Accessibility and Older and Foreign Populations: Exploring Local Spatial Heterogeneities across Italy

Massimo Armenise, Federico Benassi (), Maria Carella and Roberta Misuraca
Additional contact information
Massimo Armenise: Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), 00184 Rome, Italy
Federico Benassi: Department of Political Science, University of Naples Federico II, 80138 Naples, Italy
Maria Carella: Department of Political Science, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70121 Bari, Italy
Roberta Misuraca: Department of Political Science, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70121 Bari, Italy

Economies, 2024, vol. 12, issue 9, 1-20

Abstract: The interplay between accessibility and population change is a relatively new subject in Italian academic research. Along with social and economic factors such as regional economic prosperity, the ease of movement inside and outside an area can play a pivotal role in shaping population dynamics. This study seeks to explore the spatial distribution and spatial relationships of three indicators, including one related to real accessibility (RAI) and two others related, respectively, to the shares of the older population (SOP) and of the foreign population (SFP). An exploratory spatial data analysis is, therefore, conducted at the local level using Italian municipalities as the statistical units for the empirical analysis. Local univariate spatial autocorrelation analysis is used together with a regression analysis based on ordinary least squares (OLS) and geographically weighted regression (GWR) models. The results provide valuable insights into the local heterogeneity that characterizes the distribution of each indicator and the local relationship between them, highlighting the importance of thinking locally in quantitative social sciences.

Keywords: local demography; spatial analysis; territorial imbalances; foreign population; older population; accessibility; municipalities; Italy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E F I J O Q (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7099/12/9/248/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7099/12/9/248/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jecomi:v:12:y:2024:i:9:p:248-:d:1479311

Access Statistics for this article

Economies is currently edited by Ms. Hongyan Zhang

More articles in Economies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().