at ODU's Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center, Seiler has modeled things such as how so-called strategic defaults affect the marketplace at large. Seiler has also collaborated with faculty members in psychology, English and engineering on other research projects, and hopes to continue doing multidisciplinary research.
IBERE's goal is to find and measure these flaws and, where possible, suggest ways to correct them. IBERE seeks to be the leading behavioral and experimental real estate research organization in the world and to publish research that will help guide decision-making in all areas of real estate - for homeowners, the real estate industry, investors and public policy makers.