Proximity and Self-Correlation of Municipalities in the Republic of Benin

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to provide a detailed description of the spatial distribution of tax revenues, non-tax revenues and capital expenditures of the Communes in the Republic of Benin, to analyze the spatial interactions between the Commons and to deduce from them Communes with a strong neighborhood of spatial interaction.

The methodological approach consisted in using a database, in the construction of an adjacency matrix that made it possible to conceptualize and take into account the neighborhood links. The degree of spatial dependence is captured from the global and local spatial indices of Moran.

The main findings of the study indicate that the tax revenues and capital expenditures of the Commons are characterized by a random distribution. On the other hand, non-tax revenue is spatially self-correlated. However, local spatial analyzes reveal that some municipalities seem to be concentrating above average levels of tax revenue and investment spending in their neighborhoods. In addition, the analyzes revealed that the influence of the urbanization rate on the level of tax revenue, non-tax revenue and investment expenditure is barely perceptible. It is therefore necessary to review a better orientation of local development policies.