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Does Zipf’s law hold for primate cities? Some evidence from a discriminant analysis of world countries

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  • Boris Portnov

Abstract

Largest cities of countries do not always follow Zipf’s Law, generally ‘obeyed’ by smaller localities. In an attempt to analyze factors which may drive major cities of nations away from the ‘rank-size’ trend line stipulated by Zipf’s Law, we investigated the population size gap between the first and second cities of 177 countries worldwide. According to our findings, high development levels are likely to reduce this gap, while the first city being the national capital is likely to widen the gap between the largest city and its ‘nearest neighbor’ in the national rank-size hierarchy. Copyright Springer-Verlag 2011

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  • Boris Portnov, 2011. "Does Zipf’s law hold for primate cities? Some evidence from a discriminant analysis of world countries," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 31(2), pages 113-129, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jahrfr:v:31:y:2011:i:2:p:113-129
    DOI: 10.1007/s10037-011-0055-9
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    1. Luca Salvati & Margherita Carlucci & Efstathios Grigoriadis & Francesco Maria Chelli, 2018. "Uneven dispersion or adaptive polycentrism? Urban expansion, population dynamics and employment growth in an ‘ordinary’ city," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 38(1), pages 1-25, February.
    2. Denise PUMAIN, 2012. "Une Théorie Géographique Pour La Loi De Zipf," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 36, pages 31-54.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Main cities of countries; Zipf’s law; Population size of cities; ‘Frontrunner’ approach; Geographic and development attributes; O18; R11; R23;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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