An economic model of ethnic maps and the endogenous unit area problem

29 Pages Posted: 2 May 2022 Last revised: 13 Oct 2022

See all articles by Jordan Adamson

Jordan Adamson

Leipzig University, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics

Date Written: May 25, 2022

Abstract

In this paper, I create a spatial economic model of ethnic groups and explore how endogenous unit areas affect statistical inference. I estimate several competing models of Murdock's' map of African ethnic groups, used widely in applied economic studies, and do not reject the hypothesis that the map is endogenously determined. I also find that Murdock's map generates more spurious spatial correlations than completely random maps, which in turn generates more spurious spatial correlations than equal area geocells.

Keywords: economic tesselation, endogenous unit area, spurious spatial correlation

JEL Classification: C51, C52, C59

Suggested Citation

Adamson, Jordan, An economic model of ethnic maps and the endogenous unit area problem (May 25, 2022). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4091833 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4091833

Jordan Adamson (Contact Author)

Leipzig University, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics ( email )

Grimmaische Str. 12
Leipzig, 04109
Germany

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