An Urban Network Study of Government Procurement Activities: A Case Study of Northeast China
Table 3
Centrality metrics used to measure the importance of nodes in the GPA connection networks.
Indicator
Formula
Interpretation of formula
Topological meanings
Degree centrality
Sum of all arcs directly connected to node i
Amount of GPA connections that city i has with other cities, reflecting the cumulative times of city i participating in the GPA network
Outdegree
Sum of all arcs originating from node i
Amount of GPA connections firms in city i has with governments in other cities, reflecting the cumulative times of city i as suppliers in GPA network
Indegree
Sum of all arcs ending at node i
Amount of GPA connections government in city i has with firms in other cities, reflecting the cumulative times of city i as purchasers in GPA network
Net outdegree
The difference between the outdegree and indegree of node i
The difference between the amount GPA connection outflows and inflows. If , city i mainly plays the role of “service provider” in GPA network; otherwise, “consumer”
Note: N is the total number of nodes in the network.
