Spatial Correlation Relationships: Geographic and Economic Perspectives

The present study identifies two distinct types of spatial correlation relationships, namely 'geographic' and 'economic' correlations. The former involves the selection of two weight matrices, namely the 'geographic adjacency matrix (w1)' and the 'geographical distance weight matrix (w2)', which are derived from the binary indicator of city adjacency and the spherical distance computed from the longitude and latitude of the city center, respectively. The latter, on the other hand, pertains to a matrix of 'economic distance weights', which are computed based on the average GDP per capita during the period spanning 2011 to 2019.