Una metodología para delimitar regiones urbanas funcionales (RUF) usando la conmutación a larga distancia: Evidencia empírica para Chile

Social and economic interaction among small spatial units is a phenomenon that has undoubtedly become persistent across time. This implies that labor markets expand through space mainly due to the continuous decrease of transport costs. Thus, greater interaction among spatial units suggests the potential existence of macro labor markets labeled as functional regions. Building functional regions for Chile is a challenge owing to the role played by the localization of natural resources, resulting in long-distance commutation. This document contributes to the construction of Functional Urban Regions (FUR) using Intramax method for the case of Chile. In addition, an alternative is proposed to include the effects of long-distance commutation. Results show that FURs built from Intramax algorithm that incorporate spatial econometric criteria show greater benefits.