Abstract Conventional studies of bilateral trade patterns specify a log-normal gravity equation for empirical estimation. However, the log-normal gravity equation suffers from three problems: the bias created by the logarithmic transformation, the failure of the homoskedasticity assumption, and...

Abstract Spanish internal migration has long been resistant to traditional economic explanations. However, this paper examines the data for the period 1999–2006 after considerable changes in the Spanish economy. Moreover, it examines migration at the disaggregated level of Spanish provinces...

Abstract Despite their importance from a policy point of view, empirical studies on the effects of growth centres in their regions are rare. This paper analyses mutual relationships between growth processes in centres and their surrounding hinterlands in 19 Finnish regions. Annual population...

Abstract This paper builds on an earlier paper by the author. It uses a simple model to analyse the economic impact of international migration on a large city. The paper assumes that immigration causes the population of the city to grow, thereby increasing the cost of living for existing...

Abstract Regional economics appears to be losing its currency in academic discourse, with a clear preference over recent years for the term ‘spatial economics’. This essay examines the nature of the developments in order to explore their implications for regional economics, focusing on four...

Abstract We then test this model using panel data for five sectors on regional-level data for 27 EU Member States. Our results for the aggregate economy confirm previous estimates. For our full sample of countries the sectoral-level results also indicate significant agglomeration effects....

Abstract The neoclassical growth model predicts that there will be both a reduction of income per capita disparities over time and long-term convergence in income inequality levels. This paper examines whether this holds true for the EU using data from the European Community Household Panel for...

Abstract Data envelopment analysis (DEA) has become an established benchmark tool in efficiency strategies in both the public and the private sectors. The aim of this paper is to present and apply a newly developed, emerging from a blend of a Distance Friction Minimization (DFM) and a Goals...

Abstract This paper discusses the maximum likelihood estimator of a general unbalanced spatial random effects model with normal disturbances, assuming that some observations are missing at random. Monte Carlo simulations show that the maximum likelihood estimator for unbalanced panels performs...

Abstract This paper analyses the local determinants of producer service growth in Italy, focusing on agglomeration economies. From a methodological viewpoint, we address the critique on the Glaeser et al. (1992)-type employment growth regressions by deriving a reduced-form equation that...