Formation of an integral indicator for assessing the regional pace of life using multidimensional statistical methods

Abstract

The regional pace of life is dedicated as a multiparametric socio-economic indicator. For obtaining its quantitative estimation a complex multi-criteria assessment is required and is to be presented as aggregated indicator that combines all the initial components of it. The basic methods of data unification and methods of their aggregation into an integral indicator have been considered. A model of substantiation of particular criteria and weighting coefficients in an integral indicator based on multidimensional statistical methods has been developed. In the presented study, the authors identified two main factors of evaluation pace of life based on factor analysis (the method of principal components): "the intensity of the information flow" and "the intensity of the physical flow". The first (general) factor "the intensity of the information flow" with a weight of 32.89%, includes six variables describing the information component of the region. The second factor "the intensity of the physical flow" with a weight of 29.13%, includes six variables describing the physical component of the region, which mainly reflect the movement of the population of the regions. Therefore, through the application of multidimensional statistical methods, in particular factor analysis, the authors solved the problem of generalization and statistically justified the structure of variables in the integral indicator.