Geographically weighted regression

Purpose - The study of social capital in the context of location/space is a new approach that is dominated by the science of geography, and is seen as a way of distinguishing it from other sciences. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of livelihood capitals on social capital in rural areas of Bojnourd County. Design/methodology/approach - This study was a fundamental research, conducted in a descriptive-analytical method. Documentary methods and field works have been employed to collect the data. The population consisted of 22 villages with more than 20 households in Bojnourd County, selected from various population classes and distances from Bojnourd. Using Cochran formula and random sampling method, 298 households were selected from a total of 4849 households in the rural areas of the study area. Partial least squares technique and Smart PLS software were used to test the conceptual model of the research and the impact of livelihood capitals on social capital. Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) was used to evaluate the model efficiency at Bojnourd County level. Findings - According to the results, the coefficients of T among the main variables of the study were above 2.58, which means the relationship is significant and direct. Thus, local-spatial factors have a significant and positive effect on social capital. Based on total coefficients, human capital with the coefficient of 0.348 and physical capital with the coefficient of 0.136 respectively had the most and the least effect on social capital. The results of spatial analysis using GWR showed that the impact coefficient of livelihood capitals on social capital was highest in the villages of Atrabad Olia and Gharajeh, and in total about 45% of villages in the study area had an impact coefficient of 0.90 to 0.91. Research limitations/implications - As the study of livelihood capitals and analysis of their relationship with social capital is a fundamental challenge in achieving sustainable rural development that is missing in current studies, it is recommended that future studies pay more attention to social capital and the impact of livelihood capitals on its creation and rural development. Practical implications - Rural areas suffer from the lack of social capital, which is one of the most important types of development capital required to achieve sustainable rural development. Thus, enhancing the social capital and informing the villagers about the value and importance of local-spatial factors and the material and non-material capitals available in rural areas should be on the agenda of rural development researchers and planners.

Purpose- Environmental issues such as the ecological footprint, are the product of intellectual, cultural, and economic factors. Therefore, it is necessary to know the variables effective on the amount of the footprint. The main objective of the present study is to investigate the factors affecting the ecological footprints of the rural settlements in Eslamabad-e Gharb County with a holistic and spatial approach. Design/methodology/approach- The present study is an applied one regarding the objective and descriptive-correlational regarding the methodology. In terms of the data collection method, it is a field survey. The statistical population includes 25% of the villages in Eslamabad-e Gharb County (40 villages). The sample size was determined as 500 households based on the latent and observable variables. The Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the data. Also, the Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) was used to investigate the effects of the locative-spatial factors on the research variables.Findings: The results of the Bootstrap test based on the T values indicated that the variables “ownership”, “environmental awareness”, and “consumerism” had the highest t-value and thus, were most correlated. The variable “ownership” in the economic structure is more correlated with the ecological footprint of the researched villages than other independent variables with a statistic of 26.053. overall, the analysis of the direct and inverse correlations in the SEM indicated that the variables “ownership” and “employment” were the most effective factors on the ecological footprint with coefficients of 0.874 and 0.575, while the “conspicuous consumption” was the least effective variable. Also, the results of spatial regression showed that the villages in the northwest of the county were more effective while moving towards the southeast and getting distant from the center reduces the effectiveness of the research variables on the ecological footprint.Research limitations/implications- The high rate of employment in the agricultural sector, the weakness in environmental issues training, and the high rate of livestock and agricultural ownership among a limited number of people have created obstacles on the road to the ecological sustainability of the region.Practical Solutions: Directing the residents of the researched villages towards non-agricultural employment by providing appropriate facilities and support, promoting an environment-friendly lifestyle, and training the residents to increase their environmental awareness by holding workshops in this field.Originality / Value: The present study is the first to use the SEM and spatial approach to investigate the factors effective on the ecological footprints of rural settlements. The results obtained can aid the planners and decision-makers in the field of rural settlements to advance the goals of sustainable development.