Spatial Development

We present a theory of spatial development. A continuum of locations in a geographic area choose each period how much to innovate (if at all) in manufacturing and services. Locations can trade subject to transport costs and technology di¤uses spatially across locations. The result is an endogenous growth theory that can shed light on the link between the evolution of economic activity over time and space. We apply the model to study the evolution of the U.S. economy in the last few decades and that the model can generate the reduction in the employment share in manufacturing, the increase in service productivity in the second part of the 1990s, the increase in land rents in the same period, as well as several other spatial and temporal patterns

Selected Challenges From Spatial Statistics For Spatial Econometricians

Griffith and Paelinck (2011) present selected non-standard spatial statistics and spatial econometrics topics that address issues associated with spatial econometric methodology. This paper addresses the following challenges posed by spatial autocorrelation alluded to and/or derived from the spatial statistics topics of this book: the Gaussian random variable Jacobian term for massive datasets; topological features of georeferenced data; eigenvector spatial filtering-based georeferenced data generating mechanisms; and, interpreting random effects.Artykuł prezentuje wybrane, niestandardowe statystyki przestrzenne oraz zagadnienia ekonometrii przestrzennej. Rozważania teoretyczne koncentrują się na wyzwaniach wynikających z autokorelacji przestrzennej, nawiązując do pojęć Gaussowskiej zmiennej losowej, topologicznych cech danych georeferencyjnych, wektorów własnych, filtrów przestrzennych, georeferencyjnych mechanizmów generowania danych oraz interpretacji efektów losowych

Spatial behaviour and the socio-spatial recognition

Ponencia presentada a Session 8: Dimensiones psicosociales de la arquitectura y el urbanismo / Psycological dimensions of architecture and planningThe paper explores the relation between the real and the mental space of the inhabitants. The understanding of the interaction between the inhabitants and their houses relies upon the direct observation of the practices of the users and the interpretation of their spatial behaviours shown by the routes they choose in everyday activities. The results show that this study requires the understanding of the relationships between the spatial behaviour of inhabitants and their socio-physical recognition. We were also able to highlight the strategies and the forms of adaptation raised during the fulfilment of the action plans of the inhabitant

Spatial Weighting Matrix Selection in Spatial Lag Econometric Model

This paper investigates the choice of spatial weighting matrix in a spatial lag model framework. In the empirical literature the choice of spatial weighting matrix has been characterized by a great deal of arbitrariness. The number of possible spatial weighting matrices is large, which until recently was considered to prevent investigation into the appropriateness of the empirical choices. Recently Kostov (2010) proposed a new approach that transforms the problem into an equivalent variable selection problem. This article expands the latter transformation approach into a two-step selection procedure. The proposed approach aims at reducing the arbitrariness in the selection of spatial weighting matrix in spatial econometrics. This allows for a wide range of variable selection methods to be applied to the high dimensional problem of selection of spatial weighting matrix. The suggested approach consists of a screening step that reduces the number of candidate spatial weighting matrices followed by an estimation step selecting the final model. An empirical application of the proposed methodology is presented. In the latter a range of different combinations of screening and estimation methods are employed and found to produce similar results. The proposed methodology is shown to be able to approximate and provide indications to what the ‘true’ spatial weighting matrix could be even when it is not amongst the considered alternatives. The similarity in results obtained using different methods suggests that their relative computational costs could be primary reasons for their choice. Some further extensions and applications are also discussed

Spatial fluctuation theorem

For non-equilibrium systems of interacting particles and for interacting diffusions in d dimensions, a novel fluctuation relation is derived. The theorem establishes a quantitative relation between the probabilities of observing two current values in different spatial directions. The result is a consequence of spatial symmetries of the microscopic dynamics, generalizing in this way the Gallavotti-Cohen fluctuation theorem related to the time-reversal symmetry. This new perspective opens up the possibility of direct experimental measurements of fluctuation relations of vectorial observables.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figur