Essays On Theories And Applications Of Spatial Econometric Models

Abstract: As an effective method in analyzing interdependence among the observations, the spatial autoregressive (SAR) models have witnessed ever-increasing applications. This dissertation intends to enrich both the spatial econometrics theory and the social interaction estimations. In the first essay, a SAR model with group unobservables is applied to analyze peer effects in student academic achievement. Unlike the linear-in-means model in Manski (1993), the SAR model can identify both endogenous and contextual social effects due to variations in the peer measurements, thus resolving the "reflection problem". The group fixed effects term captures the confounding effects of the common variables faced by the same group members. I use datasets from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) survey and specify peer groups as friendship networks. I find evidence for both endogenous and contextual effects, even after controlling for school-grade fixed effects. The result indicates that students benefit from the presence of high quality peers, and that associating with peers living with both parents helps improve a student's GPA, while associating with peers whose mothers receive welfare has a negative effect. The second essay considers the GMM estimation of SAR models with unknown heteroskedasticity. We show that MLE is inconsistent whereas GMM estimators obtained from certain moment conditions are robust. Asymptotically valid inferences can be drawn from the consistent covariance matrix estimator. And efficiency can be improved by constructing the optimal weighted GMM estimation. We also propose some general tests for heteroskedasticity. In the Monte Carlo study, 2SLS estimators have large variances and biases in finite samples for cases where regressors do not have strong effects. The robust GMM estimator has desirable properties while the biases associated with MLE and non-robust GMM estimator may remain in large sample, especially, for the spatial effect coefficient and the intercept term. However, the magnitudes of biases are only moderate and those biases may be statistically insignificant with moderate large sample sizes. The various approaches are applied to the study of county teenage pregnancy rates. The results suggest a strong spatial convergence among county teenage pregnancy rates with a significant spatial effect.

The purpose of models is not to fit the data but to sharpen the questions. S. Karlin, 11th R. A. Fisher Memorial Lecture, Royal Society, 20 April 1983 We are proud to offer this volume in honour of the remarkable career of the Father of Spatial Econometrics, Professor Jean Paelinck, presently of the Tinbergen Institute, Rotterdam. Not one to model solely for the sake of modelling, the above quotation nicely captures Professor Paelinck's unceasing quest for the best question for which an answer is needed. His FLEUR model has sharpened many spatial economics and spatial econometrics questions! Jean Paelinck, arguably, is the founder of modem spatial econometrics, penning the seminal introductory monograph on this topic, Spatial Econometrics, with Klaassen in 1979. In the General Address to the Dutch Statistical Association, on May 2, 1974, in Tilburg, "he coined the term [spatial econometrics] to designate a growing body of the regional science literature that dealt primarily with estimation and testing problems encountered in the implementation of multiregional econometric models" (Anselin, 1988, p. 7); he already had introduced this idea in his introductory report to the 1966 Annual Meeting of the Association de Science Regionale de Langue Fran~aise.

It also empirically confirms and supports the theoretical work of previous studies in SAR modeling. Limited but considerable exogenous variables are discussed in this paper as well.

World-renowned experts in spatial statistics and spatial econometrics present the latest advances in specification and estimation of spatial econometric models. This includes information on the development of tools and software, and various applications. The text introduces new tests and estimators for spatial regression models, including discrete choice and simultaneous equation models. The performance of techniques is demonstrated through simulation results and a wide array of applications related to economic growth, international trade, knowledge externalities, population-employment dynamics, urban crime, land use, and environmental issues. An exciting new text for academics with a theoretical interest in spatial statistics and econometrics, and for practitioners looking for modern and up-to-date techniques.

Spatial Econometrics is a rapidly evolving field born from the joint efforts of economists, statisticians, econometricians and regional scientists. The book provides the reader with a broad view of the topic by including both methodological and application papers. Indeed the application papers relate to a number of diverse scientific fields ranging from hedonic models of house pricing to demography, from health care to regional economics, from the analysis of R&D spillovers to the study of retail market spatial characteristics. Particular emphasis is given to regional economic applications of spatial econometrics methods with a number of contributions specifically focused on the spatial concentration of economic activities and agglomeration, regional paths of economic growth, regional convergence of income and productivity and the evolution of regional employment. Most of the papers appearing in this book were solicited from the International Workshop on Spatial Econometrics and Statistics held in Rome (Italy) in 2006.

Abstract: This dissertation is composed of three essays on spatial econometric models with missing data. Spatial models that have a long history in regional science and geography have received substantial attention in various areas of economics recently. Applications of spatial econometric models prevail in urban, developmental and labor economics among others. In practice, an issue that researchers often face is the missing data problem. Although many solutions such as list-wise deletion and EM algorithm can be found in literature, most of them are either not suited for spatial models or hard to apply due to technical difficulties. My research focuses on the estimation of the spatial econometric models in the presence of missing data problems. The first chapter develops a GMM method based on linear moments for the estimation of mixed regressive, spatial autoregressive (MRSAR) models with missing observations in the dependent variables. The estimation method uses the expectation of the missing data, as a function of the observed independent variables and the parameters to be estimated, to replace the missing data themselves in the estimation. The proposed GMM estimators are shown to be consistent and asymptotically normal. Feasible optimal weighting matrix for the GMM estimation is given. We extend our estimation method to MRSAR models with heteroskedastic disturbances, high order MRSAR models and unbalanced spatial panel data models with random effects as well. From these extensions, we see that the proposed GMM method has more compatibility, compared with the conventional EM algorithm. The second chapter considers a group interaction model first proposed by Lee (2006); this model is a special case of the spatial autoregressive (SAR) models. It is a first attempt to estimate the model in a more general random sample setting, i.e. a framework in which only a random sample rather than the whole population in a group is available. We incorporate group heteroskedasticity along with the endogenous, exogenous and group fixed effects in the model. We prove that, under some basic assumptions and certain identification conditions, the quasi maximum likelihood (QML) estimators are consistent and asymptotically normal when the functional form of the group heteroskedasticity is known. Two types of misspecifications are considered, and, under each, the estimators are inconsistent. We also propose IV estimation in the case that the group heteroskedasticity is unknown. A LM test of group heteroskedasticity is given at the end. The third chapter considers the same group interaction model as that in the second chapter, but focuses on the large group interaction case and uses a random effects setting for the group specific characters. A GMM estimation framework using moment conditions from both within and between equations is applied to the model. We prove that under some basic assumptions and certain identification conditions, the GMM estimators are consistent and asymptotically normal, and the convergence rates of the estimators are higher than those of the estimators derived from the within equations only. Feasible optimal GMM estimators are proposed.

This book bridges the gap between economic theory and spatial econometric techniques. It is accessible to those with only a basic statistical background and no prior knowledge of spatial econometric methods. It provides a comprehensive treatment of the topic, motivating the reader with examples and analysis. The volume provides a rigorous treatment of the basic spatial linear model, and it discusses the violations of the classical regression assumptions that occur when dealing with spatial data.

Space is a crucial variable in any economic activity. Spatial Economics is the branch of economics that explicitly aims to incorporate the space dimension in the analysis of economic phenomena. From its beginning in the last century, Spatial Economics has contributed to the understanding of the economy by developing plenty of theoretical models as well as econometric techniques having the “space” as a core dimension of the analysis. This edited volume addresses the complex issue of Spatial Economics from a theoretical point of view. This volume is part of a more complex project including another edited volume (Spatial Economics Volume II: Applications) collecting original papers which address Spatial Economics from an applied perspective.

This is the most recently developed book in Spatial Econometrics which cover important models and estimation methods. Its coverage is rather broad, and some of the topics covered have only been developed in the recent econometric literature in spatial econometrics.The book summarizes our devoted efforts on spatial econometrics that represent joint contributions with former PhD advisees from the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, USA.The coverage is comprehensive and there are a total of sixteen chapters from basic statistics and statistical theory of linear-quadratic forms, law of large numbers (LLN) and central limit theory (CLT) on martingales to nonlinear spatial mixing and spatial near-epoch dependence theories, which can justify the statistic inferences for various spatial models and their estimation. New estimation and testing approaches in empirical likelihood and general empirical likelihood, and Bootstrapping are presented. Model selection is also discussed in this book. In addition to the popular spatial autoregressive models, there are chapters on multivariate SAR models, simultaneous SAR models, and panel dynamic spatial models. Recent econometric developments on intertemporal spatial models with rational expectations and flows data in trade theory will also be included. In terms of statistics, classical estimation, testing and inference are the main concerns, and we provide classical inference for the justification of Bayesian simulation approaches.

Spatial econometrics deals with spatial dependence and spatial heterogeneity, critical aspects of the data used by regional scientists. These characteristics may cause standard econometric techniques to become inappropriate. In this book, I combine several recent research results to construct a comprehensive approach to the incorporation of spatial effects in econometrics. My primary focus is to demonstrate how these spatial effects can be considered as special cases of general frameworks in standard econometrics, and to outline how they necessitate a separate set of methods and techniques, encompassed within the field of spatial econometrics. My viewpoint differs from that taken in the discussion of spatial autocorrelation in spatial statistics - e.g., most recently by Cliff and Ord (1981) and Upton and Fingleton (1985) - in that I am mostly concerned with the relevance of spatial effects on model specification, estimation and other inference, in what I caIl a model-driven approach, as opposed to a data-driven approach in spatial statistics. I attempt to combine a rigorous econometric perspective with a comprehensive treatment of methodological issues in spatial analysis.