Heterogeneous spatial dynamic panels with an application to US housing data

ABSTRACT This paper proposes two models that incorporate both heterogeneity and multiple sources of spatial correlation for dynamic panels. One uses convex combinations of them to form a single weight matrix. The second one includes explicitly different spatial weight matrices to form a higher order model. We use a Bayesian scheme for model estimation by deriving the full conditional distributions of heterogeneous parameters. Our Monte Carlo experiments demonstrate their finite-sample performance relative to a baseline model. In our empirical study we find the importance of including both geographical and non-geographical information in capturing correlations in real house price growth in the United States.