https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/s10051-024-00766-5
Regular Article - Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
Analysis of socioeconomic indicators in the United States, Brazil, and other Latin American countries using econophysics techniques
1
UFRGS, Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, 91501-970, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
2
CBPF, Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia de Sistemas Complexos, 22290-180, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Received:
8
April
2024
Accepted:
7
August
2024
Published online:
10
September
2024
In addressing the complexity inherent in comparing socioeconomic indicators across diverse countries, a substantial barrier arises from the wide array of distinct calculation approaches. Consequently, a highly pertinent question emerges: how does one compare values when the underlying calculation methodologies are diverse? In this context, we propose a multidisciplinary and heterogeneous approach, employing numerical and visual comparisons to analyze socioeconomic indicators of municipalities in the US, Brazil and other Latin American countries. We identify independent-scale patterns in three stages: initially, by compiling a database sourced from respected institutions in each country and identifying correlations within this dataset; next, by creating graphical representations using a binning methodology for scatter plots of the identified patterns; finally, by transforming the dispersions from the initial stage into graphs using a variant of the Gravitational Clustering Algorithm technique from astrophysics. We find significant relationships, specifically in the logarithmic relationship between Municipal HDI and population size. In some countries, global minima were identified, suggesting the existence of a critical population density at which municipalities above this threshold exhibit a positive and significant correlation with an increase in their HDI.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to EDP Sciences, SIF and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2024. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
