Geographic Concentration Research Articles

Territorial concentration of the production of electrical machines in the branch policy of the Soviet government in the first half of the 1920s and Ukrainian electrical machine building industry: historiography and reality

In the Soviet territories of the former Russian Empire in the early 1920s, an attempt was made to carry out global concentration of production - the geographical concentration of production not of any range of a particular type of product, but of its entire volume. That is, the concentration of the type of industrial activity as such was assumed, the possibility of it in socialist society was justified by K. Marx. Due to objective and subjective factors, the only industry where such an attempt became possible was electrical machine-building, and during 1920�1923. the production of electric machines began to concentrate in Moscow and Petrograd, which undermined the potential of Ukrainian electric machine branch. Considering the political importance for the Soviet government of neutralizing this negative, the concentration of electrical machine-building activities in Soviet capitals from 1925 began to be presented as a result of the industrial policy of Tsarist Russia, what moved into historical works. However, the information available in the documents completely refutes this view, while simultaneously confirming the purposeful actions of the Soviet government to curtail the electrical machine industry in Ukraine.

An Empirical Research of Industry Geographic Concentration and Trade in Guangxi of China

An Empirical Research of Industry Geographic Concentration and Trade in Guangxi of China

O acesso das pessoas com deficiência aos serviços de saúde: a percepção de profissionais e gestores da atenção primária à saúde

Abstract This study describes findings from a case study conducted on access to healthcare for people with disabilities based on the perspective of primary care unit professionals and managers in three Brazilian municipalities, considering the dimensions of Availability and Accommodation and Appropriateness. A total of 16 primary care unit healthcare providers and managers were interviewed in Brasília - Federal District, Arcoverde - Pernambuco, and Santos - São Paulo. The Availability and Accommodation dimension showed architectural and urban barriers, lack of healthcare services, geographical concentration of infrastructure, and difficulty coordinating care. The Appropriateness dimension evinced a lack of healthcare provider training, which contributes to communication barriers between healthcare providers and people with disabilities. Interviewees also pointed to a fragile link between the health services that make up the care network. On the other hand, participants deemed professionals’ attitude and the bond built with people with disabilities as facilitators to accessing care. It was expected that the more developed areas within Brazil would have less barriers to access. However, this study showed challenges to accessing health in all settings, including the richest region of Brazil, its poorest region (the Northeast), and its capital.

Data Equity for Asian American and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander People in Reproductive Health Research

(Abstracted from Obstet Gynecol 2023;142(4)) Policymakers and public health researchers often exclude Asian American and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander (NHPI) people, who make up 6.0% and 0.2% of the US population, respectively, from discussions of racial, social, and health inequity. The omission of Asian American and NHPI populations is multifactorial and includes geographic concentration in certain regions, the high number of cultural and linguistic subgroups bundled together, and the faulty assumption that these groups collectively enjoy better health outcomes than their counterparts of other races and ethnicities.

Study on the development characteristics and spatial and temporal patterns of population ageing in 31 central cities in China.

Population ageing is inseparable from technological innovation, social progress and the development of human civilization, and constitutes a new element in the development of contemporary human history. To dynamically analyses the developmental, structural and growth characteristics of population ageing in 31 provincial capitals and municipalities in China, using the data of the fifth national census in 2000 and the seventh national census in 2020. The development characteristics and spatial and temporal patterns of population aging in the 31 cities were measured using the population aging index growth model, Theil's index, coefficient of variation, population aging index and other analytical methods. (1) From 2000 to 2020, the population aging rate of the 31 central cities generally increased, and the population aging level of the cities showed the characteristics of "East-Central-Northeast-West" to "Northeast-East-Central-West" decreasing. (2) Regional differences in the ratio of old to young are relatively high, while regional differences in the level of population ageing are relatively small. The level of population ageing is classified with the indicators of size structure, family structure and age structure in the first and third quadrants, and with the geographic concentration rate in the second and fourth quadrants. (3) China's population ageing has a T-shaped spatial distribution characteristic pointing along the coast - along the Yangtze Rivers. The 31 central cities are the center of gravity of China's economy and have strong economic power in dealing with the challenges of population ageing, but how to make population ageing compatible with the economy and society, and then promote sustainable population development, is a topic that needs further attention in the study.

The evolution of inequalities in the distribution of dentists in Brazil

The scope of this article is to analyze the evolution of the distribution of dentists and undergraduate courses in Dentistry in Brazil between 1960 and 2022, based on institutional data and its correlation with economic and demographic data. The proportions between number of dentists and population were calculated for the federative units in different periods, and the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) was used. to determine the concentration of dentists, population and undergraduate courses in Dentistry. The Pearson test was used, with a significance level of 95%, to test the correlation between variables. In the period from 1960 to 2022, the ratio of dentists per 10,000 inhabitants increased from 3.3 to 16.9. Moreover in 2022, the federative units with the highest average household income per capita were closely correlated with the highest concentration of dentists (R2= 0.90; p < 0.00). However, from 1975 to 2022, the concentration of dentists measured by the HHI dropped from 45.1 to 33.4. The decrease in the geographic concentration of Dentistry courses was even more pronounced, with the HHI rising from 39.3 in 1991, to 25.6 in 2022.

Factors Influencing Consumer Satisfaction in Online Shopping: A Case of College Level Students

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to examine the influence and relationship between product quality, information availability, and shipping cost with customer satisfaction among college-level students in Kathmandu Valley.&#x0D; Design/methodology/approach – This research adopted the explanatory research design. The study targeted college-level students in Kathmandu Valley as a population. A total of 400 respondents were selected from the different colleges by using a convenience sampling technique. The questionnaire survey was applied to collect primary data. The study adopted cross tab, independent t-test, and correlation to analyze the data.&#x0D; Findings - The study shows that customer satisfaction is influenced and associated with product quality, information availability, and shipping costs in online shopping. The availability of information is a major factor in customer satisfaction with online shopping. Online shopping companies must uphold reliable websites, ensuring accurate and up-to-date information about products and services to attract potential customers. Additionally, they need to maintain the standard of quality for retaining existing customers and meeting their expectations in enhancing the company's reputation.&#x0D; Research limitation/implications - The study examines only three explanatory variables i.e., product quality, availability of information, and shipping cost so that future researchers can study other factors impacting customer satisfaction among college-level students of Kathmandu Valley in different geographic concentrations with new analytical tools.&#x0D; Originality/value –The study targeted college-level students of Kathmandu Valley as population. The study is based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), developed by Fred Davis in 1986 to measure the results.

Online Shopping and Customer Satisfaction in College–Level Students in Kathmandu Valley

Background: Online shopping is becoming a popular electronic business day by day even in. Consumers can directly buy goods or services through the internet using a web browser when they engage in online shopping. Objectives: The primary objective of the study is to investigate how factors such as product quality, information accessibility, and shipping costs affect customer satisfaction toward online shopping in Kathmandu Valley. Methods: The study used an analytical research design. By utilizing a convenience sampling technique, 400 respondents were chosen from college-level students in Kathmandu Valley. The questionnaire survey was used to gather the primary data, which was then analyzed using cross-tabulation, an independent t-test, correlation analysis, and regression to produce the study's findings. Results: There is an association between information availability, product quality, and shipping cost with customer satisfaction toward online shopping, however, there is a strong association between the information availability and customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction was highly impacted by the product quality and information availability, whereas it was not affected by the shipping cost. The quality of the product, the availability of information, and customer satisfaction were not impacted by gender; only shipping costs were affected. Conclusion: In conclusion, the online company needs to provide accurate information about their products and their business to draw potential customers and maintain the standard of websites with up-to-date information to retain regular customers. The company also needs to sell a high standard of its products and services to improve the company’s reputation to fulfill customers’ expectations. The company should also consider providing better service by timely delivering items at low cost. Future researchers will have access to a larger sample size across a variety of geographic concentrations to evaluate customer satisfaction in online shopping together with other independent factors of the general public.

Research on the Evolution and Driving Factors of the Economic Spatial Pattern of the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area in the Context of the COVID-19 Epidemic

Understanding the economic impact of COVID-19 is the foundation for formulating targeted policies promoting economic recovery. This study uses panel data of the county economy in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) from 2017 to 2022. Firstly, the evolution characteristics of the economic structure in the GBA were analyzed using the standard deviation ellipse, geographical concentration, and spatial autocorrelation methods. Then, we revealed the changes in various economic indicators. Finally, a spatial Durbin model was constructed to study the factors affecting economic growth and spatial spillover effects in different periods. The results reveal that the economic distribution in the GBA presents a “core–edge” structure. The FDI, consumption, and exports of the Greater Bay Area fluctuate greatly, while investment growth is relatively stable. There is a significant spatial spillover effect in the county economy of the GBA. Investment, consumption, exports, labor, and innovation all have significant positive effects on economic growth, with investment having the greatest impact, while FDI has a significant negative impact. The impact of COVID-19 on the economy of the GBA is mainly reflected in the weakening of spatial spillovers, the strengthening of economic agglomeration, the decline in factor growth, and the change in the driving effect of factors on the economy. These findings can provide a reference for formulating targeted economic development policies.

Empowering Clusters: How Dynamic Capabilities Drive Sustainable Supply Chain Clusters in Egypt

Drawing on systems theory, the extended resource-based view and dynamic capability theory, this research develops an integrated framework to offer a more nuanced understanding of the mediating role of dynamic capabilities between supply chain cluster design characteristics and economic, social and environmental sustainability. Data were collected from organisations in Egypt through a questionnaire survey and were analysed using structural equation modelling. Based on 811 responses, a multi-mediation model analysis using Smart-PLS recognises that geographical concentration, networked collaboration and supporting services systems are critical supply chain cluster design characteristics that offer a pool of resources and collective knowledge that help organisations build absorptive capacity and resilience, which, in turn, help in protecting, reconfiguring and developing the shared resources to achieve high levels of environmental, social and economic sustainability. The findings affirm that supply chain clusters can be used as a tool to maintain desired sustainability levels in a dynamic business environment as it will allow organisations to cope with sudden changes in the market quickly and efficiently. This will allow organisations to improve sustainability performance by developing their dynamic capabilities with enhanced supporting services and network collaboration, thereby adequately exploiting external knowledge and opportunities, as well as effectively mitigating business vulnerability. This will also help in extending the three theoretical lenses through contextualising their abstract ideas in a supply chain cluster context and analyse data from a developing market. This is particularly important as further investigation is needed regarding supply chain clusters and the relationship between dynamic capabilities and sustainability in different contexts, especially since previous studies focused on developed economies and did not use the combination of these variables.

China's Belt & Road Initiative hydropower cooperation: what can be improved?

China's international hydropower projects have been streamlined as a major focus of the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI). These hydropower projects have shown many positive outcomes in promoting the energy infrastructure and local economic development in BRI countries. However, insufficient attention is given to scrutinizing the limitations of Belt and Road hydropower collaboration, hindering the potential for amplifying its beneficial impacts. This study reveals the tendency and distinctiveness of China's development finance, contributing to providing a clearer picture of where and how the massive BRI hydropower cooperation is taking place and what might be the limitations. Our analysis shows that a) China's development finance for the BRI power cooperation was heavily concentrated on the hydropower sector compared to other energy alternatives, thereby creating a promising renewable energy development of BRI. b) BRI hydropower projects are dominated by large dams in specific regions, and c) the predominance of large dams and the geographic concentration should be gradually adjusted to bring BRI hydropower cooperation more social and environmental progress.

A Bibliographic Review of Illusion of Knowledge in the Financial Field

People tend to believe that more information will improve the accuracy of predicting outcomes in highly uncertain situations. This behaviour, known as ‘illusion of knowledge,’ is related to overconfidence in multiple areas of study, and attracts scientific attention. The aim of this research is to determine the academic evolution of the illusion of knowledge within the financial field. For this purpose, two different methodologies have been used to generate a more solid contribution. The first part is based on the ReSiste-CSH bibliographic framework raised for the study of social sciences, and the second part uses the Bibliometrix software to measure the performance of the subject over time. The Web of Science academic database was used as a reference source for the period 1987–2021, resulting in a sample of 1,202 papers in highly impactful academic journals. The results show a positive evolution over time in the number of publications, as well as a geographical concentration in journals of the Q1 category from the United States and the United Kingdom, together with a close relationship with areas of study such as psychology, business and economics, among others. JEL Code: G41

Analysis of the path to enhance the quality development of rural tourism with the help of rural revitalization strategy in the context of the Internet

Abstract This paper first determines the research method of rural tourism and the selection of research objects and carries out the corresponding pre-processing operation for the data. Secondly, the spatial distribution characteristics of key villages of rural tourism are analyzed by using the nearest neighbor index, standard deviation ellipse, geographic concentration index and geographic detector so as to understand the development of rural tourism in the five regions of east, west, south, north and central. The spatial clustering structure of key villages in rural tourism is calculated again using the fractal model to explore grid aggregation and correlation of high-quality development in rural tourism. From the spatial distribution characteristics, the nearest neighbor index of the southern region is 0.838, showing an aggregation-random distribution pattern, and the standard deviation ellipse of the southern region is 51.67°. From the spatial clustering structure, the aggregation dimension of the southern region is 0.485, and the correlation dimension of the four regions of east, west, south, north and south is relatively close to that of highway accessibility, for example. Thus, rural tourism in the context of the Internet needs to further strengthen infrastructure construction, enhance the means of training high-quality personnel, build diversified marketing channels, and realize the rural revitalization strategy to boost rural tourism.

Spatial Coupling of Population and Economic Densities and the Effect of Topography in Anhui Province, China, at a Grid Scale

The spatial coupling of population and economy is an important indicator that reflects regional differences and measures the coordination degree of industrial layouts and environments. To explore the spatial coupling of population and economic densities and the effect of topography in Anhui Province at a grid scale, a land-use impact model was used to spatialize socio-economic indicators in Anhui Province using 2020 county-level data. Geographical concentration and coupling index were used to quantify the spatial relationship between population and economic densities. Then the effects of topography were assessed. The results show the following: (1) the accuracy of the regression models for the individual counties is generally better than that of the models for the whole region. The population and economic densities predicted by the proposed model reflect actual conditions. (2) Topography has a stronger effect on population density and primary industry density than on secondary and tertiary industry density. Slope has the strongest effect on population and economic densities, followed by topographic relief and elevation. (3) A spatial correlation exists between topographic factors and population and economic densities. Although the spatial relationship between population and economic densities is predominantly of the balanced development type in regions with complex topography, population and economic densities are significantly lower in regions with complex rather than flat topography. In addition, economic development in the northern Anhui region, a flat region, lags behind population aggregation. Efforts should be made to improve the economic level of the southern and northern Anhui regions and the Dabie Mountain region in western Anhui.

Exploring the research area of direct taxation. An empirical analysis based on bibliometric analysis results

Abstract The investigation and exploration of the general fiscal field with emphasis on “direct taxation” through the analysis of the published scientific literature, looking at the conceptual, intellectual, and collaborative structure while highlighting the future research directions is aiming to visualize the prevailing knowledge structure in order to help the future researchers and research clusters. A sample of 557 documents was extract from the Web of Science platform for the 1954 - 2022-time range and a bibliometric analysis was applied as a quantitative technique to investigate the scientific literature. The main questions for which this study could offer an answer are: Are there emerging subfields or topics within direct taxations research? Which authors have made significant contributions to the study of direct taxation? But what are the most influential and frequently cited publications? How has the research on direct taxations evolved over time in terms of publication trends? Is there any geographical concentration of research in this area? Which collaborative partnerships are standing out?

Novel Approaches to Addressing the US Physical Inactivity and Obesity Pandemics: An Opportunity for Religious Organizations

BackgroundPhysical inactivity and obesity crises persist in the United States despite substantial mitigation efforts. The primary goal of this analysis is to determine whether the geographic concentration of religious institutions overlaps with geographic patterns for physical inactivity and obesity prevalence. MethodsWe obtained 2021 county-level, age-adjusted physical inactivity (“no leisure time physical activity”) and obesity prevalence from the 2023 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention PLACES database. Data on number of congregations per 100,000 individuals and adherents as a percentage of the population were obtained from the 2020 US Religion Census. The American Nations regional cultures model was obtained from the Nationhood Lab. ResultsOn a national level, all correlations were statistically significant between health factors and religious infrastructure—higher physical inactivity and obesity were related to more congregations per 100,000 population on a county level. The strength of correlations between congregations per 100,000 county population and both physical inactivity and obesity prevalence was greatest in the American Nations model's Deep South and Tidewater regions. ConclusionsApproaches to addressing the pandemics of unhealthy lifestyle-related health factors of physical inactivity and obesity in the United States have, in large part, been unsuccessful. Church-based healthy lifestyle programs, particularly in areas where a high concentration of congregations align with high physical inactivity and obesity, may offer a novel and effective approach to addressing this issue.

Development of a financial performance measurement model for real estate business: an exploratory study in India

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to develop a financial performance measurement model for real estate business.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses balanced scorecard (BSC) proposed by Kaplan and Norton (1996) as a theoretical support. The study, being exploratory in nature, uses survey method to collect data on several dimensions of BSC as well as on other performance measures used by real estate businesses in India. The survey data collected is analyzed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to explore the model constructs. This is followed by building an integrated conceptual model for measuring the financial performance of a real estate business. The model is tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).FindingsThe study finds that the financial performance of the real estate business revolves around customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and external networks. The right alignment of these components lead to superior financial performance. It also provides a competitive advantage to the real estate business. These three components (customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and external networks) have direct and indirect influences on the financial performance of real estate business.Research limitations/implicationsA small sample size (78 respondents), as well as the respondent’s geographical concentration in India, are the limitations of the study. Hence, generalization of findings may be difficult until the findings are validated across the globe.Practical implicationsThe conceptual performance measurement model suggested in this research provides an effective tool to plan and strategize to achieve superior financial performance, particularly for stakeholders in the real estate business.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge and belief, this is the first attempt to develop a comprehensive financial performance measurement model for real estate business and test it using EFA and PLS-SEM.

“I Was Open to Anywhere, It’s Just This Was Easier:” Social Structure, Location Preferences, and the Geographic Concentration of Elite College Graduates

“I Was Open to Anywhere, It’s Just This Was Easier:” Social Structure, Location Preferences, and the Geographic Concentration of Elite College Graduates

Is distance really dying? Transportation and knowledge spillovers

AbstractEnhanced transportation infrastructure improves the frequency of travel and facilitates face‐to‐face communication. Will the resulting reduction in travel cost mitigate the geographical concentration of knowledge spillovers? Our empirical strategy exploits China's mass expansion of its intercity high‐speed railway network as a natural experiment. Using patent citations as the proxy for knowledge spillovers, we find inventors increasingly rely on more distant knowledge after rail connection and newly connect cities' innovation performance improves substantially.

Geographical immobility and local ancestral ties: a study of three generations of natives in Finland

ABSTRACT Research concerning internal migration has increasingly recognized family members outside the household as important factors for mobility decisions. Older generations and familiar environments constitute strong attractors thanks to location-specific capital and exchange of multigenerational support. Less is known about geographical immobility across generations. Wee study immobility patterns across three generations of native Finns by examining population register data that span over five decades. We analyse how geographical immobility in terms of a person’s place of residence at age 35 vs age 14 relates to the place of birth of their parents and grandparents. In this regard, Finland offers a highly useful case study because of its two main ethnolinguistic groups, Finnish and Swedish speakers, which are characterized by historically different mobility patterns and geographical concentrations. We find that geographical immobility relates strongly to local ancestral ties, that geographical immobility is much more common among Swedish than Finnish speakers, that the association between local ancestral ties and geographical immobility is stronger for Swedish than for Finnish speakers, and that it differs across geographical areas with different ethnolinguistic profiles. In terms of effect sizes, local ancestral ties have a large role in immobility behaviour, equally important as many socioeconomic and demographic factors.