On Space-Time Changes of Hedonic Prices for Single Family Homes

The level of and changes in prices for homes reflect the space-time dynamics in valuation of the underlying attributes connected with the objects. In this paper hedonic prices for single family homes distributed over two Swedish counties are estimated for two years. Changes over space and time are estimated and analyzed. Spatial dependence is found to be influential. Hence, four variables are lagged with a spatial weight matrix. Additional spatial dependence in the error term is treated by Spatial Autoregressive Generalized Moment etimation. Structural and neighborhood characteristics together with accessibility measures are used as attributes. With GIS maps the price pattern over the region and its changes over time are identified. Especially the two county capitals, but also the municipality centers are found to influence the spatial price distribution positively. Moreover, prices rise over time in locations with high accessibility to population and on objects with water provided by the municipality or a very high standard.

Growth of GRP in Chinese Provinces. A Test for Spatial Spillovers.

This paper examines the provincial pattern of growth in China during the period 1985–2000, testing the hypothesis that provinces with similar growth rates are more spatially clustered than would be expected by chance. The provincial economic growth is explained by the distribution of industrial enterprises, foreign direct investment, infrastructure, and governmental preferential policies. The neoclassical hypothesis of convergence is also tested. Indications of unconditional convergence does occur during the periods 1985–2000 and 1985–1990. In addition, conditional convergence is found during the sub-period 1990–1995. Evidence of spatial dependence between adjacent provinces has also been established, and in the econometric part, solved by a spatial lag, or alternatively a spatial error term, in the growth equation. Keywords: GRP-growth, Chinese provinces, Spatial dependence Classification [JEL]: O18, R11, R12

Polycentric Development to Combat Regional Disparities? the Relation Between Polycentricity and Regional Disparities in European Countries

Trends in regional disparities have been a major issue in regional science for many decades and knowledge of ways to overcome such disparities has great importance for regional policy-making. Strong initial differences between regions affect the capacity of each region to grow and their ability to respond to challenges imposed externally, for instance globalisation and growing international competition and trade (Cuadrado-Roura, 2001). Initial differences can relate to a wide variety of factors, for instance the availability of human resources, the accessibility of a region and the presence of advanced production services. A factor that gets increasing attention is the city system. Flourishing regions can often count on a large, well-accessible and internationally known city or regional clusters of cities. Concentration of support to dynamic growth poles would be an engine for growth of the whole country (or regions) through regional spillovers (Perroux 1955 and Kaldor 1970) Particularly also in regional and spatial policies addressing regional disparities attention is paid to the city system. It has been suggested that polycentric development can be instrumental to reducing regional disparities, see for instance in the European Spatial Development Perspective (CEC, 1999) and the Second Cohesion Report (CEC, 2001). In the Third Cohesion Report the main emphasis is territorial cohesion, which is placed on an equal footing as economic and social cohesion in the (unratified) Constitutional Treaty. Within the discussion on territorial cohesion polycentricity gets much emphasis (Faludi, 2005). Also many European countries pursue a polycentric development, often addressing the dominance of their prime city to diminish regional disparities. Apparently, policy makers assume a strong relationship between the urban system and the persistence of regional disparities. However, this assumption lacks empirical justification. The aim of this paper is to test the hypothesis that a polycentric city system leads to less regional disparities. The paper presents measures of the extent of polycentricity of the national urban systems of 26 European countries. This data is linked with calculations of regional disparities within these 26 countries. Are countries with a relatively polycentric urban system characterised by less regional disparities than more monocentric countries? And, what are the consequences of our findings for regional development policies?

Hedonic Prices for Co-operative Flats in the City of Umeå estimated with Spatial Autoregressive GMM

This paper explains the hedonic prices for co-operative flats in the city of Umeå, Sweden during 1998 and 1999. Structural and neighbourhood characteristics together with accessibility measures are used as attributes in the hedonic price function. Since there are indications of spatial dependence the OLS model is inappropriate. Instead a spatial econometric approach with Spatial Autoregressive GMM estimation is used. Two attractive nodes are found in the city. Thus there are sign supporting the view that Umeå has developed into a multi-nodal structure. Keywords: Hedonic prices, Co-operative flats, Spatial dependence, SAR-GMM JEL Classification: D46, D61, R20, R21

Spatial Dependence and the Determinants of Child Births in Swedish Municipalities 1974-2002

The overall Swedish total fertility rate (TFR) has been shown to fluctuate quite dramatically during the last 40 years, from 2.4 in 1965 reaching down as low as 1.5 in 1999. Although numerous studies in the past have tried to explain this fluctuation, there has been surprisingly little focus on impacts from local or even regional differences. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to analyse, for the first time, whether there exists a significant dispersion in the number of child births normalised by the number of fertile women among Swedish municipalities for the period 1974-2002 and then provide an explanation for occurred differences. Regional differences, as well as the presence of spatial dependence, are first confirmed in an exploratory spatial data analysis. Particularly noticeable is the volatility and how local hotspots emerge and disappear during the study period. Subsequent regression analyses are performed for a selected number of years where we solve for spatial dependence and use economic-, institutional-, sociological-, and geographical characteristics of the municipalities as explanatory variables.

Hedonic Prices, Economic Growth, and Spatial Dependence

This thesis consists of three papers on econometric modeling of spatial dependence. The awareness of interactions between actors is fundamental for understanding property markets as well as the growth of regions. In both cases, neighbors and neighboring markets may stimulate or hamper growth of values. From a modeling point of view, these interdependencies calls for spatial econometric models. In the thesis we introduce such methods in the analysis of regional property markets as well as in a comparative regional growth analysis. In the first paper, we estimate hedonic prices in the market for co-operative flats in the city of Umeå, Sweden, during 1998 and 1999. Structural, neighborhood, and accessibility characteristics are used as attributes in the hedonic price function. Important attributes were the rent, floor space, age, and population density. Two attractive nodes, although with different characteristics, were found. Thus there are signs supporting the view that Umeå has developed into a multi-nodal structure for property values. SAR-GM estimation was used due to signs of spatial error dependence. In the second paper, hedonic prices for single-family homes in two Swedish counties are estimated for two years. Parameter estimates are compared and changes in space and time analyzed. Spatial lag dependence is found to influence the results. Hence, four independent variables are lagged with a spatial weights matrix. Additional spatial error dependence is treated by SAR-GM estimation. Structural, neighborhood, and accessibility characteristics are used as attributes. The regional price pattern and its changes over time, is illustrated and identified with GIS maps. Proximity to the two county capitals, as well as the other municipality centers, influence property prices positively. This is also noticable over time, where values have risen for homes located near major population centers and those which have water provided by the municipality. Values are in addition largely a function of the quality of each home. The third paper examines the provincial pattern of growth in China during the period 1985-2000, testing the hypothesis that provinces with similar growth rates are more spatially clustered than would be expected by chance. The provincial economic growth is explained by the distribution of industrial enterprises, foreign direct investment, infrastructure, and governmental preferential policies. The neoclassical hypothesis of convergence is also tested. Indications of unconditional convergence does occur during the periods 1985-2000 and 1985-1990. In addition, conditional convergence is found during the sub-period 1990-1995. Evidence of spatial dependence between adjacent provinces has also been established, and in the econometric part, solved by a spatial lag, or alternatively a spatial error term, in the growth equation.Hedonic prices; Spatial econometrics; Co-operative flats; Spatial dependence; SAR-GM; Single-family homes; Heterogeneity; China; Convergence; Provincial economic growth

Evolutionary optimization of a bipedal gait in a physical robot,”

Abstract-Evolutionary optimization of a gait for a bipedal robot has been studied, combining structural and parametric modifications of the system responsible for generating the gait. The experiment was conducted using a small 17 DOF humanoid robot, whose actuators consist of 17 servo motors. In the approach presented here, individuals representing a gait consisted of a sequence of set angles (referred to as states) for the servo motors, as well as ramping times for the transition between states. A hand-coded gait was used as starting point for the optimization procedure: A population of 30 individuals was formed, using the hand-coded gait as a seed. An evolutionary procedure was executed for 30 generations, evaluating individuals on the physical robot. New individuals were generated using mutation only. There were two different mutation operators, namely (1) parametric mutations modifying the actual values of a given state, and (2) structural mutations inserting a new state between two consecutive states in an individual. The best evolved individual showed an improvement in walking speed of approximately 65%

Hedoniska priser, ekonomisk tillväxt och rumsligt beroende

This thesis consists of three papers on econometric modeling of spatial dependence. The awareness of interactions between actors is fundamental for understanding property markets as well as the growth of regions. In both cases, neighbors and neighboring markets may stimulate or hamper growth of values. From a modeling point of view, these interdependencies calls for spatial econometric models. In the thesis we introduce such methods in the analysis of regional property markets as well as in a comparative regional growth analysis. In the first paper, we estimate hedonic prices in the market for co-operative flats in the city of Umeå, Sweden, during 1998 and 1999. Structural, neighborhood, and accessibility characteristics are used as attributes in the hedonic price function. Important attributes were the rent, floor space, age, and population density. Two attractive nodes, although with different characteristics, were found. Thus there are signs supporting the view that Umeå has developed into a multi-nodal structure for property values. SAR-GM estimation was used due to signs of spatial error dependence. In the second paper, hedonic prices for single-family homes in two Swedish counties are estimated for two years. Parameter estimates are compared and changes in space and time analyzed. Spatial lag dependence is found to influence the results. Hence, four independent variables are lagged with a spatial weights matrix. Additional spatial error dependence is treated by SAR-GM estimation. Structural, neighborhood, and accessibility characteristics are used as attributes. The regional price pattern and its changes over time, is illustrated and identified with GIS maps. Proximity to the two county capitals, as well as the other municipality centers, influence property prices positively. This is also noticable over time, where values have risen for homes located near major population centers and those which have water provided by the municipality. Values are in addition largely a function of the quality of each home. The third paper examines the provincial pattern of growth in China during the period 1985-2000, testing the hypothesis that provinces with similar growth rates are more spatially clustered than would be expected by chance. The provincial economic growth is explained by the distribution of industrial enterprises, foreign direct investment, infrastructure, and governmental preferential policies. The neoclassical hypothesis of convergence is also tested. Indications of unconditional convergence does occur during the periods 1985-2000 and 1985-1990. In addition, conditional convergence is found during the sub-period 1990-1995. Evidence of spatial dependence between adjacent provinces has also been established, and in the econometric part, solved by a spatial lag, or alternatively a spatial error term, in the growth equation