2026/02/24
Announcement: HIAS Brown Bag Seminar #25
The HIAS Brown Bag Seminar is a university-wide seminar series hosted by the Hitotsubashi Institute for Advanced Study (HIAS). It aims to promote interaction among HIAS researchers, faculty members, and students. With its ten research centers, HIAS will continue to serve as a hub for active research collaboration across the University.
■ Date & Time
Tuesday, February 24, 2026, 12:40–13:40 (Presentation followed by an informal discussion over lunch)
Please note that the seminar will be held on Tuesday this time, not on the usual Thursday.
■ Title
“Graph-Laplacian Modeling of Spatio-Temporal Effects for House-Price Estimation”
■ Abstract
Many variables involve the modeling of spatial effects, and their dynamics over time. This paper presents a linear model in which spatio-temporal random effects are modeled by graph-Laplacians. A graph-Laplacian flexibly encodes adjacency in both space and time, in our case not depending on unknown parameters. The graph-Laplacian can be input for a prior in a Bayesian estimation setup, or used as regularization term in a Ridge regression. A spectral decomposition of the graph-Laplacian significantly reduces computation time for estimation. As an application, we estimate graph-Laplacian hedonic pricing and repeat-sales models on sales prices of Australian residential properties in the period from 1990 to 2024. Bayesian and Ridge regression estimation results are very similar, although the computation time for the Ridge regression is orders of magnitude faster, however at the expense of missing posterior density functions. Our results highlight the advantages of graph-Laplacians for predicting individual property prices and for producing stable, granular price indices, also in thin markets.
■ Presenter
Dr. Marc K. Francke (Specially Appointed Professor / Professor Real Estate Analytics at University of Amsterdam and Ortec Finance)
■ Venue
Room 205, Annex Building*, Hitotsubashi University (West Campus)
*No.5 in the campus map
■ Language
English
■ Registration
Please register in advance using the form below.
https://forms.office.com/r/CmKMR7fhDP
(Deadline: Friday, February 20, 3 p.m.)
*Please note that registration may close once capacity is reached.
*Participants are encouraged to bring their own lunch; coffee and snacks will be provided.