Sigma and beta convergence in regional mortality:A case study of the Netherlands

BACKGROUNDFor allocation of health budgets it is important to know whether regional mortality differences tend to decline or to increase. Sigma convergence tests can measure whether the dispersion of the regional distribution of mortality has declined. Beta convergence tests can examine whether regions with a low level of life expectancy have experienced a stronger increase than regions with a high level. In demographic research, however, sigma and beta convergence have not been formally assessed simultaneously.OBJECTIVEWe demonstrate the application of both sigma and beta convergence tests to the study of trends in regional mortality differences for the Netherlands.METHODSUsing all-cause mortality and population data for 40 Dutch NUTS-3 regions, by year (1988-2009), age group, and sex, we assess both sigma and beta convergence, and its significance.RESULTSBeta convergence proved statistically significant. The regions with the lowest life expectancy in 1988 generally exhibited the highest increase from 1988 to 2009, and vice versa. However, dispersion measures displayed no statistically significant sigma convergence.CONCLUSIONWhereas the absence of sigma convergence shows that regional mortality differences have not declined, beta convergence indicates that the disadvantage of regions with low life expectancy is not persistent.CONTRIBUTIONWe demonstrated the added value of simultaneously studying sigma convergence, beta convergence, and trajectories of regions in the tails of the distribution. Where absence of sigma convergence does not imply that disadvantaged regions did not improve, beta convergence does not always indicate complete convergence due to structural differences across regions.</p

A Service of zbw Spin-offs and Start-ups in The Netherlands Draft Version

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in ABSTRACT After a decade of widespread attention for the entrepreneurial efforts of individuals, the focus seems to partly shift to companies and their contribution to new firm formation. Splitting new firm formation in a birth rate for spin-offs and one for start-ups, allows a structural and comparative analysis of regions and their spin-off activities. In the Netherlands, the Chamber of Commerce has developed an indicator, which distinguishes between individual start-ups and &apos;other foundings&apos;. The latter group has been designed to cover spin-off activities. Figures are published from 1995 onwards. Much in line with common studies of regional variance in entrepreneurial activity, this paper presents an explanatory model for the spatial differences in occurrence of spin-offs, based on the data from the CoC&apos;s business register. A model is defined on the one hand to explain regional differences in spin-offs, which provides a basis for structural research on cluster formation and the role of spin-offs in this process. On the other hand, it shows the differences between individual based start-ups and company driven endeavours. It is argued that these two groups of new firms are essentially distinct, and therefore cannot be explained by one and the same model.

Explaining the Flight of Cupid's Arrow:A Spatial Random Utility Model of Partner Choice

Spatial homogamy may be defined as follows: anyone may be attracted to anyone else, but near candidates are more attractive than distant candidates. In this article, we propose a model of partner choice, where homogamy is defined in terms of spatial, demographic, socioeconomic and cultural similarity. A spatial choice model using random utility theory is formulated, taking into account a relaxation of the independence from the irrelevant alternatives property, as spatial alternatives are not independent of one another. We model partner choice given the characteristics of the chosen partner and a choice set of alternatives, using unique micro data on all new cohabiters in the Netherlands, linked to other relevant data sets. The model takes the spatial locations of potential candidates within a choice set into account, including an indicator for the spatial similarity between alternatives. We find that spatial homogamy is a vital component of partner matching, aside from and adding to the spatial effects in demographic, socioeconomic and cultural homogamy. Given a choice set of partners, the highest likelihood of a match occurs with a person who is born and lives near by, who is close in age, is in the same life stage and has the same marital status, who has the same educational and income level and the same labour market status, who speaks the same dialect and lives in a culturally similar residential area. The distance effect is most pronounced for those individuals with lower levels of education and those living in rural areas

Explaining spatial homogamy. Compositional, spatial and regional cultural determinants of regional patterns of spatial homogamy

Abstract Spatial homogamy, or sharing a similarity in geographical origin, is an under-researched dimension in homogamy studies. In the Netherlands, people tend to choose spatially homogamous partners. Moreover, there is considerable regional variation in spatial homogamy, even when residential location and population density are controlled for. This study aims to explain the regional variation in spatial homogamy by means of a spatial regression. Three sets of explanations are taken into account: compositional effects, spatial determinants, and regional cultural differences. The data used consists of a unique geo-coded micro dataset on all new cohabiters in the Netherlands in 2004 (N=289,248), combined with other data from varying sources. In the spatial regression, the dependent variable is the standardized distance coefficient, based on the distance between partners before cohabitation, standardised for the average distance to other inhabitants. We find that especially educational, income and cultural differences contribute to the regional variation in spatial homogamy

Geography Matters: Patterns of Spatial Homogamy in the Netherlands

'Cupid may have wings, but apparently they are not adapted for long flights.' Studies on the spatial dimension of the partner market have found that the number of marriages declines as the distance between potential spouses increases. This paper explores the role of geographical distance in partner choice in the Netherlands. The availability of unique integral micro data from the population register enables us to study spatial homogamy among all new cohabiters. Spatial homogamy is measured by calculating distances between partners before cohabitation. The explorative study shows that geography matters: Dutch persons choose spatially homogamous partners. Spatial homogamy is influenced by demographic factors. With increasing age, spatial homogamy increases. Moreover, those who live with their parents and those who are single parents before cohabitation live significantly shorter to their future partners. Spatial homogamy also exhibits a distinct spatial pattern. However, conditional on population size and geographical location, long distances between partners in peripheral areas become insignificant. Finally, the distance between partners decreases as urbanisation increases. The findings stimulate the discussion on the role of cultural factors in partner choice. Copyright (c) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd