The Effect of Economic Dependence on Urban Primacy: A Cross-National Panel Analysis

Dependency theorists have become increasingly interested in examining the effects of international economic dependence on such measures of national development as economic growth, income inequality, and overurbanization. Yet limited systematic research exists examining the effect of economic dependence on urban primacy. Panel regression analysis was used to examine the effects of economic dependence and several control variables on urban primacy for a sample of 53 nations. That is, circa 1970 primacy (based on Davis's 4-city index of first-city primacy) was regressed on circa 1955 measures of urban primacy, economic dependence (investment dependence or export dependence on raw materials), gross national product per capita, land area size, and population growth between 1950 and 1970. Results of the analyses indicated that both measures of economic dependence had positive-albeit nonsignificant-effects on urban primacy.