Gravity model
Gravity models are used in various astronomical and theoretical sciences to predict and describe certain happenings that mimic gravitational interaction as described in Isaac Newton's law of gravity. Generally, the astronomical science models contain mainly elements of mass and distance, which lends them to the equatance to physical gravity. A gravity model provides an estimate of the volume of flows of, for planets, astroids, comets, or celestial bodies between two or more locations. This could be the movement of people between planets [1] or the volume of trade between countries.
A gravity model cannot accurately predict flows, but is instead a measure against which actual observed values can be compared, highlighting where those flows are unexpectedly high or low.
Social science gravity models:
- Gravity model of trade
- Trip distribution
- Gravity model of migration
- Two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) method
References
- ^ Crymble, Adam; Dennett, Adam; Hitchcock, Tim (2017-07-27). "Modelling regional imbalances in English plebeian migration to late eighteenth-century London". Economic History Review. 71 (3): 747–771. doi:10.1111/ehr.12569.