Empirical assessments of the forecasting power of spatial panel data econometric models are still scarcely available. Moreover, several methodological contributions rely on simulated data to showcase the potential of proposed methods. While simulations may be useful to evaluate the properties of...

In any economic analysis, regions or municipalities should not be regarded as isolated spatial units, but rather as highly interrelated small open economies. These spatial interrelations must be considered also when the aim is to forecast economic variables. For example, policy makers need...

As observed in many advanced economies experiencing an increase of self-employment rates since the late 1970s, a flourishing small- and medium-size enterprise sector is traditionally associated with positive economic development and growth. In the regional context, areas benefiting from an...

Using a panel of 439 German regions we evaluate and compare the performance of various Neural Network (NN) models as forecasting tools for regional employment growth. Because of relevant differences in data availability between the former East and West Germany, the NN models are computed...

The analysis of complex networks has recently received considerable attention. The work by Albert and Barabási presented a research challenge to network analysis, that is, growth of the network. The present paper offers a network analysis of the spatial commuting network in Germany. First, we...

This paper offers an overview of experimental results, based on neural networks (NNs) used to forecast regional employment variations in Germany. NNs are statistical optimization tools inspired by the functioning of biological neural networks. Their main characteristics are their non-linear and...

Scholars in social sciences often refer to “social capital” to explain a wide list of relevant economic and social phenomena. Taking an economic perspective, as put forth by Guiso et al. (Social Economics Handbook , 2011), we refer in this chapter to civic capital, defined as “those...

This Handbook explores new and old theoretical, methodological, and empirical insights and perspectives on entropy, complexity, and spatial dynamics. A central and cross-cutting theme of the Handbook is the role of entropy in complex, dynamic spatial socio-economic systems as both a measure of...