The actions of the federal government can have a profound impact on financial markets. As prominent participants in the government decision making process, U.S. Senators are likely to have knowledge of forthcoming government actions before the information becomes public. This could provide them with an informational advantage over other investors. We test for abnormal returns from the common stock investments of members of the U.S. Senate during the period 1993–1998. We document that a portfolio that mimics the purchases of U.S. Senators beats the market by 85 basis points per month, while a portfolio that mimics the sales of Senators lags the market by 12 basis points per month. The large difference in the returns of stocks bought and sold (nearly one percentage point per month) is economically large and reliably positive.

A previous study suggests that U.S. Senators trade common stock with a substantial informational advantage compared to ordinary investors and even corporate insiders. We apply precisely the same methods to test for abnormal returns from the common stock investments of Members of the U.S. House of Representatives. We measure abnormal returns for more than 16,000 common stock transactions made by approximately 300 House delegates from 1985 to 2001. Consistent with the study of Senatorial trading activity, we find stocks purchased by Representatives also earn significant positive abnormal returns (albeit considerably smaller returns). A portfolio that mimics the purchases of House Members beats the market by 55 basis points per month (approximately 6% annually).

Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT), Management expertise, Property type specialization, Diversification, Efficient market hypothesis,

Journal editors who want to attract the best research must understand authors' perceptions of their journals. In this survey, U.S. academic authors rank "Real Estate Economics" ("REE") higher than "The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics" ("JREFE") and rank "The Journal of Real Estate Research" ("JRER") third. Authors perceive "REE" as high quality with promotion and tenure value and "JREFE" as providing a fair, efficient publication process. Faculty at doctoral degree-granting schools are more discerning between the journals, whereas faculty at schools with real estate degree programs are more likely to have work in all three journals rewarded. Publishing in a journal and membership in a real estate association also influence opinions. Copyright 2002 by the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association.

This paper examines the efficacy of currency swaps as a hedging mechanism for the exchange rate risk associated with foreign investment in real estate. Earlier studies have concentrated on short-term hedging instruments such as options and forward contracts. Currency swaps are better suited for use on investments with long-term holding periods such as real estate. The findings indicate that, although hedging United States real estate investments with currency swaps suppresses most of the risk induced by currency instability, the improvements are insufficient to produce diversification gains for foreign investors in the context of mean-variance portfolio performance. Copyright American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association.