Investigating the Determinants of Relative Economic Performance for Irish Towns: A Finite Mixture Modelling Approach

Abstract

This paper uses a finite-mixture modelling approach to investigate the likely determinants of relative economic performance for Irish towns. The main argument put forward is that determinants of success can act in different ways for different groups of towns and the modelling approach differentiates towns on the basis of their relationship between performance measures and likely performance determinants. The results suggest that determinants of success such as centrality and road quality, capacity and functional score, as well as the population size of supporting and competing hinterlands have very different impacts on different groups of towns, highlighting heterogeneity in the way in which different factors impact economic performance. © 2013 Regional Studies Association.