Behavior at the individual level in panels is often influenced by aspects of the system in aggregate. In particular, the interaction between individual-specific explanatory variables and an individual dependent variable may be affected by ‘global’ variables that are relevant in decision making and shared communally by all individuals in the sample. To capture such behavioral features, we employ a functional coefficient panel model in which certain communal covariates may jointly influence panel interactions by means of their impact on the model coefficients. Two classes of estimation procedures are proposed, one based on cross-section averaged data, the other on the full panel. The asymptotic properties of these methods are obtained and compared, allowing for sequential and joint expansion of the cross-section and time series sample sizes. Limit theory for the associated fixed effects estimators is derived and inferential procedures are developed to test hypotheses concerning the functional coefficients. The finite sample performance of the proposed estimators and tests are examined by simulation. An empirical illustration is provided in which the regional sensitivity of housing rental prices to available job numbers is studied with national labor force participation rate as the communal smoothing covariate. Strong evidence is found supporting the functional coefficient specification with this country-wide smoothing variable.

小组中个人层面的行为通常受到系统总体方面的影响。特别是，个体特定的解释变量和个体因变量之间的相互作用可能会受到与决策相关并由样本中所有个体共同共享的“全局”变量的影响。为了捕捉这些行为特征，我们采用了一个函数系数面板模型，其中某些公共协变量可能通过它们对模型系数的影响来共同影响面板交互。提出了两类估计程序，一类基于横截面平均数据，另一类基于全面板。获得并比较了这些方法的渐近特性，允许连续和联合扩展横截面和时间序列样本大小。导出了相关固定效应估计量的极限理论，并开发了推理程序来检验有关函数系数的假设。通过模拟检查了所提出的估计器和测试的有限样本性能。提供了一个实证说明，其中以国家劳动力参与率作为公共平滑协变量研究了住房租金价格对可用工作数量的区域敏感性。发现有强有力的证据支持使用这个全国平滑变量的函数系数规范。提供了一个实证说明，其中以国家劳动力参与率作为公共平滑协变量研究了住房租金价格对可用工作数量的区域敏感性。发现有强有力的证据支持使用这个全国平滑变量的函数系数规范。提供了一个实证说明，其中以国家劳动力参与率作为公共平滑协变量研究了住房租金价格对可用工作数量的区域敏感性。发现有强有力的证据支持使用这个全国平滑变量的函数系数规范。