Introduction Eective area estimator Eective area estimation for the OECD countries Conclusion

Eective area as a measure of land factor Régis Chenavaz and Octavio Escobar ESG Management School, Paris

Régis Chenavaz - Octavio Escobar

Eective area as a measure of land factor

Introduction Eective area estimator Eective area estimation for the OECD countries Conclusion

Introduction The total area is the usual measure of land factor.

Brülhart and Sbergami 2009, Henderson et al. 2011.

Because of climatic and geographic conditions, the total area omits the eectiveness of the area. Australia is 70% arid land; Japan is 71% mountain terrain.

We propose the eective area (or directly useful area) as a measure for land factor. We estimate the eective area of the OECD countries.

Régis Chenavaz - Octavio Escobar

Eective area as a measure of land factor

Introduction Eective area estimator Eective area estimation for the OECD countries Conclusion

Eective area estimator: intuition

The spatial distribution of population in a country captures:

Natural condition (or rst nature): resources, climate

Neo-classical theory (Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson) Human activity (or second nature): articial nature New economic geography (Krugman 1991, Venables 1996)

The eective area estimator uses spatial population distribution: based on the Gini coecient, similar to Sen's (1976) welfare index.

Régis Chenavaz - Octavio Escobar

Eective area as a measure of land factor

Introduction Eective area estimator Eective area estimation for the OECD countries Conclusion

Eective area estimator: formula Cumulative population 1 The proportion of eective area is

Uniform population distribution line

1 − Gini = 2B . The eective area is

A

(1 − Gini )TotalArea.

0

Régis Chenavaz - Octavio Escobar

0

Lorenz curve

B

Cumulative area

Eective area as a measure of land factor

1

Introduction Eective area estimator Eective area estimation for the OECD countries Conclusion

Data

OECD (2009) data on total area and population for 2007. 31 countries. Microregions: Territorial Level 3. 96 microregions in France.

Régis Chenavaz - Octavio Escobar

Eective area as a measure of land factor

Lorenz curve and eective area for selected countries

Map: total area and proportion of eective area

Country % e. surf.

Slovak R. 82.8%

Slovenia 72.6%

Czech R. 71.1%

Hungary 69.9%

Eastern Europe countries show a uniform distribution of population. Military defence and population control (Clayton & Richardson 1989).

Distorted map: eective area and % of eective area

Country Tot. surf. M sqkm E. sur. M sqkm % e. surf.

US 9.1 3.1 34.4%

Canada 9.0 0.5 5.6%

Australia 7.7 0.5 6.7%

Mexico 2.0 0.6 27.8%

Distorted map: the advantages of the US in eective area

The eective area of the US (3.1 M sqkm)

is larger than the eective area of the 9 following countries, represents 40% of the eective area of OECD (7.6 M sqkm).

Determinants of the proportion of eective area Dependent variable: log of % of eective surface (1) (2) (3) Population density 0.330 0.222 (0.087)** (0.100)* Number of regions -0.127 -0.127 -0.127 (0.167) (0.167) (0.167) Population -0.108 0.222 (0.133) (0.100)* Total surface -0.108 -0.330 (0.133) (0.087)** Observations 31 31 31 R2 0.69 0.69 0.69 Notes: * signicant at 5%; ** signicant at 1%. All variables are expressed in log form. Standard errors robust to serial correlation and heteroskedasticity are in parentheses. The distribution of population is more uniform when the population density increases (Helpman 1998). The proportion of eective area is robust to the number of regions.

Introduction Eective area estimator Eective area estimation for the OECD countries Conclusion

Conclusion The eective area is an alternative measure of land factor. It is based on spatial population distribution and captures natural conditions, human activity.

The eective area

summarises detailed data, is easy to calculate, uses data usually available in the public domain.

It is useful in

geographical economics, international economics, development economics. Régis Chenavaz - Octavio Escobar

Eective area as a measure of land factor