Geography of Federal Government Expenditures in the United States of America

Abstract

1. A main objective of this study was to reduce the various component variables of the federal outlays into several basic common variables to explain the systematic dependencies and intercorrelations among the different federal expediture patterns to metropolitan areas. The method of factor analysis was utilized for this purpose. 2 .. From the 18 input variables (mostly federalagency outlays) seven underlying dimensions werederived. They were given the labels (according to the factor loadings of the variables) of: Military Operation Oriented Dimension, State Government Oriented Dimension, Population Orientend Dimension,

Space-Defense Oriented Dimension, Small Urban Oriented Dimension, Higher EducationResearch Oriented Dimension, and Housing Oriented Dimension. 3. The spatial distribution of the factors was analyzed by the· mapping of the factor scores for the SMSAs. For a number of the factors, e. g., the Military Operation Oriented Dimension, distinct regional contrasts were found. For others, e.g., the State Government Oriented Dimension, the nature of the factor meant that the pattern of high factor scores would be more ubiquitous. 4. For comparative purposes, a factor analysis using location quotients rather than per capita values as the measure of outlays was made. There was a fairly close correspondence between the factor patterns.