2026/01/20
Announcement: HIAS Brown Bag Seminar #25
The HIAS Brown Bag Seminar is a seminar series hosted by Hitotsubashi Institute for Advanced Study (HIAS).
The seminar series aims to promote interaction between HIAS researchers, faculty members, and students university-wide.
HIAS, with its 10 research centers, will continue to strive to function as a hub to facilitate active research collaboration throughout the University.
■ Date & Time
Thursday, December 4, 2025, 12:40–13:40 (Presentation followed by an informal discussion over lunch)
■ Venue
Room 205, Annex Building, Hitotsubashi University (West Campus)
■ Language
English
■ 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.
■ Registration
Please register in advance using the form below.
https://forms.office.com/r/CmKMR7fhDP
*Please note that registration may close once capacity is reached.
*Participants are encouraged to bring their own lunch; coffee and snacks will be provided.