Bernardí Cabrer

Updating input–output matrices: assessing alternatives through simulation

A problem that frequently arises in economics, demography, statistics, transportation planning and stochastic modelling is how to adjust the entries of a matrix to fulfil row and column aggregation constraints. Biproportional methods in general and the so-called RAS algorithm in particular, have been used for decades to find solutions to this type of problem. Although alternatives exist, the RAS algorithm and its extensions are still the most popular. Apart from some interesting empirical and theoretical properties, tradition, simplicity and very low computational costs are among the reasons behind the great success of RAS. Nowadays computer hardware and software have made alternative procedures equally attractive. This work analyses, through simulation, the performance of RAS and some minimands when matrix coefficients vary following different schemes of change. Results suggest RAS algorithm as the best option when variations in coefficients are proportional to their size, while the method based on minimizing squared differences is seen to be the best alternative when the standard deviations of variations are either constant, variable, or an inverse function of matrix entries.

The Effect of Knowledge Spillovers on Productivity Growth Inequalities in Spanish Regions

We investigate the impact of local and foreign forms of knowledge spillover on productivity growth inequalities in Spanish regions. In each sector and region such inequalities will depend on the innovative capacity of the region and on local spillovers emanating from proximity to innovation producers and from the composition of economic activity in the region. Foreign spillovers will be mainly from trade with other regions or countries. Panel estimation results indicate that local sector human capital and specialisation patterns, public-R&D efforts—both local and from other regions—and international technological imports reduce these growth differentials. The regional level of development and sector technological characteristics will qualify these results.

On distributing quarterly national growth among regions

In many countries a very important fraction of public expenditure is managed by regional authorities. However, in a world where economic life has quickened and become more turbulent, subnational institutions rarely have a timely regional macroeconomic picture at their disposal. The authors propose a guide to a method for estimating quarterly accounts of regions from the national quarterly and annual regional accounts, by the use of a temporal structure which eliminates possible spurious jumps. The robustness of the process and suggested practicalities are tested, and the proposal is also shown to produce better estimates than other uniregional methods often used in this framework.