This paper investigates the housing and mortgage markets by means of an agent-based macroeconomic model of a credit network economy. A set of computational experiments have been carried out in order to explore the effects of different households' creditworthiness conditions required by banks in order to grant a mortgage. Results show that easier access to credit inflates housing prices, triggering a short run output expansion. However, the artificial economy becomes more unstable and prone to recessions. With stricter conditions the economy is more stable and does not fall into serious recessions, although a too severe regulation can slow down economic growth. JEL G21 E20 E25 R31 R38

In this paper, we develop an agent-based model of the housing market and integrate it into a larger agent-based artificial economy. The model is characterized by four types of agents: households, firms, banks and a central bank, which interact through different types of markets: a consumption goods market, a labor market, a housing market and a credit market. We model a wealth effect of housing wealth into households consumption budget as the main link between the housing market and the real economy. Banks will extend mortgages to households only if the expenditure on housing, as a proportion of total income, is lower than a given threshold (β). Different simulations are preformed to see how changing βeffects the housing market and the real economy. We find that by lowering the constraint on bank lending, i.e. increasing β, housing prices boom, positively affecting the real econom

Many jobs today are predominantly knowledge work. This makes organizations dependent on value created by knowledge workers (KWs). Many of the initiatives to improve and manage knowledge worker productivity (KWP) give unpredictable results depending on factors that are often hidden and unknown. It is important to find a holistic approach to improve and manage KWP that gives consistent results across many different organizations. This paper takes us a step closer towards that objective by mapping insights gained from a systematic literature review to activities in a purposeful activity model of the individual KW at work and, based on the findings, proposing a draft of a holistic KWP framework. The main components of the framework are the state of the individual KW, work done and outcome. The systematic literature review searched for papers with topics that touched on approaches, frameworks, tools, or models which aim to tackle the productivity, performance, effectiveness, efficiency, or management of KWs. Relevant concepts were extracted from each paper and categorized into groups. Twelve groups were formed of which six consisted of concepts relevant to individual KWs and their work: organizational commitment and engagement, communication and relationships, personal characteristics and development, personal knowledge management, well-being and job satisfaction and task approach.

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This series reports on new developments in mathematical economics, economic theory, econometrics, operations research and mathematical systems.The series and the volumes published in it are indexed by Scopus and ISI (selected volumes).The type of material considered for publication includes Texts which are out of print but still in demand may also be considered if they fall within these categories.In the case of a research monograph, or of seminar notes, the timeliness of a manuscript may be more important than its form, which may be preliminary or tentative.Manuscripts should be no less than 150 and preferably no more than 500 pages in lenght.