Description

This Master Prompt focuses on panel-data settings in which observations are connected not only through time but also through geographical proximity, economic linkages, social or institutional networks, trade relationships, technological diffusion, transportation connectivity, financial exposure, environmental transmission, or other cross-sectional interaction structures. It guides researchers in establishing a substantive justification for spatial dependence before estimation; defining and constructing spatial weight matrices; diagnosing spatial and broader cross-sectional dependence; distinguishing spatial-lag, spatial-error, spatial Durbin, SARAR, and spatial-dynamic architectures; incorporating fixed effects, temporal persistence, common factors, and latent heterogeneity where necessary; and interpreting spatial coefficients through direct, indirect, feedback, and total effects rather than as ordinary regression coefficients.