Testing and Correcting for Spatial Unit Roots in Regression Analysis

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• Accepted version (preprint)
• Old working paper
• Software implementation in Stata, R, Python

Abstract

Spatial unit roots can lead to spurious regression results. We present an overview of the methods developed in Müller and Watson (2024) to test and correct for spatial unit roots, and introduce a suite of Stata commands (spur) implementing these techniques. Our commands exactly replicate results in Müller and Watson (2024) using the same Chetty (2014) data. As a guide for applied researchers, we provide a practical algorithm for regression analysis using these methods, alongside a simulated illustration in Stata.

Citation

@Article{becker2026,
  author    = {Becker, Sascha O. and Boll, P. David and Voth, Hans-Joachim},
  title     = {Testing and Correcting for Spatial Unit Roots in Regression Analysis},
  journal   = {Stata Journal},
  year      = {forthcoming},
  note      = {Forthcoming}
}