Cluster-mapping procedure for tourism regions based on geostatistics and fuzzy clustering: example of Polish districts

ABSTRACT

In tourism, the phenomenon of spatial agglomeration (concentration of economic activity) spreads beyond the borders of the territorial units. It is referred to as geographic ‘spillovers’ that enhances spatial interdependence and functional relationship of neighbouring regions. Within the standard procedure of cluster-mapping, only concentration inside a territorial unit may be analysed which is a source of biased results in tourism studies. However, tourist agglomeration centres sometimes occur at the juncture of territorial units and the economic entities located in them form spatial clusters with a different degree of membership to several centres of agglomerations located in the neighbourhood. Therefore, we propose to measure ‘inter-regional’ agglomeration in tourism providing modification of spatial autocorrelation measures (regarding neighbourhood and distance). In order to measure neighbourhood more precisely, we use geostatistical information (global positioning system (GPS) coordinates of tourism entities) and geographically weighted fuzzy clustering approach (FGWC). We examine the method on the example of Polish districts (NUTS-4) using database of 131,338 firms registered in section I (accommodation and food services) of Polish Classification of Activity in 2015. The results proved that a novel method of cluster-mapping considering spatial dependency combined with geographic information system (GIS) and FGWC method increases the accuracy of the identification of tourism clusters (inter-regional agglomeration).     

Interactions among China-Related Stocks

This paper explores the issue of causalities among five different indices of shares issued by Chinese firms, A and B Shares listed in the Shenzhen and Shanghai Stock Exchanges, and H Shares listed in the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. By measuring cross autocorrelations and conducting Granger causality tests, we found that the causality relationships among the five different indices went through significant changes after early 1996; B Shares became more influential relative to the other shares. B Shares in China have tended to lead H Shares in Hong Kong since 1996. Although A Shares tended to lead B Shares before 1996, such relationships either disappeared or were reversed after 1996.     

Distribution of residual autocorrelations for multiplicative seasonal ARMA models with uncorrelated but nonindependent error terms

In this paper, we consider portmanteau tests for testing the adequacy of multiplicative seasonal autoregressive moving‐average models under the assumption that the errors are uncorrelated but not necessarily independent. We relax the standard independence assumption on the error terms in order to extend the range of applications of the seasonal autoregressive moving‐average models. We study the asymptotic distributions of residual and normalized residual empirical autocovariances and autocorrelations under weak assumptions on noise. We establish the asymptotic behavior of the proposed statistics. A set of Monte Carlo experiments and an application to monthly mean total sunspot number are presented.     

The influence of neighborhood environment and household travel interactions on school travel behavior: an exploration using geographically-weighted models

Professional and popular interest in active school transportation (walking and cycling) is matched by an emerging literature on this topic. This paper explores school travel behavior of 11-year old children in Toronto, Canada. In particular, the effects of the neighborhood environment and caregiver-child travel interactions on travel mode choice were studied. Results indicate that the built environment near both home and school locations was associated with the odds of walking. However, predicted built environment effects were less accurate in some neighborhoods. Availability of adults at the time of school travel likely encouraged driving. School transportation interventions that broadly consider school and neighborhood-oriented policies and enable independent mobility may increase walking rates. Presence of spatial autocorrelation in the prevalence of walking suggests that more research is required to understand inter-household similarities in behaviors that are spatially structured.     

基于PCA-ESDA的中国省域旅游经济时空差异分析

以中国大陆31个省级区域为研究单元,选取1999—2008年反映旅游经济的相关指标,利用SPSS16.0软件对数据进行主成分分析,计算出每个省份旅游经济的综合得分,然后对综合得分进行空间自相关分析。结果表明:中国旅游经济的发展水平总体上呈现从"长三角"及"珠三角"向内陆逐渐降低的特征。1999—2008年中国旅游经济发展全局空间自相关不显著,但局部空间自相关却表现出一定的规律性:沿海省份位于HH区,西部省份位于LL区,西南、部分东部和中部省份位于LH区和HL区。中国省域旅游经济发展呈现出一种持续的非均衡态势,1999—2008年中国省域旅游经济的总体空间格局并没有发生根本性的变化。省域旅游经济集聚的空间依赖性、省域经济发展水平、区位与资源禀赋、政府政策是影响中国省域旅游经济空间差异的主要原因。     

水土流失景观空间自相关与自相似的尺度特征分析——以长汀县根溪河小流域为例

基于遥感、地理信息系统和景观生态学研究方法,对长汀县根溪河小流域水土流失景观格局空间自相关与分形结构及其在不同粒度下的变化特征定量分析表明,水土流失景观中的强度以上流失类型空间自相关最低而自相似性最高;空间自相关性和自相似性依赖于粒度的选择,Moran's I与各种景观类型的FRAC_AM均存在尺度效应;空间自相关随粒度增加呈下降趋势;不同景观类型的自相似性随尺度的变化没有统一规律,但多数第一个较明显的转折点出现在粒度大小为10m处。     

Closeness matters. Spatial autocorrelation and relationship between socioeconomic indices and distance to departmental Colombian capitals

Socioeconomic indices that developing economies use to combat poverty may show a limited picture of all the variables related to the problem. This study analyzes spatial autocorrelation and clusters of three socioeconomic indices—living conditions, multidimensional poverty, and unsatisfied basic needs—in Colombia to explore the relation of the identified clusters with their physical distance from departmental capitals. Using a local index of spatial autocorrelation, it evaluates spatial patterns and the clustering of socioeconomic indices. Correlation analysis tests the relation between clusters and their distance from departmental capitals in three departments. The spatial patterns of indices in Colombia correspond to the model of economic development in the country and reveal the regions where socioeconomic characteristics form clusters of desirable/undesirable conditions and departments where the distance from main cities may be seen as a condition for a higher quality of life.     

The Impact of Portfolio Diversification on Trading Rules Profits: Some Evidence for UK Share Portfolios

This paper demonstrates how the autocorrelation structure of UK portfolio returns is linked to dynamic interrelationships among the component securities of that portfolio. Moreover, portfolio return autocorrelation is shown to be an increasing function of the number of securities in the portfolio. Since the security interrelationships seemed to be more a product of their history of non-synchronous trading than of systematic industry-related phenomena, it should not be possible to exploit the high levels of return persistence using trading rules. We show that rules designed to exploit this portfolio autocorrelation structure do not produce economic profits.     

Efficiency in public schools: Does competition matter?

The focus of many recent school reforms has been on changing the incentives faced by school administrators, mainly through increased competition. In this study, we assess whether competition amongst public schools influences the efficiency in which these schools operate, using a two-stage estimation procedure and data from the state of Illinois from 1997–1998. We find some evidence that public school districts become more efficient as neighboring districts become more efficient. However, such spillovers only occur if districts operate within a financially flexible environment.     

Financial Liberalization and Stock Market Efficiency: Causality Analysis of Emerging Markets

This paper studies the long- and short-run relationship between financial liberalization and stock market efficiency. It expands the extant body of knowledge by investigating Granger causality relationship applying mean group, common correlated effect mean group and common correlated effect pooled estimator to balanced panel data for 27 emerging markets over the period 1996–2011. We find evidence of financial liberalization Granger causes stock market efficiency, which is consistent with liberalization leads to efficiency hypothesis. Subsequently, our work makes a fresh contribution to the literature by focusing on informational efficiency of stock markets rather than financial development. Furthermore, we find that a negative long-term relationship between financial liberalization and stock return autocorrelation coexists with a positive short-term relationship between the two. The findings that financial liberalization, which has a deteriorated effect on stock market efficiency in the short-run, but positive impact in the long-run, allow us to draw an analogy similar to the J-curve hypothesis.