Splm: Spatial panel data models in R

Abstract

splm is an R package for the estimation and testing of various spatial panel data specifications. We consider the implementation of both maximum likelihood and generalized moments estimators in the context of fixed as well as random effects spatial panel data models. This paper is a general description of splm and all functionalities are illustrated using a well-known example taken from Munnell (1990) with productivity data on 48 US states observed over 17 years. We perform comparisons with other available software; and, when this is not possible, Monte Carlo results support our original implementation.