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Is there a universal parametric city size distribution? Empirical evidence for 70 countries

Author

Listed:
  • Miguel Puente-Ajovín

    (University of Zaragoza)

  • Arturo Ramos

    (University of Zaragoza)

  • Fernando Sanz-Gracia

    (University of Zaragoza)

Abstract

We studied the parametric description of the city size distribution (CSD) of 70 different countries (developed and developing) using seven models, as follows: the lognormal (LN), the loglogistic (LL), the double Pareto lognormal (dPLN), the two-lognormal (2LN), the two-loglogistic (2LL), the three-lognormal (3LN) and the three-loglogistic (3LL). Our results show that 3LN and 3LL are the best densities in terms of non-rejections out of standard statistical tests. Meanwhile, according to the information criteria AIC and BIC, there is no systematically dominant distribution.

Suggested Citation

  • Miguel Puente-Ajovín & Arturo Ramos & Fernando Sanz-Gracia, 2020. "Is there a universal parametric city size distribution? Empirical evidence for 70 countries," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 65(3), pages 727-741, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:anresc:v:65:y:2020:i:3:d:10.1007_s00168-020-01001-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s00168-020-01001-6
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    1. Puente-Ajovín, Miguel & Ramos, Arturo & Sanz-Gracia, Fernando & Arribas-Bel, Daniel, 2020. "How sensitive is city size distribution to the definition of city? The case of Spain," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    2. Campolieti, Michele & Ramos, Arturo, 2021. "The distribution of strike size: Empirical evidence from Europe and North America in the 19th and 20th centuries," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 563(C).
    3. Rafael González-Val, 2021. "The Probability Distribution of Worldwide Forest Areas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-19, January.
    4. Peña, Guillermo & Puente-Ajovín, Miguel & Ramos, Arturo & Sanz-Gracia, Fernando, 2022. "Log-growth rates of CO2: An empirical analysis," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 588(C).
    5. Arturo Ramos & Till Massing & Atushi Ishikawa & Shouji Fujimoto & Takayuki Mizuno, 2023. "Composite distributions in the social sciences: A comparative empirical study of firms' sales distribution for France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, and Spain," Papers 2301.09438, arXiv.org.
    6. Băncescu, Irina & Chivu, Luminiţa & Massing, Till & Preda, Vasile & Puente-Ajovín, Miguel & Ramos, Arturo, 2024. "On the parametric description of log-growth rates of Romanian city sizes," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 643(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C13 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Estimation: General
    • C46 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Specific Distributions
    • R00 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General - - - General

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