Local weighting or the necessity of flexibility

The local estimation algorithms are well-known techniques in the current spatial econometric literature. The Geographically Weighted Regressions are very popular to estimate, locally, static models, whereas the SALE or the Zoom approaches are useful solutions in the case of dynamic models. These techniques are well founded from a methodological point of view and present interesting properties. However, Farber and Paez (2008) detect some inconsistencies in the behavior of some of these algorithms that claim for a further analysis. The point that we want to study in this paper refers to the role of the bandwith. This measure defines how many neighbors will be used in the estimation of the local parameters corresponding to each observation. The cross-validation is the most popular criteria to fix the bandwith, although there are several other criteria in the literature. We think that there is a basic problem with this approach. The objective of these algorithms is to relax the restriction of homogeneity of the parameters of the model allowing for local peculiarities; however the definition of local neighborhood is the same. It does not matter if the observation corresponds to an isolated and poorly communicated region or it belongs to a central and highly connected point. According to our view, this is a very restrictive decision that should be avoided. Specifically, we discuss the procedure of specifying the sequence of local weighting matrices that will be used in the analysis. Our purpose is to achieve that these matrices also reflect the local surrounding of each observation. We examine two different strategies in order to construct the local weighting matrices. The first is a parametric approach which involves the J test, as presented by Kelejian (2008), and the second is a nonparametric approach that uses the guidance of the symbolic entropy measures. The first part of the paper presents the overall problem, including a review of the literature; we discuss the solutions in the second part and the third part consists of a Monte Carlo simulation.

Comparison of Thematic Maps Using Symbolic Entropy

Comparison of thematic maps is an important task in a number of disciplines. Map comparison has traditionally been conducted using cell-by-cell agreement indicators, such as the Kappa measure. More recently, other methods have been proposed that take into account not only spatially coincident cells in two maps, but also their surroundings or the spatial structure of their differences. The objective of this paper is to propose a framework for map comparison that considers 1) the patterns of spatial association in two maps, in other words, the map elements in their surroundings; 2) the equivalence of those patterns; and 3) the independence of patterns between maps. Two new statistics for the spatial analysis of qualitative data are introduced. These statistics are based on the symbolic entropy of the maps, and function as measures of map compositional equivalence and independence. As well, all inferential elements to conduct hypothesis testing are developed. The framework is illustrated using real and synthetic maps. Key word: Thematic maps, map comparison, qualitative variables, spatial association, symbolic entropy, hypothesis tests

Development of a new framework to guide, assess, and evaluate student reflections in a university sustainability course

Many institutions of higher education increasingly place a focus on various forms of experiential education. While much work has been done in this and related areas, the resources currently available are not sufficient to effectively guide, assess, and evaluate student learning. Personal reflections can be used as a tool to assess student learning through experience. However, guiding students through the process, assessing their work, and providing an evaluation presents challenges for educators. A new framework, a robust rubric, and a guide that students and evaluators can use to support experiential learning through reflection are provided. The framework and resources are based on a grounded investigation of student reflections, which were compared to various evaluation models from the literature. The resources discussed in this paper have already been used in practice for over four years and with over 1,000 students. The purpose of this paper is to describe the journey leading to the development of this framework, to provide a description of the rubric and guide, and to share the lessons learned. This framework and accompanying materials will hopefully be a useful resource for instructors and students wishing to support reflection and experiential learning

Inducing Non-Orthogonal and Non-Linear Decision Boundaries in Decision Trees via Interactive Basis Functions

© 2019. This document is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This document is the submitted version of a published work that appeared in final form in Expert Systems with ApplicationsWe use a local projection approach to analyze the effect of economic recessions on income inequality in a comprehensive sample of 43 countries from 1960 to 2016. Although we consider both business-cycle and growth-cycle recessions, we fail to find evidence of significant positive impacts of economic downturns on income distribution, once controls are added to the model. However, we do find important differences across countries, which mainly depend on the degree of economic development

Transportation infrastructure impacts on firm location: the effect of a new metro line in the suburbs of Madrid

Firm location patterns emerge as a consequence of multiple factors, including firm considerations, labor force availability, market opportunities, and transportation costs. Many of these factors are influenced by changes in accessibility wrought by new transportation infrastructure. In this paper we use spatial statistical techniques and a micro-level data base to evaluate the effects of Madrid?s metro line 12 (known as Metrosur) expansion on business location patterns. The case study is the municipality of Alcorcon, which is served by the new metro line since 2003. Specifically, we explore the location patterns by different industry sectors, to evaluate if the new metro line has encouraged the emergence of a ?Metrosur spatial economy?. Our results indicate that the pattern of economic activity location is related to urban accessibility and that agglomeration, through economies of scale, also plays an important role. The results presented in this paper provide evidence useful to inform efficient transportation, urban, and regional economic planning

Assessment of the influence due to a new metro line on the promotion of business activities around the stations: A case study of MetroSur in Madrid

The construction of a new public transportation infrastructure in a metropolitan area has a great impact, in many different ways, on the neighborhoods surrounding the stations. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the influence that the construction of a new metro line has on the promotion of businesses (shops, offices and so on) near the stations. To that end, we have analyzed, as a case study, the construction of the new metro line, “Metrosur”, in Alcorcon, a municipality at the south east of Madrid. The analysis was carried out through two different approaches: on one hand, we used a “point pattern analysis” to estimate kernel surfaces to analyze the variation in the density of business activities during a period of ten years, from the conception of the line to four years after the line entered into operation. In the second approach, we calibrated a binary logit model to assess the probability that each location has to hold any economic activity taking into account its distance to Metrosur and other location characteristics. We found that the distance to the stations positively impacts the location of a business. Moreover, the paper demonstrates that agglomeration plays an important role in the collocation of economic activities

Analysis of house prices to assess economic impacts of new public transport infrastructure: Madrid metro line 12.

Transportation infrastructure is known to affect the value of real estate property by virtue of changes in accessibility. The impact of transportation facilities is highly localized as well, and it is possible that spillover effects result from the capitalization of accessibility. The objective of this study was to review the theoretical background related to spatial hedonic models and the opportunities that they provided to evaluate the effect of new transportation infrastructure. An empirical case study is presented: the Madrid Metro Line 12, known as Metrosur, in the region of Madrid, Spain. The effect of proximity to metro stations on housing prices was evaluated. The analysis took into account a host of variables, including structure, location, and neighborhood and made use of three modeling approaches: linear regression estimation with ordinary least squares, spatial error, and spatial lag. The results indicated that better accessibility to Metrosur stations had a positive impact on real estate values and that the effect was marked in cases in which a house was for sale. The results also showed the presence of submarkets, which were well defined by geographic boundaries, and transport fares, which implied that the economic benefits differed across municipalities