IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jregsc/v53y2013i3p481-510.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

On The Population Density Distribution Across Space: A Probabilistic Approach

Author

Listed:
  • Ilenia Epifani
  • Rosella Nicolini

Abstract

type="main"> Working within a Bayesian parametric framework, we develop a novel approach to studying the distribution of regional population density across space. By exploiting the Gamma distribution, we are able to introduce heterogeneity across space without incurring an a priori definition of territorial units. Our contribution also permits the inclusion of an approximation of individual preferences as a further driving force in location choices. We perform an empirical application to the case of Massachusetts. Our results demonstrate that a subjective measure of distance performs well in replicating the population distribution across Massachusetts.

Suggested Citation

  • Ilenia Epifani & Rosella Nicolini, 2013. "On The Population Density Distribution Across Space: A Probabilistic Approach," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 481-510, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jregsc:v:53:y:2013:i:3:p:481-510
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/jors.12018
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. McDonald, John F., 1989. "Econometric studies of urban population density: A survey," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 361-385, November.
    2. Helsley, Robert W. & Zenou, Yves, 2014. "Social networks and interactions in cities," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 426-466.
    3. McDonald, John F. & Bowman, H. Woods, 1976. "Some tests of alternative urban population density functions," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(3), pages 242-252, July.
    4. Parr, John B. & O'Neill, Gerard J. & Nairn, Alasdair G. M., 1988. "Metropolitan density functions : A Further exploration," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 463-478, November.
    5. Dana, Rose-Anne & Scarsini, Marco, 2007. "Optimal risk sharing with background risk," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 133(1), pages 152-176, March.
    6. Frankena, Mark W., 1978. "A bias in estimating urban population density functions," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 35-45, January.
    7. Alex Anas & Richard Arnott & Kenneth A. Small, 1998. "Urban Spatial Structure," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(3), pages 1426-1464, September.
    8. Luc Anselin, 2010. "Thirty years of spatial econometrics," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 89(1), pages 3-25, March.
    9. Daniel P. McMillen, 2004. "Employment Densities, Spatial Autocorrelation, and Subcenters in Large Metropolitan Areas," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(2), pages 225-244, May.
    10. Glaeser, Edward L., 2008. "Cities, Agglomeration, and Spatial Equilibrium," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199290444.
    11. Gershon Alperovich, 1982. "Density Gradients and the Identification of the Central Business District," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 19(3), pages 313-320, August.
    12. Milgrom, Paul R & Weber, Robert J, 1982. "A Theory of Auctions and Competitive Bidding," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(5), pages 1089-1122, September.
    13. Shunfeng Song, 1996. "Some Tests of Alternative Accessibility Measures: A Population Density Approach," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 72(4), pages 474-482.
    14. Antoni Calvó-Armengol & Eleonora Patacchini & Yves Zenou, 2009. "Peer Effects and Social Networks in Education," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 76(4), pages 1239-1267.
    15. John B. Parr, 1985. "A Population-Density Approach to Regional Spatial Structure," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 22(4), pages 289-303, August.
    16. John B. Parr, 2007. "Spatial Definitions of the City: Four Perspectives," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 44(2), pages 381-392, February.
    17. Edwin S. Mills & Jee Peng Tan, 1980. "A Comparison of Urban Population Density Functions in Developed and Developing Countries," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 17(3), pages 313-321, October.
    18. repec:hal:journl:hal-00538974 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Jordan Rappaport, 2009. "The increasing importance of quality of life -super-†," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 9(6), pages 779-804, November.
    20. Stuart A. Gabriel & Stuart S. Rosenthal, 2004. "Quality of the Business Environment Versus Quality of Life: Do Firms and Households Like the Same Cities?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(1), pages 438-444, February.
    21. James P. Lesage, 1997. "Bayesian Estimation of Spatial Autoregressive Models," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 20(1-2), pages 113-129, April.
    22. McDonald, John F., 1987. "The identification of urban employment subcenters," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 242-258, March.
    23. Robert W. Helsley & William C. Strange, 2007. "Urban interactions and spatial structure," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 7(2), pages 119-138, March.
    24. Gavin A. Wood & John B. Parr, 2005. "Transaction Costs, Agglomeration Economies, and Industrial Location," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(1), pages 1-15, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Joan Carles Martori & Rafa Madariaga & Ramon Oller, 2016. "Real estate bubble and urban population density: six Spanish metropolitan areas 2001–2011," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 56(2), pages 369-392, March.
    2. Shunfeng Song, 1994. "Modelling Worker Residence Distribution in the Los Angeles Region," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 31(9), pages 1533-1544, November.
    3. Xiao-Ping Zheng, 1991. "Metropolitan Spatial Structure and its Determinants: A Case-study of Tokyo," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 28(1), pages 87-104, February.
    4. Frederic Gilli, 2009. "Sprawl or Reagglomeration? The Dynamics of Employment Deconcentration and Industrial Transformation in Greater Paris," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 46(7), pages 1385-1420, June.
    5. Picard, Pierre M. & Zenou, Yves, 2015. "Urban Spatial Structure, Employment and Social Ties: European versus American Cities," IZA Discussion Papers 9166, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Josep Roca Cladera & Carlos R. Marmolejo Duarte & Montserrat Moix, 2009. "Urban Structure and Polycentrism: Towards a Redefinition of the Sub-centre Concept," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 46(13), pages 2841-2868, December.
    7. Zenou, Yves, 2013. "Spatial versus social mismatch," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 113-132.
    8. Kim, Jun Sung & Patacchini, Eleonora & Picard, Pierre M. & Zenou, Yves, 2017. "Urban Interactions," Working Paper Series 1192, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    9. Jifei Ban & Richard Arnott & Jacob L. Macdonald, 2017. "Identifying Employment Subcenters: The Method of Exponentially Declining Cutoffs," Land, MDPI, vol. 6(1), pages 1-33, March.
    10. Emilie ARNOULT & Florent SARI, 2016. "Analyse Spatiale De L’Espace Urbain : Le Cas De L’Agglomération Lyonnaise," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 43, pages 77-110.
    11. Garcia-López, Miquel-Àngel, 2010. "Population suburbanization in Barcelona, 1991-2005: Is its spatial structure changing?," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 119-132, June.
    12. Topa, Giorgio & Zenou, Yves, 2015. "Neighborhood and Network Effects," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 561-624, Elsevier.
    13. Zenou, Yves & picard, pierre & Patacchini, Eleonora, 2015. "Urban Social Structure, Social Capital and Spatial Proximity," CEPR Discussion Papers 10501, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    14. Sato, Yasuhiro & Zenou, Yves, 2015. "How urbanization affect employment and social interactions," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 131-155.
    15. Ahlfeldt, Gabriel M. & Barr, Jason, 2022. "The economics of skyscrapers: A synthesis," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    16. Alex Anas & Richard Arnott & Kenneth A. Small, 1998. "Urban Spatial Structure," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(3), pages 1426-1464, September.
    17. Juan Zhu & Xinyi Niu & Yao Wang, 2024. "Polycentric Urban Spatial Structure Identification Based on Morphological and Functional Dimensions: Evidence from Three Chinese Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-22, March.
    18. McMillen, Daniel P., 2003. "The return of centralization to Chicago: using repeat sales to identify changes in house price distance gradients," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 287-304, May.
    19. Emilie Arnoult & Florent Sari, 2017. "Chosen Or Imposed? The Location Strategies Of Households," TEPP Working Paper 2017-05, TEPP.
    20. Picard, Pierre M. & Zenou, Yves, 2018. "Urban spatial structure, employment and social ties," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 77-93.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jregsc:v:53:y:2013:i:3:p:481-510. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0022-4146 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.