Conditional distributions for the analysis of convergence are usually estimated using a standard kernel smoother but this is known to be biased. Hyndman et al. (1996) thus suggest a conditional density estimator with a mean function specified by a local polynomial smoother, i.e. one with better...

The inefficiency of health care provision presents a major health policy concern in Germany. In order to address the issue of efficiency comprehensively - i.e., at the level of the entire system of health care provision rather than individual service providers - empirical analyses are often...

This paper studies the hypothesis of an inverted-U-shaped relationship between spatial inequality and economic development. The theory of Kuznets (1955) and Williamson (1965) suggests that (spatial) inequality first increases in the process of development, then peaks, and then decreases. To test...

Which of Germanys regions is the most attractive? Where is it best to live and work - on objective grounds? These questions are summed up in the concept "quality of life". This paper uses recent research projects that determine this parameter to examine the spatial distribution of quality of...

This paper aims to provide a conceptual and operational context for analysing regional inequalities. It does so by utilizing a 'search & matching' framework. The model, developed in this paper, maps the way in which individuals are distributed according to: 1) the abilities of individuals to...

This paper examines the long-run trends in per-capita income across the US states (1929-2005). Our analysis advocates and implements a Vector Error Correction Model (VECM), in order to investigate whether disparities in per-capita income embody a stable long-run relation. The empirical...

A cross-sectional relationship between price dispersion among Russian regions and per capita income dispersion is used to measure the degree of integration between regional commodity markets. The sequence of cross-sectional estimations for each month of the period spanning 1992 through 2000...

We study the effect of international trade and freeness of trade on interregional inequality within countries. We estimate a model derived from a structural economic geography approach where interregional inequality depends on weighted trade shares and trade costs and where we can derive an...