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Gravity Distances

Ratio of arithmetic over harmonic distances in 2000.

Gravity-consistent aggregate distances (harmonic, geometric and arithmetic mean) between countries and other geographical entities computed using nighttime lights data as weights. In most applications the use of the harmonic mean distance (theta = -1) is recommended. Similarly, often time-invariant distances are sufficient, e.g. those with weight from the year 2000.

Entities	Years	File	Size
Countries to countries	2000	distances_countries-countries_2000.rds	801 KB
		distances_countries-countries_2000.csvy.gz	1.3 MB
		distances_countries-countries_2000.dta.gz	1 MB
	1992 – 2012	distances_countries-countries_1992-2012.rds	16.7 MB
		distances_countries-countries_1992-2012.csvy.gz	26.7 MB
		distances_countries-countries_1992-2012.dta.gz	21.4 MB
EU NUTS 2 regions to EU NUTS 2 regions	2000	distances_eu_nuts2-eu_nuts2_2000.rds	2.5 MB
		distances_eu_nuts2-eu_nuts2_2000.csvy.gz	3.9 MB
		distances_eu_nuts2-eu_nuts2_2000.dta.gz	3.2 MB
EU NUTS 3 regions to EU NUTS 3 regions	2000	distances_eu_nuts3-eu_nuts3_2000.rds	55.7 MB
		distances_eu_nuts3-eu_nuts3_2000.csvy.gz	77.4 MB
		distances_eu_nuts3-eu_nuts3_2000.dta.gz	65.1 MB
US states to US states	2000	distances_usstates-usstates_2000.rds	42 KB
		distances_usstates-usstates_2000.csvy.gz	87 KB
		distances_usstates-usstates_2000.dta.gz	71 KB
	1992 – 2012	distances_usstates-usstates_1992-2012.rds	1.2 MB
		distances_usstates-usstates_1992-2012.csvy.gz	1.7 MB
		distances_usstates-usstates_1992-2012.dta.gz	1.6 MB
US states to countries	2000	distances_usstates-countries_2000.rds	419 KB
		distances_usstates-countries_2000.csvy.gz	669 KB
		distances_usstates-countries_2000.dta.gz	543 KB
	1992 – 2012	distances_usstates-countries_1992-2012.rds	8.7 MB
		distances_usstates-countries_1992-2012.csvy.gz	12.5 MB
		distances_usstates-countries_1992-2012.dta.gz	11.4 MB
US states to Canadian provinces	2000	distances_usstates-canprovinces_2000.rds	19 KB
		distances_usstates-canprovinces_2000.csvy.gz	42 KB
		distances_usstates-canprovinces_2000.dta.gz	35 KB
	1992 – 2012	distances_usstates-canprovinces_1992-2012.rds	612 KB
		distances_usstates-canprovinces_1992-2012.csvy.gz	887 KB
		distances_usstates-canprovinces_1992-2012.dta.gz	808 KB
Canadian provinces to Canadian provinces	2000	distances_canprovinces-canprovinces_2000.rds	3 KB
		distances_canprovinces-canprovinces_2000.csvy.gz	5 KB
		distances_canprovinces-canprovinces_2000.dta.gz	4 KB
	1992 – 2012	distances_canprovinces-canprovinces_1992-2012.rds	60 KB
		distances_canprovinces-canprovinces_1992-2012.csvy.gz	111 KB
		distances_canprovinces-canprovinces_1992-2012.dta.gz	101 KB
Canadian provinces to countries	2000	distances_canprovinces-countries_2000.rds	96 KB
		distances_canprovinces-countries_2000.csvy.gz	169 KB
		distances_canprovinces-countries_2000.dta.gz	137 KB
	1992 – 2012	distances_canprovinces-countries_1992-2012.rds	2.2 MB
		distances_canprovinces-countries_1992-2012.csvy.gz	3.2 MB
		distances_canprovinces-countries_1992-2012.dta.gz	2.9 MB
Norwegian municipalities to	2011	distances_norway_municipalities_gpwv4_2011.rds	4 MB
Norwegian municipalities (kommuner)		distances_norway_municipalities_gpwv4_2011.csvy.gz	5.9 MB
		distances_norway_municipalities_gpwv4_2011.dta.gz	5 MB

Note that EU NUTS regions include those of candidate countries as well as of the UK. US states include Washington, DC and Puerto Rico.

For more detailed data with thetas ranging from -2 to +1 the use of the R package gravity.distances is recommended.

If you need gravity distances between geographic entities not listed above that could also be of interest to other researchers, please send me an e-mail. Maybe we can work something out: mail@julianhinz.com

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