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The focus in the large literature on distance measures has generally been on one or just a few of its many dimensions. When considering their effects, researchers typically use pairwise measures and do not consider their directionality. This article argues that simple pairwise measures are inadequate, and it introduces asymmetric effects of distances by considering home and host country institutional contexts in the analysis. Asserting significant differences in institutional development between emerging and advanced economies, the article examines the differing effects of seven distance measures based on economic development in home and host countries of foreign direct investment (FDI). A comprehensive data from 124 countries for 2013–2017 is used in analysing its location and size with an augmented gravity model of FDI stocks adopting a generalized linear regression estimation method. The results suggest the following: Home country context is not relevant for cultural, political, common spoken language or colonial relationship dimensions of distance. For multinationals from advanced economies considering advanced hosts for investment, cultural, educational and political distances are not relevant. When the same multinationals consider emerging hosts, these are significant dimensions. However, for an emerging country multinational considering other emerging hosts, all distance dimensions are relevant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most literatures have studied the role of the Internet in promoting the country's foreign trade. However, when the difference in Internet level between the two countries becomes the focus, will it hinder bilateral trade? This paper attempts to investigate the hinder impact of the Internet gap between the two countries on bilateral export in the framework of gravity model. The goods export data during the period of 2005–2019 from the WTO and the method of Poisson Pseudo-Maximum-Likelihood (PPML) and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) were used. It is found that the Internet gap between the two countries will hinder bilateral export by increasing the information trade costs. Lower Internet countries are more sensitive to the Internet gap in bilateral export. This paper also analyzes the impact mechanism, which provides the fresh evidence for related study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid rise of China as a major economic power, characterized by its expanding global trade and financial connections, has significantly heightened geopolitical tensions, particularly with the US. The primary objective of this study is to examine the ramifications of such geopolitical risks (GPR) on trading patterns within Latin America, employing a gravity model. The selection of Latin America stems from its ongoing transformation in power dynamics, with China emerging as the second largest partner, posing substantial competition to the US, which has historically been the region's primary trading partner. This region has also emerged as an attractive investment and trade destination with abundant natural resources and a growing middle class. By focusing on seven of the largest economies in Latin America – Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela – from 2000 to 2020, our study yields valuable insights into the influence of GPR on trade dynamics. The findings underscore the overall detrimental impact of GPR on trade, with a disproportionately adverse effect on imports. This study represents a significant contribution by bridging existing gaps in the literature, particularly within the underexplored context of Latin America, while providing crucial guidance for policy formulation and informing future research endeavours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large vessels that call at European ports will have to pay for their CO2 emissions from transporting cargo that enters or goes from a European port since January 2024. The costs will increase with increasing global trade. This results in a higher pollution level, including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions like CO2. Based on the gravity model embedded in a global supply chain, we developed a model to evaluate maritime transport pollution in case a new, sufficiently large container port becomes operational. Additionally, we consider how lousy railway connections to European customers increase transportation costs and pollution. The approach to the well-connected sequences of gravity models in the intercontinental maritime chains evaluates the differences in quantities of cargo between ports when a new port is opened, and the waiting time does not change. We also highlight that poor rail connections can reduce this positive effect. We showed how it is possible to estimate the optimal capacity of a new port with a multi-level gravity model and how this would affect the pollution around the port and on the routes from the port to the final consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurately grasping the spatial network correlation structure of operational efficiency in star-rated hotels and its influencing factors is of great significance for promoting high-quality coordinated development of star-rated hotels and the regional tourism reception industry. Using a comprehensive approach integrating the Super-DEA model, modified gravity model, and social network analysis to explore the evolving characteristics of spatial network structure in operational efficiency of provincial star-rated hotels in China from 2013 to 2022, and their underlying mechanisms. The results indicate that: (1) During the study period, the average operational efficiency of star-rated hotels in China was 0.618, with spatial efficiency values showing a distribution pattern of "Eastern > Central > Western > Northeastern". (2) The spatial correlation network of operational efficiency among provincial star-rated hotels in China overall exhibits characteristics of densification, hierarchical structure, and reinforcement. Provinces such as Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Jiangsu in the eastern region play central roles as "central actors" in the network, while provinces in the western and northeastern regions such as Heilongjiang, Tibet, and Xinjiang play roles as "passive actors" in the spatial network. (3) Members of the "Net benefit" and "Two-way spillover" are primarily from the eastern and some central provinces, while members of the "Net overflow" are mainly from the northeastern and western provinces. (4) Factors such as economic development level, residents' consumption level, and distance from provincial capital cities collectively drive the evolution and optimization of the spatial network structure of operational efficiency among provincial star-rated hotels in China. This study not only enriches the research findings on hotel operational efficiency but also provides a reference for constructing a cross-regional collaborative mechanism to enhance the operational efficiency of star-rated hotels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the early 2000s, border walls and fences have proliferated and become a global phenomenon with about a third of the countries having at least one wall or fence along its borders. Taking proper account for endogeneity, phasing-in effects and reverse causality, our gravity model for the years 1990–2017 (118 countries) finds a stronger trade-reducing impact of physical border protection structures ranging from 59% to 72%. This impact of physical border protection measures is non-monotonic: the immediate walls effect is insignificant but over the first 4 years after the creation of a wall, it starts to slash trade flows strongly and significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population mobility between cities significantly affects traffic congestion, disease spread, and societal well-being. As globalization and urbanization accelerate, understanding the dynamics of population mobility becomes increasingly important. Traditional population migration models reveal the factors influencing migration, while machine learning methods provide effective tools for creating data-driven models to handle the nonlinear relationships between origin and destination characteristics and migration. To deepen the understanding of population mobility issues, this study presents GraviGBM, an expandable population mobility simulation model that combines the gravity model with machine learning, significantly enhancing simulation accuracy. By employing SHAPs (SHapley Additive exPlanations), we interpret the modeling results and explore the relationship between urban characteristics and population migration. Additionally, this study includes a case analysis of COVID-19, extending the model's application during public health emergencies and evaluating the contribution of model variables in this context. The results show that GraviGBM performs exceptionally well in simulating inter-city population migration, with an RMSE of 4.28, far lower than the RMSE of the gravity model (45.32). This research indicates that distance emerged as the primary factor affecting mobility before the pandemic, with economic factors and population also playing significant roles. During the pandemic, distance remained dominant, but the significance of short distances gained importance. Pandemic-related indicators became prominent, while economics, population density, and transportation substantially lost their influence. A city-to-city flow analysis shows that when population sizes are comparable, economic factors prevail, but when economic profiles match, living conditions dictate migration. During the pandemic, residents from hard-hit areas moved to more distant cities, seeking normalcy. This research offers a comprehensive perspective on population mobility, yielding valuable insights for future urban planning, pandemic response, and decision-making processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is one of the major sources of student migrants to many Western countries, growing rapidly during the last couple of decades. In China, several national and regional level policy schemes have been set up to incentivise the return of the high-skilled overseas population. Data to monitor these migration patterns are typically lacking. In this article, we explore the spatial patterns of overseas alumni populations from 106 leading Chinese universities using data gathered from the LinkedIn advertising platform. We first assess the suitability of the LinkedIn data for measuring overseas migrant distributions and then adapt an extended gravity model to aid the interpretation of the relationships between countries, universities and intermediate characteristics and the size of the overseas alumni populations. We find that the LinkedIn data provide plausible measures of Chinese university alumni networks. Alumni populations are in general larger from highly ranked universities, in greater numbers from universities in Beijing and Shanghai and universities with higher numbers of foreign students. These findings help better understand human capital flight, where conventional studies use migration data that do not typically have breakdowns to sub-national units or specify where emigrants received their education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past two and half decades, rising non-tariff barriers, such as SPS and TBT measures appear to negate any benefits accruing from declining tariffs. The adoption of higher standards reflects efforts, generally by developed nations, towards protecting both human and environmental health. However, the burden of compliance falls on the upstream players of the supply chain, mostly located in the Global South. In this article, we explore if imposing food standards has a differential impact on the exporters of marine products from high-income and low-income countries. Using panel data analysis based on bilateral trade between 50 exporters and 188 importers of marine goods at HS6 level codes from 1995 to 2018, we conclude that imposing food standards has a significantly negative impact on exports of marine industries. Moreover, it appears that after 2008, food standards have become relatively more stringent, and their impact has varied based on economic size of the exporter. Relatively richer countries were able to expand their exports in the presence of standards. However, marine exports of poorer nations reduced. This contrasting impact of food standards on the high- and low-income countries significantly changed the pattern of global marine trade. JEL Codes: F1, F14, Q17 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims at investigating the impact of bilateral investment treaties on foreign investment inflows into Iran from developed source countries. To achieve this purpose, the two common approach in foreign investment literature, that is, the gravity and knowledge-capital model has been used as the analytical framework of the study, as well as the pseudo-Poisson maximum likelihood method for the years 2002-2020. The results show that both gravity and knowledge-capital models provide an acceptable explanation of foreign investment inflows into Iran from developed countries. Except of Iran's real GDP, the main variables of the gravity model, that is, the geographical distance and real GDP of developed source countries are statistically significant and have the expected signs. All the main variables of the knowledge-capital model, including the difference between gross enrollment ratio in tertiary education of developed source countries and Iran (with a negative coefficient), sum of real GDP of developed source countries and Iran (with a positive coefficient) as well as Interaction of the difference between gross enrollment ratio in tertiary education of developed source countries and Iran and difference between real GDP of developed source countries and Iran (with a positive coefficient) are statistically significant and indicate that the foreign investment of developed countries in Iran is more horizontal than vertical. There is a positive and statistically significant relationship between bilateral investment treaties and foreign investment inflows into Iran from developed source countries in both gravity and knowledge-capital models. Finally, the sanctions imposed against Iran have reduced foreign investment inflows into the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Travel sanctions are a strategic diplomatic tool that are generally preferred by sanctioning countries to other invasive actions because they can reduce or avoid casualties and losses and achieve policy goals. The present study investigates the relationship between travel sanctions and the number of international tourist arrivals by employing a gravity model from 1995 to 2015. The empirical results reveal that imposing international travel sanctions leads to a decrease in the number of tourist arrivals. Moreover, sanctions between developed countries have more influential effects than those between developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigating the determinants of trade flows has been the focus of extensive literature in international economics. Early studies focus on the effect of the distance between countries. However, answers to many important economic questions depend largely on the extent to which market size and stability affect supply and consumption. This paper augments the gravity model with the interaction between population density and governance. It uses a panel dataset of 51 African countries from 2000 to 2019 to investigate the impact of the interaction between Africa's population density and governance on Sino–Africa trade flows. The main results reveal that China's exports to Africa and Africa's openness with China are directly proportional to the interaction between Africa's population density and governance. However, China's imports from Africa are inversely proportional to the interaction between Africa's population density and governance. Also, results reveal the polarization of Sino–Africa trade flows, causing the revaluation of the Chinese Yuan. All other things being equal, concurrent improvement in Africa's population density and governance is a significant factor leading Africa to depend more on imports from China and reduce Africa's exports to China. This paper suggests that the effectiveness of international trade policy reforms is conditional on implementing efficient mechanisms to balance global population density with improvement in good governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluates the limitations of gravity models in constructing regional association networks, using China's interprovincial economic connections as a case study. Comparison between a gravity-model-based simulated network and an actual network reveals significant topological differences. The gravity model overestimates the influence of larger, inward-oriented provinces and fails to accurately represent external connections. Attempts to refine the model with additional variables proved ineffective. Further theoretical analysis attributes these deficiencies to measurement bias from the model's simplified binary perspective and information loss due to dimensional mismatch between pairwise predictions and complex network structures. These findings underscore the need for cautious application of gravity models and the development of more comprehensive analytical frameworks in regional network analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Satellite altimetry is the main tool for constructing global or regional marine gravity fields. To improve the accuracy and spatial resolution, it is necessary to fuse multi-mission altimeters. How to determine the weights of multi-mission altimeters is a crucial issue, making the conventional calculation process very complex. In addition, traditional satellite inversion methods are often independent of shipborne gravity, which is used only as validation data, thus not take full advantages of high accuracy and resolution of shipborne gravity. In this study, we introduce a convolutional neural network (CNN) to merge the vertical deflections (DOVs) obtained from multi-altimeter missions to construct a marine gravity model in the South China Sea. High-accuracy shipborne gravity and a dataset comprising DOVs and geo-locations are employed as input data for neural network training. For the validation of CNN method, the gravity model is also computed by conventional Inverse Vening Meinesz (IVM) method. Independent shipborne gravity measurements and SIO V32.1, DTU17 models are used as validation data. The evaluation results show that the CNN-derived model achieves a higher level of accuracy, yielding a standard deviation (STD) of 3.21 mGal, with an improvement of 36.56% compared to IVM-derived model. More than 92% of the differences between the CNN-derived model and shipborne gravity are less than 5 mGal. In addition, spectral analysis results further show that the CNN-derived model has stronger energy at short wavelengths (less than 25 km) compared to other models. These findings reveal that CNN method is feasible for marine gravity recovery and the CNN-derived model can achieve higher accuracy. The CNN method can improve the accuracy and spectral characteristics of the constructed gravity model by taking advantage of the high accuracy and high resolution of shipborne gravity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the factors affecting Vietnam's rice export value in the transitional period of 2011-2021 using panel data of 45 importers comprising 90% of Vietnam's rice export value. The generalized least square model was used for estimation, and the results reveal that the factors of world rice export prices, importing country's population, membership in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, European--Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, and multilateral or bilateral relationship positively affect export value. However, the importing country's GDP and self-produced food output and Vietnam's inflation negatively influence rice export turnover. Consequently, several policy recommendations are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared to gravity method, the gravity gradient has multi-component advantages and can emphasize short wavelength features. By providing more detailed features in the image display, it could present a more accurate determination of the spatial distribution of the underling anomaly body. In our study, based on the gravity gradient data that was synthesized from the high-precision gravity model from Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory mission, we analyzed the tectonic structure of the Moon's shallow layers in Oceanus Procellarum region. Bouguer anomalies of gravity gradient are used for geological boundary recognition and three-dimensional density inversion. Theta Map method is adopted for the edge identification of geological structures. It fully utilizes the characteristics of multi-components combination of gravity gradient to sharpen the boundaries identification of abnormal bodies. During the density inversion, in order to decrease the non-unique solution problem, the depth weight constraint is added to the inversion equation. Furthermore, the method of wavelet coefficient compression and Least Squares QR-decomposition is applied to accelerate the inverse calculation of large ill-conditioned equations. According to the result illustration, we found that: 1) The combination of gravity tensors has a strong boundary recognition ability in the horizontal direction. There is close consistency with the results of density inversion. 2) Our study supports the expansion and intrusion hypothesis of lunar magma in the research zone of Oceanus Procellarum, since the distribution of density tomography results at different depths is higher than the normal assumed crust density of the Moon in the majority of areas. Moreover, the intrusion source in our research area is concentrated at a direction depth of 30–45 km below the mean lunar radius surface approximately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Choice of trade route and destination by cross border traders is an important decision in today's increasingly cross border trade of products including fish. The current study examined the geographical factors influencing choice of informal trade route and destination by fish traders. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were adopted for the study. These included semi-structured questionnaires through personal interviews and key informant interviews with fish border inspectors. Data was analyzed through various techniques for trader's choice and destination. Specifically, principal component analysis and spearman correlation, and Huff's gravity model were used to identify significant factors influencing choice of trade route and destination, and market attractiveness, respectively. Fish traders bypass official border posts using informal routes connecting the main route before and after the border post. Despite attempts and awareness about formal trade, stringent regulations forced fish traders to use informal trade routes. However, investigations into choice of trade routes and destination found that route distance, presence of alternative destination, mode of transport, demand of the fish product, and personal safety and risks were the factors influencing choice of both trade route and destination by informal fish traders. This geographic analysis provides a basis for addressing challenges in informal cross border trade in Malawi. It is recommended that strategic efforts and investments should be made in the development of transportation infrastructure, such as roads and railways to improve connectivity between secondary routes and one stop border post. The government should also intensify awareness initiatives on COMESA simplified trade regime (STR) to encourage informal traders to transition to the formal sector through use of formal routes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper disentangles the impacts of cultural proximity on cross‐border banking flows, using large country‐pair data from 1996 to 2019. On applying the gravity model with the Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood estimator, our main findings show that cultural proximity is both a push and pull factor, which robustly anticipates increased outflows (cross‐border lending) and inflows (cross‐border borrowing). The impacts of cultural proximity are transmitted throughout the information asymmetry and cost reduction channels. These impacts become pronounced for geographically proximate country pairs and hold for a different measure of cultural goods taxonomy and for controlling the endogeneity problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of the coordinated development of Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei, examining the spatial connections and network structure characteristics of the tourism economy holds substantial theoretical and practical significance. This study constructs a tourism economic quality evaluation index system from four dimensions and optimizes the tourism economic gravity model by incorporating time distance and weight factors to dynamically simulate the intensity of tourism economic spatial connection (ITESC). Based on the new perspective of relational data, social network analysis is employed to investigate the spatial correlation network characteristics and group structure changes in the tourism economy within the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei urban agglomeration (BTHUA). The results demonstrate a significant improvement in overall tourism economic quality from 2013 to 2022, with the average quality increasing from 0.128 in 2013 to 0.157 in 2022. Tourism economic spatial connections are prevalent among cities, exhibiting heterogeneous characteristics, characterized by density in the north and relatively sparse in the south. The network cohesion of ITESC strengthens, and the network structure evolves from a highly centralized to a multi-centralized configuration, with increasingly frequent cooperation and interaction in tourism between cities. Beijing, Tianjin, and Shijiazhuang occupy central positions in the network, exhibiting strong ITESC and a high degree of connectivity, generating a significant "trickle-down effect" on peripheral cities. Consequently, strengthening ITESC between peripheral cities and core areas, as well as enhancing the bidirectional spillover of tourism development between cities, is crucial for the future sustainable and coordinated development of tourism in the BTHUA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As China shifts from urbanization to rural revitalization within its rural governance strategy, devising appropriate governance programs becomes crucial for the effective implementation of overarching strategies. This paper explores the policy pathway of the rural revitalization strategy via the lens of village relational governance. This paper builds a relational network of village governance using the Newtonian gravity model and proposes an effective relational governance policy by analyzing the impact of village cluster patterns under different policy rules. Empirical research was conducted in Guiyang County, Hunan Province, China. The findings of this paper are as follows. (1) Rural development in Guiyang County heavily relies on location advantages and natural resources, and there is an urgent need to reinvent the path of rural governance to foster potential rural clusters. (2) A comparative analysis of the relational networks shows that the assignment-based network has more high-clustering groups and fewer low-clustering clusters than the merit-based network, and it has more cluster types, resulting in a more balanced and diverse network structure. In contrast, the merit-based network has fewer cluster types and tends to have a centralized structure. (3) The assignment-type network has greater advantages in terms of agricultural productivity, preserving local culture, and protecting the environment. Simultaneously, its network path has the potential to boost the intrinsic vitality of rural areas and attract more groups to contribute to its development. This path is feasible due to the high level of organization within the Chinese villages. Consequently, this study recommends that the county government should actively decentralize power to villages and grant villages equal development rights to encourage villages to build network clusters with unique competitive advantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gravity model is the workhorse model of trade. Yet, many economists still view gravity as a reduced‐form estimating equation and apply it without guidance from theory, while others are skeptical about its usefulness for counterfactual projections. This paper offers a historical overview of the evolution of gravity, from an a‐theoretical application to an estimating computable general equilibrium model, which can be nested in more complex frameworks. Along the way, I address some misconceptions about gravity, summarize the current recommendations for gravity estimations, highlight properties that have made gravity so successful, and review the latest contributions to the related literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the social attitudes towards the Central Najdi dialect among speakers of other Najdi dialects, i.e., Qassimi and Northern dialect. The Central dialect, spoken in the capital city of Riyadh, which has the largest population in the kingdom, is considered representative of Saudi Arabic. Based on the gravity model (Trudgill, 1974), it is hypothesized that other Najdi dialects will gravitate towards the dialect of Central Najd. The social attitudes towards the Central dialect will be assessed using the indirect method known as the verbal-guise test. The test measures individuals' implicit attitudes towards a dialect or a language. Participants listen to authentic short speech excerpts from each of the dialects understudy and rate each speaker based on selected status and solidarity traits. Findings indicate that the Central Najdi dialect is perceived more favorably in terms of status traits such as being civilized, educated, and open-minded compared to Qassimi and Northern dialect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well established that maximizing the information extracted from upcoming and ongoing stage-IV weak-lensing surveys requires higher order summary statistics that complement the standard two-point statistics. In this work, we focus on weak-lensing peak statistics to test two popular modified gravity models, |$f(R)$| and nDGP, using the forge and bridge weak-lensing simulations, respectively. From these simulations, we measure the peak statistics as a function of both cosmological and modified gravity parameters simultaneously. Our findings indicate that the peak abundance is sensitive to the strength of modified gravity, while the peak two-point correlation function is sensitive to the nature of the screening mechanism in a modified gravity model. We combine these simulated statistics with a Gaussian Process Regression emulator and a Gaussian likelihood to generate stage-IV forecast posterior distributions for the modified gravity models. We demonstrate that, assuming small scales can be correctly modelled, peak statistics can be used to distinguish general relativity from |$f(R)$| and nDGP models at the 2σ level with a stage-IV survey area of |$300$| and |$1000 \, \rm {deg}^2$|⁠ , respectively. Finally, we show that peak statistics can constrain |$\log _{10}\left(|f_{R0}|\right) = -6$|  per cent to 2 per cent precision, and |$\log _{10}(H_0 r_c) = 0.5$| per cent to 25 per cent precision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Future data provided by the Euclid mission will allow us to better understand the cosmic history of the Universe. A metric of its performance is the figure-of-merit (FoM) of dark energy, usually estimated with Fisher forecasts. The expected FoM has previously been estimated taking into account the two main probes of Euclid, namely the three-dimensional clustering of the spectroscopic galaxy sample, and the so-called 3×2pt signal from the photometric sample (i.e., the weak lensing signal, the galaxy clustering, and their cross-correlation). So far, these two probes have been treated as independent. In this paper, we introduce a new observable given by the ratio of the (angular) two-point correlation function of galaxies from the two surveys. For identical (normalised) selection functions, this observable is unaffected by sampling noise, and its variance is solely controlled by Poisson noise. We present forecasts for Euclid where this multi-tracer method is applied and is particularly relevant because the two surveys will cover the same area of the sky. This method allows for the exploitation of the combination of the spectroscopic and photometric samples. When the correlation between this new observable and the other probes is not taken into account, a significant gain is obtained in the FoM, as well as in the constraints on other cosmological parameters. The benefit is more pronounced for a commonly investigated modified gravity model, namely the γ parametrisation of the growth factor. However, the correlation between the different probes is found to be significant and hence the actual gain is uncertain. We present various strategies for circumventing this issue and still extract useful information from the new observable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of trade facilitation factors on trade flows, with a particular focus on Global Value Chains (GVCs) in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors. Using the structural gravity model of international and intra-national trade and data covering the period from 2006 to 2018, we analyze the influence of maritime connectivity and cross-border trade-facilitation factors on trade in final and intermediate goods. Our findings indicate that both factors play pivotal roles in both agricultural and manufacturing subsectors’ trade. First, maritime connectivity has a heterogeneous effect on trade across sectors. It positively affects imports of final goods in textile products, basic metals, motor vehicles, and other machinery and equipment, as well as imports of intermediate inputs for fishing, rubber, machinery and equipment, and motor vehicles. Second, cross-border trade-facilitation factors have a significant influence mostly on trade of final goods in the manufacturing sector and agricultural intermediates showing also differential effects across subsectoral categories. This reveals that policies that improve maritime connectivity and reduce paperwork, time delays and transport costs promote trade integration within GVCs in the analyzed sectors. These findings underscore the sector-specific implications of trade facilitation measures and highlight the need for targeted policy interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clarifying the spatial correlation characteristics and influencing factors of coupling coordination between Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flow networks and carbon transfer networks in countries along the Belt and Road Initiative is of utmost importance for the formulation of regional carbon governance strategies and the establishment of a high-quality Green Silk Road. This study used a comprehensive approach combining social network analysis and coupling coordination model to measure the coupling coordination degree of FDI flow networks and carbon transfer networks of 67 Belt and Road countries from 2010 to 2016. In addition, a modified gravity model is used to characterize the spatial correlation network structure of coupling coordination between the two networks, and the QAP regression analysis method is applied to investigate the factors influencing the spatial association network. The results are as follows: 1) The spatial correlation network of coupling coordination between the two networks has good accessibility and relatively high overall network stability. 2) Countries such as Qatar and the United Arab Emirates occupy central positions in the network, while Bahrain and Jordan are positioned on the periphery of the network. 3) The spatial correlation network can be divided into three sectors: net outflow, net inflow, and bidirectional overflow sectors. 4) Spatial adjacency, bilateral investment treaties, economic development, and institutional quality have significant positive effects on the spatial association network, while the industrial structure and the level of infrastructure development have a significant negative impact. This study proposes an indicator system for the coupling coordination between FDI flow networks and carbon transfer networks. The aim is to investigate the coupling coordination relationship between FDI flow networks and carbon emission transfer networks in countries along the Belt and Road Initiative, providing important guidance for the formulation of regional cooperative carbon emission reduction strategies in other regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the relative impacts of transport and information and communications technology (ICT) components of trade-related infrastructure on bilateral trade flows between Nigeria and its major trading partners. An augmented standard gravity model that featured variables for the transport infrastructure component and the ICT component was estimated using bilateral trade data on 22 major trading partners of Nigeria for the period 2005–2021. The panel instrumental variables technique, precisely pooled two-stage least squares technique leveraged on fixed and random effects models, was used for the analysis. The findings show that the two components of trade-related infrastructure, transportation and information and communication technology (ICT) have a significant impact on trade flows between Nigeria and its trading partners. In the exports model, the differential impact of the transport infrastructure component is higher than the ICT component, but the differential impact of the ICT component is greater in the imports model. This suggests that the efficient provision of both transport and ICT infrastructure facilitates trade, while the inefficient provision of either or both hinders it. Therefore, greater attention must be placed on improving both components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Creating an ecological space network is essential for safeguarding the core structure of ecological space. Methods: Morphological spatial pattern analysis was used to locate ecological sources in the Kuye River Basin. Using the least cumulative resistance model and gravity model, the resistance surface, ecological corridor, and ecological space management network are determined. Results and discussion: The study revealed that in 2022, the predominant land use types in the Kuye River Basin were wood land and grassland, cultivated land, and construction land. MSPA model software identifies a substantial portion of the landscape pattern as consisting of core and marginal areas, which encompass 30324.05 hm² and 15088.24 hm². High ecological resistance surface factors dominate the socioeconomically vibrant zone and northern regions. Resistance values ranging from 0.02 to 0.87, and high and law resistance zones alternate. The minimal cumulative resistance approach found 171 ecological corridors. And gravity model using the interaction matrix of 19 primary ecological sources discovered 8 first-level ecological corridors with the highest interaction force. There are 137 core and 23 subsidiary ecological corridors with significant affects. Overlying the road factors and ecological corridors of national highways, provincial roads, railways, and high-speed roads creates a total of 38 ecological breakpoints, each characterized by specific barrier effects and legal ecological stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forage is an important material foundation for the high-quality development of animal husbandry, and studying its industrial distribution pattern is of great value in ensuring national food safety and protecting the ecological environment. Analyze the spatiotemporal distribution pattern of Chinese forage industry through industrial concentration, spatial Gini coefficient, and center of gravity model, and empirically analyze the influencing factors of Chinese forage industry development using a fixed effects model. The results indicate that the overall clustering phenomenon of Chinese forage industry is characterized by an upward-downward-upward-downward trend, with the development focus shifting from North China to the Northwest and Northeast, and the speed of center of gravity shifting is slowing down, resulting in a relatively stable development pattern. The moisture index, lighting conditions, proportion of productive land for forage, virtual variables related to forage policies, agricultural smart platforms, mechanization level, and forage microbial fermentation and storage technology can all effectively promote the development of Chinese forage industry. The per capita consumption of meat products has not had an empowering effect on the development of Chinese forage industry, natural disasters will suppress the development of Chinese forage industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global marine gravity anomaly model is predominantly recovered from along-track radar altimeter data. Despite significant advances in gravity anomaly recovery, the improvement of the gravity anomaly model remains constrained by the absence of cross-track geoid gradients and the reduction in radar altimeter data, especially in coastal and high-latitude regions. ICESat-2 laser altimetry, with a three-pair laser beam configuration, a small footprint, and a near-polar orbit, facilitates the determination of cross-track geoid gradients and provides valid observations in certain regions. We present an ICESat-2 altimeter data processing strategy that includes the determination of cross-track geoid gradients and the combination of along-track and cross-track geoid gradients. Utilizing these methods, we developed a new global marine gravity model, SDUST2022GRA, from radar and laser altimeter data. Different weight determination methods were applied to each type of altimeter datum. The precision and spatial resolution of SDUST2022GRA were assessed against published altimeter-derived global gravity anomaly models (DTU17, V32.1, NSOAS22) and shipborne gravity measurements. SDUST2022GRA achieved a global precision of 4.43 mGal , representing an improvement of approximately 0.22 mGal over existing altimeter-derived models. In local coastal and high-latitude regions, SDUST2022GRA showed an enhancement of 0.16–0.24 mGal compared to the other models. The spatial resolution of SDUST2022GRA is approximately 20 km in certain regions, which is slightly superior to the other models. The percentage contribution of ICESat-2 to the improvement of the gravity anomaly model is 4.3 % in low- to mid-latitude regions by comparing SDUST2022GRA with ICESat-2 to SDUST2021GRA without ICESat-2, and this is increasing in coastal regions. These assessments suggest that SDUST2022GRA is a reliable global marine gravity anomaly model. The SDUST2022GRA data are freely available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8337387 (Li et al., 2023). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the soil data of four periods in 1982 (the second soil census), 1998, 2008, and 2018, geostatistic and Kriging interpolation methods were used to analyze the spatio-temporal variation characteristics of topsoil organic matter (SOM), total nitrogen (TN), available potassium (AK), and available phosphorus (AP) in Zong′ ai Town of Shouyang County, Shanxi Province. Combined with the center of gravity model, the center of gravity migration direction of nutrients was explored, and the spatio-temporal variation patterns of the soil nutrients and their influencing factors were revealed during the period of 1982—2018 in Zong′ ai Township. The results showed that the average contents of soil SOM, TN and AP, AK increased by by 3.30, 0.19 g·kg-1 and 7.75, 53.13 mg·kg-1, with the increase rate of 26.92%, 26.39%, 131.80% and 70.31%, respectively, from 1982 to 2018. SOM and AP contents showed an increase-decrease-increase trend from 1982 to 2018, while AK and TN contents kept increasing. Compared with 1982, the block-base ratios of SOM, TN, AP, and AK increased in 2018, indicating that the nutrients of the four periods of time were jointly influenced by structural and non-structural factors (random factors) and the degree of influence by non-structural factors gradually increased, and the influence of anthropogenic activity interference became more significant. In 2018, the spatial distribution characteristics of SOM contents in the study area showed a pattern [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates whether and how export growth to China varies following shocks in bilateral political relations between China and six Southeast Asian countries—Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam—between 2000 and 2019. High‐frequency news data is used to quantify bilateral political relations between each of the six countries and China. Then, a net cooperation index, plus separate indices of political cooperation and conflict, are placed in an augmented gravity model of trade situated in a vector autoregression framework alongside real exchange rate and industrial production variables to examine the short‐ (months) and long‐run (years) effects of shocks to bilateral political relations on each countryʼs exports growth to China. The results reveal that political relations with China played a role in Thailandʼs and Vietnamʼs exports growth to China but not in Indonesiaʼs, Malaysiaʼs, the Philippinesʼ and Singaporeʼs, and contribute new findings to the literature on politics and trade. Code and data for the analysis is available at: https://github.com/tradepolsrepository/tradepols.git. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking Guangxi as a case study, this study explored the spatial and temporal evolutionary characteristics of the spatial network structure of tourism economic linkages in Guangxi from 2010-2019 by applying the modified gravity model, social network analysis method, Ucinet software and ArcGIS. The study shows that (1) from 2010 to 2019, the tourism economic linkage degree of various cities in Guangxi was increasing year by year and became closely connected, but the overall regional network structure remained noticeably imbalanced; (2) there are differences in the centrality of the network of various cities in the region, and Nanning-Yulin-Guilin-Liuzhou has become the main linkage channel for the development of tourism economy in Guangxi; (3) there is an obvious core-edge zone stratification in Guangxi, and the density value of tourism economic linkage in the core zone increases year by year, while the improvement in the edge-edge area is relatively small; (4) the spatial distribution of the four cohesive subgroups of tourism economic linkage in Guangxi has deteriorated, owing to the imbalance of the spatial distribution within the subgroups which lead to the poor stability of the overall tourism economic structure. Based on this, a synergistic development model of "tourism core cities - tourism city clusters - tourism economic belt" is proposed to support the high-quality development of tourism in Guangxi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate the impacts of climate extremes on the production and trade of apples. Apple production being notoriously sensitive to climate shocks, we show that March and April temperatures and precipitations beyond estimated thresholds cause large yield reductions in Quebec and Ontario. In years when climate shocks are large and highly correlated across space, large variations in national production cause major variations in trade flows. Hence, we exploit the theoretical foundations of a sectoral structural gravity model to implement counterfactual trade experiments about harvest shocks in Canada and the United States. We report changes in tariffs, imports, exports, farmgate prices, and in consumer welfare. The shocks greatly impact trade between North American countries but have little impact on other countries except for Chile and New Zealand which see their exports grow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the 1990s, global trade has seen a sudden proliferation of regional trade agreements (RTAs). Existing empirical literature argues about the differential impact of these trade agreements on high-income and lower-middle income countries' trade. Further, economic and political arguments have developed to justify the proliferation of such trade negotiations. In this article, we have tried to build an argument taking economic and non-economic rationales of the formation of trade agreements as a complement to each other. Unlike the majority of existing literature in this field, our empirical analysis is an establishment of this debate which provides a platform to consider RTA formation to be an endogenous rather than exogeneous decision. Further, RTAs of varying nature are related differently to the unobservable which impede or facilitate trade. These unobservable also create endogeneity bias in the traditional estimation of RTAs' impact on the trade flows of a country. In this study, we have attempted to investigate the endogeneity in the context of RTA engagements using the Heckman control function approach. This study ensures the endogeneity of RTAs with their positive and significant impact on trade flows. This results do not significantly differ from similar kinds of empirical studies available on international platforms. JEL Classification: F1, F12, F14 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trade theories implicitly explain the significance of trade facilitation (TF) in increasing trade. Identifying the methodological gaps in the literature, this study assesses the effects of TF on international trade relative to internal trade under a theoretically consistent structural gravity model. The results suggest that countries' improved TF performance increases their agriculture and manufacturing trade. However, the ratification of the trade facilitation agreement (TFA) does not affect trade. The study observes differential effects of various dimensions of TF. Moreover, heterogeneity in the TF effects is found across different industries. These findings encourage countries to implement TF measures more seriously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gravity model, which is applied to international trade, explains the conceptual models of international business. It has been used in various areas of the global economy, such as trade, foreign direct investment, and even the determinants of tourist demand at the level of countries and sectors of economic activity. In terms of the methodology, this study of the gravity model followed the PRISMA requirements and bibliometric analysis (co-occurrence of keywords and network of co-authorship), which were applied to the Scopus database. In terms of the results, economic, geographical distance, and location variables are essential in explaining international trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I study how interprovincial migration impacts interprovincial trade in the wake of several provincial agreements and re-examine the extent and pattern of interprovincial trade barriers in Canada. For estimation, I use a migration augmented gravity model of trade and panel data on interprovincial trade and migration flows during 2000-2016. I find that while most agreements increased trade in goods and services respectively, albeit to different extents, between member provinces, others did not. I also find that the interprovincial barriers to trade are remarkably smaller than have been previously estimated and that the barriers are larger for trade in services than goods. However, over the last two decades in Canada trade barriers have decreased by 17 percent for services but increased by 52 percent for goods flows across provinces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the Linder hypothesis for foreign direct investment (FDI) within the three‐way gravity framework, utilizing a newly compiled and extensive dataset encompassing greenfield and brownfield investment activities across diverse sectors from 2003 to 2018. The Linder hypothesis posits that multinational firms invest in countries with comparable income levels to their home country. Our primary findings affirm the relevance of the Linder hypothesis in the context of horizontal FDI. The influence of the Linder effect varies among sectors, with the service sector exhibiting the most pronounced effect, while no detectable effect is observable for the manufacturing sector. We also find that the Linder effect depends on the sector's position within the value chain and the degree of quality differentiation. Sectors closer to final consumer demand and those characterized by higher product differentiation exhibit greater exposure to the Linder effect. Additionally, our analysis reveals that the Linder effect is subject to variations based on the income levels of the host country and highlights the significance of consumer preferences in shaping FDI patterns. Our article underscores the pivotal role of industry dynamics, product quality considerations, and value chain positioning in influencing the Linder effect on FDI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross‐border trade is critical to livelihoods and food security in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA), but bribery remains one of the main barriers to economic growth in the region. Does corruption affect intra‐African trade? We address this issue by considering the bilateral trade among 48 sub‐Saharan African countries from 2000 to 2018, which are subject to a high level of corruption. Using a gravity model, the results show that corruption has a positive impact on exports and a negative impact on imports of global, primary, and manufactured goods. However, the difference in the level of corruption between country pairs is negatively and significantly associated with intra‐African trade in manufactured goods. Therefore, to promote the corruption‐free environment needed to facilitate the African Free Trade Agreement, it is essential for policymakers in sub‐Saharan African countries to combat corruption to boost intra‐African trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the debate on whether membership of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade/World Trade Organisation (GATT/WTO) promotes greater levels of international trade. A size‐adjusted measure of trade flows vis‐á‐vis absolute trade flows (the traditional dependent variable) is used. The size‐adjusted trade flows dependent variable reduces the importance of bilateral trade with larger countries yielding a greater balance between large and small trade partners and provides an opportunity to test the importance of membership of the GATT/WTO relative to the numerous regional trade agreements (RTAs) which have grown exponentially over the years. In keeping with the recent literature, a structural gravity model of trade framework is used with a Poisson pseudo‐maximum‐likelihood estimator and high dimensional fixed effects. Furthermore, the data set consists of both international and intra‐national (domestic) trade flows. In the case of both approaches (size‐adjusted and absolute trade flows) the results are statistically significant and positive as regards the impact of GATT/WTO membership and RTAs on trade flows. Furthermore, the estimates resulting from size‐adjusted trade flows maintain the greater importance of GATT/WTO membership relative to RTAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Scientiarum Naturalium Universitatis Pekinensis is the property of Editorial Office of Acta Scientiarum Naturalium Universitatis Pekinensis and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The year 2020 was the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the turning point for the industries poorly affected by the unexpected conditions. This paper focused on the impact of a range of factors on China's exports of metal manufacture in 2020, in particular the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on it. Using cross-sectional data, the paper collected relevant data for 151 countries in 2020. We applied trade gravity model by considering important parameters impacting on China's exports of metal manufacture such as GDP, distance, population, the total number of cases of COVID-19, employment rate, economic degrees of freedom, the political environment and the free trade agreement between China and other countries. Then, by collecting the data set for 2021, this paper compares the models for 2020 and 2021 with the aim of making a comparison of the impact of the pandemic on China's exports of metal manufactures. We also do some analysis about the trend of the effect of COVID-19 in the future. The paper continues with calculation of China's export potential for metal manufacture for its 151 partner countries including 54 of them are at the Trade Potential Untapped level, 38 at the Trade Potential Growing level and 59 at the Trade Potential Mature level based on gravity model. This paper also offers different detailed trade policies for the distinct levels of trade potential in the light of the impact of the COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Hacettepe University Journal of Economics & Administrative Sciences / Hacettepe Üniversitesi Iktisadi ve Idari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi is the property of Hacettepe University, Faculty of Economic & Administrative Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Environmental & Social Management Journal / Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental is the property of Environmental & Social Management Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The present paper seeks to conceptualise the notion of complementarity with the help of rail-based commodity flow data in one of the most prominent railway towns in India i.e. PanditDeenDayalUpadhyaya Nagar (Mughal Sarai). Referring to the theoretical notion of 'complementarity' and a modified form of 'gravity model' from the 'Family of Spatial Interaction Models', this research puts an intensive discussion forward on the existing nature of spatial interaction of PanditDeenDayalUpadhyaya Nagar (Mughal Sarai) with its complementary areas and a comparison of these areas in terms of their relative complementarity with the town concerned. The resultant outcome in the form of a Complementarity Index, portrays a different, if not entirely contradictory picture from the crude values of material shipments to PanditDeenDayalUpadhyaya Nagar (Mughal Sarai). This analysis thus well-indicates that merely supplying greater amount of commodities of any kind does not necessarily reflect greater complementarity and vice versa. Therefore, a more comprehensive analysis of commodity flows is imperative to have a deeper insight into the notion of spatial interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate the bouncing universe in a modified gravity model f (Q , T). The bouncing universe theory posits that the universe goes through periodic expansions and contractions, with a "bounce" occurring at the end of each contraction that leads to a new expansion. This theory suggests that our universe didn't emerge on its own out of nothing, but is instead the latest in a series of universes that have been expanding and contracting for eternity. It has gained renewed interest in recent years as a potential alternative to the Big Bang theory, which suggests that our universe began with a massive expansion from a singularity. According to the above explanations, first, we review of f (Q , T) gravity model, then the bouncing universe scenario according to the f (Q , T) gravity model in some special functions is analyzed in detail. We find that in which condition of parameters space, bouncing occurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the impact of corruption, corruption distance, and corruption direction on bilateral foreign direct investment (FDI) outflows using reporting OECD Global North and Global South countries. We first posit that corruption and the absolute difference in corruption levels across a pair of countries are negatively related to a host country's level of FDI. Then we investigate the moderating effect of direction when investing in a more corrupt host country. A PPML gravity model for a panel of 5733 different North and South country pairs over the years 1998–2018 indicates both the presence of corruption and a high corruption distance between country pairs has negative effects on FDI outflows, but investing in the direction of a more corrupt host country has a positive moderating effect. Our results contribute to expand and complement the theories on corruption in FDI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Soil & Water Conservation (1009-2242) is the property of Institute of Soil & Water Conservation and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)