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A Continuous Multi-dimensional Measure of Rurality: Moving Beyond Threshold Measures

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  • Waldorf, Brigitte S.

Abstract

This paper introduces the Index of Relative Rurality, a continuous measure of rurality. The index is based on four dimensions: population size, density, percentage of urban residents, and distance to the closest metropolitan area. The index varies from 0 (most urban) to 1 (most rural). Compared to existing means of measuring rurality, the index is continuous and thus does not suffer from problems that arise when using arbitrary thresholds to separate discrete categories. This shift away from often ill-defined categories of rural and urban, to measuring the degree of rurality will shed new light on a wide array of rural issues ranging from rural poverty to economic growth. This paper shows that the Index of Relative Rurality makes an invaluable contribution to the debate on what is rural and what is urban. Three properties of the index are particularly beneficial for both research and policy: rurality is treated as a relative attribute, making it possible to investigate trajectories of rurality over time; sensitivity to small changes in one of the defining dimensions; applicability to different spatial scales.

Suggested Citation

  • Waldorf, Brigitte S., 2006. "A Continuous Multi-dimensional Measure of Rurality: Moving Beyond Threshold Measures," 2006 Annual meeting, July 23-26, Long Beach, CA 21383, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:aaea06:21383
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.21383
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    Cited by:

    1. Beghin, John C. & Meade, Birgit & Rosen, Stacey, 2014. "A Consistent Food Demand Framework for International Food Security Assessment," Staff General Research Papers Archive 38196, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    2. Kaza, Nikhil, 2020. "Urban form and transportation energy consumption," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    3. Randall Jackson & Mulugeta Kahsai & Peter Schaeffer & Mark Middleton & Junbo Yu, 2015. "A Framework for Measuring County Economic Resilience," Working Papers Working Paper 2015-03, Regional Research Institute, West Virginia University.
    4. Kimhi, Ayal & Sarit Menahem-Carmi, 2017. "Does rural household income depend on neighboring urban centers?Evidence from Israel," Review of Applied Socio-Economic Research, Pro Global Science Association, vol. 13(1), pages 26-35, JUNE.
    5. Kimhi, Ayal, 2010. "Does Rural Household Income Depend on Neighboring Communities? Evidence from Israel," Discussion Papers 93134, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Department of Agricultural Economics and Management.
    6. Mao, Liang & Stacciarini, Jeanne-Marie R. & Smith, Rebekah & Wiens, Brenda, 2015. "An individual-based rurality measure and its health application: A case study of Latino immigrants in North Florida, USA," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 300-308.
    7. Jinfeng Zhao & Shanthi Ameratunga & Arier Lee & Michael Browne & Daniel J. Exeter, 2019. "Developing a New Index of Rurality for Exploring Variations in Health Outcomes in Auckland and Northland," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 144(2), pages 955-980, July.
    8. Waldorf, Brigitte S., 2007. "The Effects Of Rurality And Industrial Specialization Income Growth: U.S. Counties 2000 To 2003," Working papers 7334, Purdue University, Department of Agricultural Economics.
    9. Carmen Delgado-Viñas & María-Luisa Gómez-Moreno, 2022. "The Interaction between Urban and Rural Areas: An Updated Paradigmatic, Methodological and Bibliographic Review," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-21, August.
    10. Lusine Yaghjyan & Christopher R. Cogle & Guangran Deng & Jue Yang & Pauline Jackson & Nancy Hardt & Jaclyn Hall & Liang Mao, 2019. "Continuous Rural-Urban Coding for Cancer Disparity Studies: Is It Appropriate for Statistical Analysis?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-14, March.
    11. Alan T. Murray & Tony H. Grubesic, 2019. "Evolving Regional Analytics in a Rural World," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 42(5-6), pages 374-399, September.
    12. Wang, Tong & Hennessy, David & Park, Seong, 2014. "Veterinary Supply, Gender and Practice Location Choices in the United States, 1990-2010," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 170211, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    13. Lishan Xiao & Peiqi Shi & Tong Lin & Ning Chen & Sha Huang, 2021. "Rural Morphology and Forces Driving Change in Rapidly Urbanizing Areas: A Case Study in Fujian, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-15, April.
    14. Huaxiang Chen & Lina Tang & Quanyi Qiu & Tong Wu & Ziyan Wang & Su Xu & Lishan Xiao, 2018. "Coupling between Rural Development and Ecosystem Services, the Case of Fujian Province, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-19, February.
    15. Steven A Cohen & Mary L Greaney & Natalie J Sabik, 2018. "Assessment of dietary patterns, physical activity and obesity from a national survey: Rural-urban health disparities in older adults," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(12), pages 1-15, December.
    16. Eathington, Liesl, 2015. "Nanopolitans and Picopolitans: Exploring the Value of Core-Based Definitions Below the Micropolitan Level," Staff General Research Papers Archive 38991, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    17. Tong Wang & David A. Hennessy & Annette M. O'Connor, 2010. "Where Are the Veterinarian Shortage Areas Anyway?," Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) Publications 10-wp513, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University.
    18. Malcolm J Beynon & Andrew Crawley & Max Munday, 2016. "Measuring and understanding the differences between urban and rural areas," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 43(6), pages 1136-1154, November.
    19. Thomas F. P. Wiesen & Todd Gabe & Lakshya Bharadwaj, 2023. "Econometric connectedness as a measure of urban influence: evidence from Maine," Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 1-16, December.
    20. Tong Wang & David A. Hennessy & Seong C. Park, 2016. "Demand Side Change, Rurality, and Gender in the United States Veterinarian Market, 1990–2010," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(2), pages 236-253, April.
    21. Brigitte Waldorf, 2009. "Is human capital accumulation a self-propelling process? Comparing educational attainment levels of movers and stayers," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 43(2), pages 323-344, June.
    22. Sun, Feinuo, 2022. "Rurality and opioid prescribing rates in U.S. counties from 2006 to 2018: A spatiotemporal investigation," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 296(C).
    23. Viñas Carmen Delgado, 2019. "Depopulation Processes in European Rural Areas: A Case Study of Cantabria (Spain)," European Countryside, Sciendo, vol. 11(3), pages 341-369, September.
    24. Ellen M. Hoffmann & Monish Jose & Nils Nölke & Thomas Möckel, 2017. "Construction and Use of a Simple Index of Urbanisation in the Rural–Urban Interface of Bangalore, India," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-21, November.

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    Keywords

    Community/Rural/Urban Development;

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