Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Dimensions of distance

Dimensions of distance This paper aims to examine how distance manifests in terms of air passenger transport links between countries and focuses on the 48 countries of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It asks to what extent do existing flight connections reflect economic relations between countries, and if so, do they represent past, current or future relations? It asks whether the impact of distance is similar for all countries and at different stages of development.Design/methodology/approachPassenger flight connection data were extracted to generate map images and flight frequencies to observe interrelationships between different locations and to observe emerging patterns. The paper uses ESRI’s ArcGIS software to visualise all these data into maps.FindingsSSA is poorly connected both intra- and inter-continentally. Cultural and historical ties dominate and elements of historical determinism appear within flight connections in SSA reflecting the biases associated with colonialism. Larger economies in SSA are less dependent on these past ties, and their flight connections reveal a greater level of diversity and interests. SSA has generally been slow to develop flight routings to the new emerging markets.Originality/valueIts contribution lies not only in examining these flight patterns for an under-researched region but also in aiding future work on SSA and its integration into the global economy and international business networks. It argues that whilst distance matters, how it matters varies. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Critical Perspectives on International Business Emerald Publishing

Dimensions of distance

Download PDF
22 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/dimensions-of-distance-tRDbXYnrLR

References (36)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© Emerald Publishing Limited
ISSN
1742-2043
DOI
10.1108/cpoib-01-2017-0001
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

This paper aims to examine how distance manifests in terms of air passenger transport links between countries and focuses on the 48 countries of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It asks to what extent do existing flight connections reflect economic relations between countries, and if so, do they represent past, current or future relations? It asks whether the impact of distance is similar for all countries and at different stages of development.Design/methodology/approachPassenger flight connection data were extracted to generate map images and flight frequencies to observe interrelationships between different locations and to observe emerging patterns. The paper uses ESRI’s ArcGIS software to visualise all these data into maps.FindingsSSA is poorly connected both intra- and inter-continentally. Cultural and historical ties dominate and elements of historical determinism appear within flight connections in SSA reflecting the biases associated with colonialism. Larger economies in SSA are less dependent on these past ties, and their flight connections reveal a greater level of diversity and interests. SSA has generally been slow to develop flight routings to the new emerging markets.Originality/valueIts contribution lies not only in examining these flight patterns for an under-researched region but also in aiding future work on SSA and its integration into the global economy and international business networks. It argues that whilst distance matters, how it matters varies.

Journal

Critical Perspectives on International Business – Emerald Publishing

Published: Feb 20, 2018

Keywords: Economic development; Colonialism; Sub Saharan Africa; International business; Distance; Aviation sector

There are no references for this article.