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Quality of life in the regions: an exploratory spatial data analysis for West German labor markets

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Zusammenfassung

Welche Region Deutschlands ist die attraktivste? Wo lässt es sich objektiv betrachtet gut leben und arbeiten? All diese Fragen lassen sich zu dem Oberbegriff ”Lebensqualität” zusammenfassen. Dieser Artikel greift aktuelle Ergebnisse einer Forschungsarbeit zur Bewertung dieser Größe auf und gibt einen Einblick in ihre räumliche Verteilung. Hierzu wird eine explorative räumliche Datenanalyse durchgeführt, die insbesondere zur Identifizierung statistisch signifikanter räumlicher (Ähnlichkeits-)Strukturen dient. Hierbei zeigt sich, dass vor allem bei einer Untersuchung kleinräumiger Zusammenhänge die Auswahl der geeigneten Aggregationsebene der Daten für die Analyse entscheidend ist. Auf der Ebene regionaler Arbeitsmärkte in Westdeutschland zeigt sich eine signifikante räumliche Autokorrelation der Lebensqualitäten, die in der lokalen Clusterstruktur einem Süd-Nord-Gefälle widerspricht. Am deutlichsten ist die Mitte Deutschlands von geringer Lebensqualität geprägt. Des Weiteren können die ESDA Ergebnisse genutzt werden, um ökonometrische Modellspezifikationen zu verbessern. Die ökonometrische Analyse offenbart einen signifikanten Einfluss weicher wie harter Standortfaktoren auf die regionale Lebensqualität.

Abstract

Which of Germany’s regions is the most attractive? Where is it best to live and work—on objective grounds? These questions are summed up in the concept “quality of life”. This paper uses recent research projects that determine this parameter to examine the spatial distribution of quality of life in Germany. For this purpose, an Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis is conducted which focuses on identifying statistically significant (dis-)similarities in space. An initial result of this research is that it is important to choose the aggregation level of administrative units carefully when considering a spatial analysis. The level plays a crucial role in the strength and impact of spatial effects. In concentrating on various labor market areas, this paper identifies a significant spatial autocorrelation in the quality of life, which seems to be contradictory to the hypothesis of a North-South divide. Instead, the German regions in the geographical mid show the highest clustering of low quality of life. In addition, the ESDA results are used to augment the regression specifications, which helps to avoid the occurrence of spatial dependencies in the residuals. The regression results indicate that soft location factors have half the impact on quality of life than hard economic factors.

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  1. Forschungsfeld 2: Regionalisierung des Städtischen, ILS Institut für Landes- und Stadtentwicklungsforschung gGmbH, Postfach 101764, 44017, Dortmund, Germany

    Karsten Rusche

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  1. Karsten Rusche
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Correspondence to Karsten Rusche.

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Rusche, K. Quality of life in the regions: an exploratory spatial data analysis for West German labor markets. Jahrb Reg wiss 30, 1–22 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10037-009-0042-6

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