SPATIAL ECONOMETRIC MODELING OF ORIGIN-DESTINATION FLOWS

Standard spatial autoregressive models rely on spatial weight structures constructed to model dependence among "n" regions. Ways of parsimoniously modeling the connectivity among the sample of <formula format="inline"><simplemath>"N"&equals;"n"-super-2</simplemath></formula> origin-destination (OD) pairs that arise in a closed system of interregional flows has remained a stumbling block. We overcome this problem by proposing spatial weight structures that model dependence among the "N" OD pairs in a fashion consistent with standard spatial autoregressive models. This results in a family of spatial OD models introduced here that represent an extension of the spatial regression models described in Anselin (1988). Copyright (c) 2008, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.