This paper explored the fractal nature of the annual family income distribution data which appears in the 2006 Family Income and Expenditure Survey. Fractal dimensions show strong correlation (R > 0.8) with average family income, average family expenditure, and employment. Since, fractal dimension assumes scale invariance, it is also possible to see how regional family income distributions are reflected in the national family income distribution.
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Original Title
Fractals in the 2006 Philippines Family Annual Income Distribution Data
This paper explored the fractal nature of the annual family income distribution data which appears in the 2006 Family Income and Expenditure Survey. Fractal dimensions show strong correlation (R > 0.8) with average family income, average family expenditure, and employment. Since, fractal dimension assumes scale invariance, it is also possible to see how regional family income distributions are reflected in the national family income distribution.
This paper explored the fractal nature of the annual family income distribution data which appears in the 2006 Family Income and Expenditure Survey. Fractal dimensions show strong correlation (R > 0.8) with average family income, average family expenditure, and employment. Since, fractal dimension assumes scale invariance, it is also possible to see how regional family income distributions are reflected in the national family income distribution.
College of Arts and Sciences, University of the Philippines Los Baños, College, Laguna
ABSTRACT Table 1. Pearson’s Coefficient (R) of the Philippines and its
Regions This paper explored the fractal nature of the annual family income distribution data which appears in the 2006 Family In- Region R come and Expenditure Survey (FIES) by the Philippine Na- ARMM Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao 0.8686 tional Statistics Office. The fractal nature was investigated by VI Western Visayas 0.9147 determining the degree of the power law behaviour and frac- XIII Caraga 0.9156 tal dimension of Cumulative Family Annual Income vs. Cumu- VIII Eastern Visayas 0.9169 lative Number of Family graph for each region in the Philippines. The said fractal dimensions were correlated with V Bicol Region 0.9181 the different socio-economic parameters. The fractal dimen- IVB Mimaropa 0.9186 sions show strong correlation (R > 0.8) with average family in- XII Soccsksargen 0.9229 come, average family expenditure, and employment. II Cagayan Valley 0.9293 Fractal dimension is a good indicator of income distribution X Northern Mindanao 0.9310 inequality among Filipino families. Since, fractal nature IX Zamboanga Peninsula 0.9354 assumes scale invariance, it is also possible to see how re- I Ilocos Region 0.9458 gional family income distributions are reflected in the na- tional family income distribution. XI Davao Region 0.9472 CAR Cordillera Administrative Region 0.9503 MODEL FORMULATION Philippines 0.9536 The income classes are grouped as follows: (1) Below VII Central Visayas 0.9638 40,000.00, (2) 40,000.00 to 59,999.00, (3) 60,000.00 to 99,999.00, (4) III Central Luzon 0.9649 100,000.00 to 249,000.00 and (5) 250,000.00 and above. For a IVA Calabarzon 0.9758 power law graph, the equation should be NCR National Capital Region 0.9833 I = k Na (Equation 1) It is noteworthy to state that five out of the top six regions where with highest value of R belong to the regions with top urban I is the cumulative family annual income centers, they are as follows: NCR (1st) , IVA (2nd), III (3rd), VII N is the cumulative number of family (4th) and XI (6th). NCR is country’s capital and the most ur- k is a constant banized region having 16 cities and 1 municipality. Regions a is the power law exponent or the fractal dimension IVA and III are nearby regions of NCR which are located south and north of NCR, respectively. Both regions are few Equation 1 cab be rewritten as, minutes-drive from NCR. Region VII houses the metropolis ln(I) = ln(k) + a ln(N) (Equation 2) of Visayas (Central Philippines), in which Metro Cebu is lo- Equation 2 shows linear relation between ln(N) and ln(I) cated. Region XI is Davao Region which houses Davao City, which has a slope that is equivalent to the value of fractal di- the premier city of Mindanao (Southern Philippines). mension. The slope of Equation 2 can be computed using Table 2. Correlation of Region’s Fractal Dimension and linear regression. Also, Equation 2 suggests that the degree of Degree of Power Law Behaviour with other parameters in the fitness of the Cumulative Family Income (I) and Cumulative 2006 Family Income and Expenditure Survey Number of Family (N) to a power law equation can be com- puted by calculating the degree of linearity (Person’s Coeffi- Parameters R cient, R) that exists between ln(N) and ln(I). Total Annual Family Income 0.8956 The nearness of the value of R to number one shows that the Ave. Annual Family Income 0.8779 Cumulative Family Income—Cumulative Number of Family Total Family Expenditure 0.8872 graph has a high degree of power law behaviour showing the fractality of the income distribution. Ave. Family Expenditure 0.8908 Number of Families 0.7552 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Fractal Dimension of the Philippines and its Regions Table 3. Correlation of Region’s Fractal Dimension and Degree of Power Law Behaviour with other parameters re- Fractal Dimension (a) leased by the National Statistics Office Parameters Correlation Coefficient Philippines ARMM 3 NCR 2007 Population 0.7508 XIII CAR 2 2000 Population 0.7475 XII I 1995 Population 0.7720 1 XI II 2003 Functional Literacy 0.6179 0 2003 Functional Literacy X III (Male) 0.7070 2003 Functional Literacy IX IVA 0.4833 (Female) VIII IVB 2006 Employment -0.8711 VII V VI 2006 Underemployment -0.5641
The fractal dimension of the Philippines is 1.21 comparable
It is also important to point out that based from the same to the fractal dimension of the Cordillera Administrative Re- FIES survey, that the National Capital Region has the highest gion (CAR) which is 1.20. The top five regions (NCR, III, IVA, total annual family income, average annual family income, I, II) with highest fractal dimension are from Luzon (Northern total family expenditure, and average family expenditure Philippines). The National Capital Region posses the highest while the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao has the fractal dimension of 2.90 which is a large led from the second lowest. placer which is Region III (a=1.81). Region IX (Zamboanga Peninsula) has the lowest fractal dimension of 0.72. Higher This study shows that the income distribution in the differ- value of fractal dimension signifies that the income distribu- ent regions of the Philippines as reflected in the 2006 Family tion favour higher income earners than the lower income Income and Expenditure Survey is fractal, i.e. it follows earners. power law and scale invariance. Such distribution can be quantitatively described using fractal dimension and can be Poster Presentation, 2nd CAS Student-Faculty Conference December 14, 2009 correlated with the different socio-economic parameters. University of the Philippines Los Baños