Kiasunomics – Season 2
The Kiasunomics podcast series returns with a brand-new season! This time, Professor Sumit delves into the much-discussed household topics of transport, education and housing, dissecting the mechanics behind how Singaporeans pick and decide.
In this episode, Professor Sumit examines one of the most stressful topics on the minds of parents of pre-schooling children in Singapore – the mainstream primary school registration system. He dives into the layers beneath this process, and how school branding has impacted housing prices.
Are realtors in Singapore motivated to act in the best interest of their home buyers, given the current way properties are sold? Professor Sumit examines property transaction data with Professor Song Changcheng over the past 15 years to determine if the most attractive deals are indeed made by realtors because of their greater access to information. They also discuss the effectiveness of dual-agent negotiations verses a single-agent arrangement.
In Singapore, the raising of the Minimum Occupancy Period of Housing Development Board (HDB) flats from three to five years presented a game-changer for home owners. In this episode, Professor Sumit chats to finance professor Qian Wenlan about the effects this policy shock has had on the wealth management and consumption of Singaporeans.
Do humans naturally opt to take the train on weekdays to shorten their work commute instead of the bus, and do they tend to work longer if their travelling time is longer? In this episode, Professor Sumit shares insightful research observations from studying EZ link card data of over 150 million bus and train trips, to understand how time, money and urgency influences the Singapore commuter’s mode of public transportation.
Exploring never before studied data of private hire and taxi ride prices with Singapore Management University’s Associate Professor Cheng Shih-Fen, Professor Sumit examines the range of factors influencing passenger behaviour, and how pricing may not be the key determinant of which private hire option commuters choose during peak timings. With this insight, the duo hopes to inspire higher levels of savviness in commuters, particularly after work hours and on weekends.