http://www.innovations.harvard.edu Finance covers innovations in banking, government finance, and microfinance. Finance is important in the functioning of any public or private organization. This section includes several studies, articles, and news items on new approaches to allocation and management of financial resources. It highlights the critical role of finance in public management and global development. It presents the ever-growing role played by information technology in financial organizations. en-us Copyright 2009, Government Innovators Network Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:15:00 -0500 Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:15:00 -0500 info@innovations.harvard.edu http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/showdoc.html?id=3091 This article examines the efficiency of multifamily finance in supplying capital to all segments of the multifamily rental market. Four issues of importance are identified: data availability, the efficiency of the small loan market, multifamily prepayment and default risk, and the potential role of the mortgage real estate investment trusts in multifamily finance. The findings suggest that information ... http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/showdoc.html?id=3032 A significant change in the finance of social housing in the 1980s was a movement to transfer responsibility for funding to the private sector. This article argues that governments must continue to be involved in social housing finance as this movement progresses. Financing initiatives undertaken in Australia are used to signal the risks associated with the provision of social housing finance, ... http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/showdoc.html?id=5055 Essential Function Bonds (or EFBs) are issued to finance the construction and substantial rehabilitation of affordable housing or other community facilities owned by state and local housing finance agencies. Although some state agencies issue EFBs as part of their efforts to expand affordable housing opportunities, local housing authorities (or LHAs) have pioneered the use of this tool. While ... http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/showdoc.html?id=3269 Housing finance traditionally has been an area of intervention by governments, especially through the creation of special circuits for funding flows. This paper analyzes these special circuits in five developed countries (Denmark, France, Germany, United Kingdom, and the United States) and tracks their evolution through the 1980s under the pressures of inflation, interest-rate volatility, deregulation ... http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/showdoc.html?id=4910 Supporting children's growth and development, strengthening families and making neighborhoods safe, economically viable places to live and raise a family are continuing challenges in many communities. Changes in welfare policy have created new demands for job training, child care, and other transitional services among former recipients of public income assistance. Higher goals for educational ... http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/showdoc.html?id=3265 This paper presents a descriptive analysis of the home improvement financing market for owner-occupied homes. The analysis is based on 1998 data and should be interpreted within the economic environment of that time frame. In the last few years, home improvement financing has experienced significant changes, and new financial products have been developed. The authors are careful when applying these ... http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/showdoc.html?id=3048 The Clinton administration's home and community-based care proposals had potentially important implications not only for long-term care policy, but also for housing policy in the United States. This article attempts to draw out some of those implications. http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/showdoc.html?id=3203  This report is modeled after The State of the Nation's Housing reports produced by the Joint Center for Housing Studies since the early 1980s. These reports provide a comprehensive overview of housing issues in the U. S. that are used by policy makers and businesses to assess current and future housing market conditions and to raise awareness among the broader public about the need to ... http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/showdoc.html?id=2975 Every year, Americans spend about $180 billion maintaining and improving their homes and rental property investments. The repairs and enhancements made by these 30 million or so homeowners and countless millions of rental property owners help to ensure that our $10 trillion housing stock—and the communities that support it—offers safe and adequate housing opportunities for our nation ... http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/showdoc.html?id=3133 This article examines the mechanisms used since the 1970s to finance social housing in Canada. It reveals that direct government assistance has proven to be the most cost-effective mechanism. Experimentation with alternative mortgage instruments such as the graduated-payment mortgage and the index-linked mortgage has also been central to the attempt to minimize subsidy and financing costs. The ... http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/showdoc.html?id=3083 The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program has been operating for over 10 years and has helped finance thousands of developments with units set aside for low- or moderate-income households. This report addresses criticism about requirements for additional layers of subsidy to leverage investment and for excessive benefits to developers. http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/showdoc.html?id=2980 This paper attempts to provide an overview of U.S. housing policies related to homeownership, an analysis of the barriers to homeownership, and background on pressing federal policies, programs, and regulations that could be refined to better support homeownership. As the Millennial Housing Commission considers recommendations regarding federal homeownership policy, several issues are paramount ... http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/showdoc.html?id=3262 This is part of a set of articles addressing "Mortgage Markets in the Year 2000." The purpose of this paper is to forecast how residential mortgage finance may be delivered in the future. At the heart of the forecast is the view that regulatory policy has played a major role in developing the residential finance industry. All may not share this view. An important alternative view is that the regulatory ... http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/showdoc.html?id=3182 This article addresses the problem of the gap in affordable housing in the United States and the efforts being made to address the gap. At issue are the forms of federal financial support for affordable housing and the relative roles of private, for-profit suppliers; local public housing agencies; and nonprofit, community-based developers in providing affordable housing. The primary U.S. vehicle ... http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/showdoc.html?id=3266 Medicaid provides states with a federal financial match for state dollars spent on health care services for low-income people. This report describes program expansions and revenue expansions states adapted to maximize federal Medicaid revenue. While the matching rate approach encouraged states to spend more on health care for low-income people than they would otherwise, it also provided incentives ...