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The size distribution of ‘cities’ delineated with a network theory‐based method and mobile phone GPS data
Author(s) -
Fujishima Shota,
Fujiwara Naoya,
Akiyama Yuki,
Shibasaki Ryosuke,
Sakuramachi Ritsu
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
international journal of economic theory
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.351
H-Index - 11
eISSN - 1742-7363
pISSN - 1742-7355
DOI - 10.1111/ijet.12254
Subject(s) - log normal distribution , pareto principle , global positioning system , econometrics , partition (number theory) , pareto distribution , mobile phone , distribution (mathematics) , population , jump , computer science , statistical physics , geography , economics , mathematics , statistics , telecommunications , physics , demography , combinatorics , sociology , mathematical analysis , quantum mechanics
We delineate “cities” independent of administrative boundaries in Japan by using a network theory‐based method and GPS‐based human mobility data. We divide the country into approximately 1 × 1 km 2 cells and detect the partition of cells that is optimal from the perspective of information theory. The resulting groups of cells are specified as cities. We find that the combination of two lognormal distributions better fits the city‐size distribution than a distribution with a Pareto upper tail. Moreover, we show that a jump diffusion process is the stochastic process of the city population underlying such a distribution.