BAYESIAN MODEL AVERAGING IN THE CONTEXT OF SPATIAL HEDONIC PRICING: AN APPLICATION TO FARMLAND VALUES

ABSTRACT Specification uncertainty arises in spatial hedonic pricing models because economic theory provides no guide in choosing the spatial weighting matrix and explanatory variables. Our objective in this paper is to investigate whether we can resolve uncertainty in the application of a spatial hedonic pricing model. We employ Bayesian Model Averaging in combination with Markov Chain, Monte Carlo Model Composition. The proposed methodology provides inclusion probabilities for explanatory variables and weighting matrices. These probabilities provide a clear indication of which explanatory variables and weighting matrices are most relevant, but they are case specific.     

Historical empathy in a museum: uniting contextualisation and emotional engagement

Museums, memorial centres and other heritage institutions use various strategies to evoke an emotional response that serves to elicit empathy with the historical events and actors that are portrayed in exhibitions. To increase historical understanding, however, both emotional engagement with and contextual understanding of these historical figures are needed. Using the concept of historical empathy, this paper examines the continuous interplay between cognitive and affective dimensions of history learning in museums. We conducted a case study at Museon in The Hague, the Netherlands. We studied a learning session on children living through the Second World War, the museum’s strategies employed in the exhibition, the entrance narratives of secondary school students participating in the session and their engagement with the exhibition and with the educational activities. While most of the students did not feel related to WWII prior to their museum visit, the museum managed to engage many of them with personal stories and artefacts and by offering multiple and new perspectives. Our findings underscore the interplay between cognitive and affective dimensions of historical empathy and show that museums can serve as powerful contexts for developing this skill among school students.