The space-time inhomogeneous K-function (henceforth STIK function) is an explorative tool
proposed by Gabriel and Diggle (2009) that can allow the detection of spatio-temporal clustering of
points (e. g. firm births or firm deaths) generated by the interaction between economic agents while
controlling for the heterogeneity of the territory. Formally, this function can be conceived as a
summary measure of a spatio-temporal point process (see Diggle, 2007) generating point events in a
finite planar space and a finite period of time. Therefore, according to Gabriel and Diggle (2009),
the observed micro-geographic distribution of firm births (or firm deaths) should be considered as a