Evolution of Resilience Spatiotemporal Patterns and Spatial Correlation Networks in African Regional Economies

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

I think that this article fully meets the criteria of a scientific work. It is logical, complete and consistent in terms of content and methodology. I suggest you consider only the following amendments:

1.                  Expand on the determinants of economic resilience in Africa and indicate the known research results on the subject, including as a background for discussion.

2.          List the variables that would be needed for the research but are impossible to apply (for various reasons).

3.   Try to determine why African regions are economically resilient key in this regard?

4. Do not start subsections with graphs and maps, but with text. The text should Read the illustrative materials and then interpret them.

Author Response

Comments 1：Expand on the determinants of economic resilience in Africa and indicate the known research results on the subject, including as a background for discussion.

Response 1 :Thank you very much to the reviewers for raising this issue. The factors influencing the economic resilience of African regions can indeed serve as an important contextual background for discussion. Therefore, I have made additions to the discussion section, and this topic can also be a key focus for future research. For details, please refer to lines 951 to 955 on page 23.

 

Comments 2： List the variables that would be needed for the research but are impossible to apply (for various reasons).

Response 2 :Thank you very much to the reviewers for raising this issue. I have listed the variables that are necessary for the study but could not be obtained, as per your suggestion. Please refer to lines 955 to 961 on page 23 for details.

 

Comments 3：Try to determine why African regions are economically resilient key in this regard?

Response 3 :Following your suggestion, I have added a discussion on "why economic resilience in African regions is so crucial in this context." Please refer to lines 934 to 945 on page 22 for details.

 

Comments 4：Do not start subsections with graphs and maps, but with text. The text should Read the illustrative materials and then interpret them.

Response 4:Thank you for your reminder. The entire text's figures and tables have been adjusted to avoid starting sections with charts or maps.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This is a highly informative macro scale exploration using Africa as a case study region. Overall, it is worth publishing, but there are some minor issues that require the author's attention.

① What's the relationship between resilience spatiotemporal patterns and spatial correlation networks, as well as the significance of the classification of subgroups? Logical demonstrations should be enhanced. If so, then this paper will be a more interesting and exploratory research.

② In the introduction and discussion section, this paper repeatedly mentions the significance of Africa's development for China, which seems somewhat far fetched as a focus or research significance of this research.

③ The explanation of many indicators is not clear, such as the meaning and selection criteria of Economic Active Population. It is recommended that the author add explanations or cite references appropriately around the process and thinking of indicator selection. There may also be controversy over the use of some indicators, such as FDI, which are considered positive indicators in this paper. Of course, within certain limits, there is no doubt about this. However, for the exploration of open resilience, a high level of external dependence may actually bring higher risks and economic vulnerabilities. Therefore, it is recommended that the author provide a more detailed explanation of the selection and preprocessing of indicators. The introduction and explanation of calculation methods such as Lyapunov Index should also be clear, and the meaning of each symbol that appears should be explained. Besides, what are the missing values or data in the Data Sources section? Can it meet the requirements of the research? Which ones use interpolation or directly use spatial wrights values?

④ Some of the statements in this paper lack the previous preparations, such as the lack of explanation of the meaning of Block Modeling.

⑤ What are the advantages of images created through interpolation compared to images that directly assign regional values (such as Figure 9)? At present, some sharp colored blocks appear somewhat strange.

⑥ It is necessary to further increase the dialogue with existing literature in the discussion section.

⑦ The writing of references needs to improve standardization in order for readers to better track the original literatures.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Minor editing of English language required.

Author Response

Comments 1：What's the relationship between resilience spatiotemporal patterns and spatial correlation networks, as well as the significance of the classification of subgroups? Logical demonstrations should be enhanced. If so, then this paper will be a more interesting and exploratory research.

Response 1 :

Thank you very much, esteemed reviewer, for highlighting this point and offering valuable suggestions.

This paper combines the spatiotemporal patterns of economic resilience with spatial correlation networks from the perspective of the risk-averse and economic nature of the flow of economic factors. During an economic crisis, economic factors tend to flow from regions with low resilience to those with high resilience. Regions with stronger economic resilience tend to create a "siphon effect" on their surroundings, thereby forming a correlation network. The spatial correlation network based on economic resilience reflects the characteristics of regional economic networks to a certain extent. The purpose of analyzing spatial correlation networks is to examine the roles and positions of each node within the network from the perspective of economic resilience. In theory, considering Africa as the study unit, the entire continent forms an interconnected network, while subgroup classifications, to a certain extent, categorize closely connected nodes based on economic resilience, partially reflecting the "spheres of influence" of key nodes. This logical deduction still requires further research and validation in future studies.

Your suggestion is precise and thought-provoking, and we have supplemented the relevant discussion accordingly. Please refer to page 23, lines 713-723 for the updated content.

Comments 2： In the introduction and discussion section, this paper repeatedly mentions the significance of Africa's development for China, which seems somewhat far fetched as a focus or research significance of this research.

Response 2 :The issue you raised does indeed exist in the paper. We have removed the sections mentioning the "importance of Africa's development to China" from both the introduction and discussion sections. Please see the revisions on page 4, lines 178 to 184, and page 23, lines 724 to 730 for the changes.

Comments 3：The explanation of many indicators is not clear, such as the meaning and selection criteria of Economic Active Population. It is recommended that the author add explanations or cite references appropriately around the process and thinking of indicator selection. There may also be controversy over the use of some indicators, such as FDI, which are considered positive indicators in this paper. Of course, within certain limits, there is no doubt about this. However, for the exploration of open resilience, a high level of external dependence may actually bring higher risks and economic vulnerabilities. Therefore, it is recommended that the author provide a more detailed explanation of the selection and preprocessing of indicators. The introduction and explanation of calculation methods such as Lyapunov Index should also be clear, and the meaning of each symbol that appears should be explained. Besides, what are the missing values or data in the Data Sources section? Can it meet the requirements of the research? Which ones use interpolation or directly use spatial wrights values?

Response 3 :Thank you very much for raising this issue. It does exist in the paper, and we have now provided detailed explanations for each indicator. Please refer to the revisions on page 4, lines 196 to page 5, line 243. We have also addressed the dual nature of the indicators you mentioned.

Regarding the Lyapunov index, there was indeed a lack of clarity in the explanation, and this has been supplemented. Please see page 6, lines 268-269. 

Missing data has also been supplemented and listed. Please refer to page 8, lines 342 to 344.

Comments 4：Some of the statements in this paper lack the previous preparations, such as the lack of explanation of the meaning of Block Modeling.

Response 4 :The paper does indeed lack sufficient preliminary explanation for the statements, and the purpose of using various models was not clearly conveyed. We have now made the necessary additions as per your suggestion.Please refer to page 4, lines 170 to 178 for the revisions.

Comments 5：What are the advantages of images created through interpolation compared to images that directly assign regional values (such as Figure 9)? At present, some sharp colored blocks appear somewhat strange.

Response 5 :Thank you very much for raising this important issue. The reason we used interpolation to generate the images, rather than directly assigning regional values, is primarily to better reflect the actual situation. The economic distribution in African cities is highly uneven, with most economic factors concentrated in the capital cities, which are often not located at the geometric centers of the countries. For instance, in countries such as Algeria, Libya, Egypt, and Tunisia, the capitals are mostly located along the Mediterranean coast, and the southern parts of these countries, like the Sahara Desert, have weaker spatial network node radiation. Similar patterns are observed in other regions. Therefore, generating images using interpolation with the capital city as the core provides a more accurate representation.

As for the sharp color blocks that you pointed out, this issue indeed exists. In our next steps, we plan to narrow the scope of the research and increase the precision of the analysis, which we believe will help to mitigate this issue.

Comments 6：It is necessary to further increase the dialogue with existing literature in the discussion section.

Response 6 :As per your suggestion, the discussion section has been expanded to include dialogue with existing literature, in order to further deepen the research insights in this field. The relevant additions can be found on page 24, lines 732 to 736.

Comments 7：The writing of references needs to improve standardization in order for readers to better track the original literatures.

Response 7 :As per your suggestion, the references have been reviewed, and the formatting of the citations has been standardized.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This paper explores the important topic of regional resilience within the context of African countries and supranational regions, a setting that is less frequently addressed in existing empirical studies. This option is adequately justified by the authors, supported by the strategic importance of African economies in China’s current and future development plans.

The objectives of the paper are clearly presented in the abstract and in the Introduction of the paper. The paper is well organized and well written. The methodology applied is comprehensive and robust. Spatial correlation is considered, which is also a positive aspect. Conclusions are clear as well as policy implications.

Some specific comments:

1)      Page 2, line 52: I suggest that the wording “Healthily and orderly” is replaced, or even eliminated. The geographical level used in this paper to analyse several economic indicators is the country. No considerations are possible to be derived from these indicators regarding intra-country cohesion. Thus, we cannot label such measurement as a measure of health economic development.

2)      Page 2, line 98: it seems some reference is lacking regarding the study upon the 16 Eastern European countries.

3)      In all the literature review, the authors make no mention to the resilience measures used in the studies. This should be corrected.

4)      Page 4, line 168: the numbered link to the publication is missing.

5)      Table 1 – This table is very incomplete. Authors should include, at least, the years considered, the statistical sources and the units of measure. For instance, is GDP measured in PPS? Current or constant prices?...

In sum, I recommend that this paper is accepted for publication, subject to the correction of the above identified issues.

Author Response

Comments 1： Page 2, line 52: I suggest that the wording “Healthily and orderly” is replaced, or even eliminated. The geographical level used in this paper to analyse several economic indicators is the country. No considerations are possible to be derived from these indicators regarding intra-country cohesion. Thus, we cannot label such measurement as a measure of health economic development.

Response 1 :Thank you very much to the reviewers for raising this issue.The suggestion was appropriate and accurate. As recommended, the statement has been removed.

 

Comments 2：Page 2, line 98: it seems some reference is lacking regarding the study upon the 16 Eastern European countries.

Response 2 :The suggestion was both appropriate and accurate. Upon review, errors in the citations were identified and corrected. Additionally, the reference [12] has been added as recommended.

 

Comments 3：In all the literature review, the authors make no mention to the resilience measures used in the studies. This should be corrected.

Response 3 :The literature review does indeed have shortcomings in terms of resilience indicators. We have now restructured the literature review, with the revisions located from line 109 on page 3 to line 262 on page 4.

 

Comments 4： Page 4, line 168: the numbered link to the publication is missing.

Response 4 :The suggestion was both appropriate and accurate. This section references the paper by Song Yuchen et al., and the citation has been added as reference [25].

 

Comments 5：Table 1 – This table is very incomplete. Authors should include, at least, the years considered, the statistical sources and the units of measure. For instance, is GDP measured in PPS? Current or constant prices?...

Response 5 :The unit of measurement column has been added to the table as per your suggestion, with an explanation for “GDP at Current Market Prices.” Additionally, a note has been included below the table: “The data source is the ‘African Statistical Yearbook,’ covering the years 2008-2019.” For details, please refer to Table 1.

 

 

 

Reviewer 4 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The article is dedicated to the important and relevant topic and has the potential for an international audience deeply resonating with the journal profile. The article is based on the reach analysis designed and conducted by the authors, well written and structured. I don’t see much room for improvement since the submitted version is a good enough to be accepted for publication with really minor edits indicated below:

• The introduction about spatial patterns of Chinese regions and the article's objective to provide recommendations for Sino-African  cooperation are disconnected from the research results. I would reevaluate the goal from providing the recommendations to detection of spatio-temporal shifts and patterns as a foundation for data-driven decision making in Sino-African cooperation and investments on the regional level. Such reevaluation requires some work on the introduction as well to make the connection with Africa stronger.

Technical comments to address:

• Outline what regional classification authors use for African regions (e.g. UN).

• Title of figure 1 (lines 275 - 276) should be located on the same page as the figure.

• The regional aspects are slightly confusing - is this Africa region like indicated on the figure 1, or regions of the African countries (the connotation of the lines 277 - 281 drives to such understanding). The article in general shows that the study doesn’t go to the spatial level more granular than a country. If yes, the lines 277 - 281 should be edited.

• Figure 2: a chart is a visual form of displaying results and it makes no sense to use this word in the title; the key to the shades of gray would be helpful (there is explanation in the text, but adding the legend to the chart would be beneficial for readers).

• Figures  5, 6, 7, 8  should be improved in quality -  font in legend should be bigger or sharper to be readable.

• Missing space  - lines 275, 362, 392, 489, 493, 517, 533, 556.

Author Response

Comments 1：The introduction about spatial patterns of Chinese regions and the article's objective to provide recommendations for Sino-African  cooperation are disconnected from the research results. I would reevaluate the goal from providing the recommendations to detection of spatio-temporal shifts and patterns as a foundation for data-driven decision making in Sino-African cooperation and investments on the regional level. Such reevaluation requires some work on the introduction as well to make the connection with Africa stronger.

Response 1 :Dear Reviewer, Thank you for your detailed and careful attention to the disconnection between the introduction and the research objectives in this paper. We acknowledge the issue you pointed out regarding the presentation of the paper. The initial intention of citing the economic resilience of Chinese regions in the introduction was to introduce the research methods for regional economic resilience into this study. Based on your suggestion, we have revised the objective from providing recommendations to exploring spatio-temporal shifts and patterns. Additionally, the introduction has been revised to emphasize the research methods in regional economics. For details, please refer to line 276 on page 4.

 

Comments 2：Outline what regional classification authors use for African regions (e.g. UN).

Response 2 :The regional classification used in this paper follows the United Nations classification. As per your request, the relevant clarification has been added on line 425 of page 7.

 

Comments 3：Title of figure 1 (lines 275 - 276) should be located on the same page as the figure.

Response 3 : As per your suggestion, we have placed Figure 1 entirely on the same page to facilitate easier comparison and observation.

 

Comments 4：The regional aspects are slightly confusing - is this Africa region like indicated on the figure 1, or regions of the African countries (the connotation of the lines 277 - 281 drives to such understanding). The article in general shows that the study doesn’t go to the spatial level more granular than a country. If yes, the lines 277 - 281 should be edited.

Response 4 : This study focuses on African countries, and we acknowledge the unclear phrasing you pointed out. As per your suggestion, we have revised the text to clearly state "African countries."

 

Comments 5：Figure 2: a chart is a visual form of displaying results and it makes no sense to use this word in the title; the key to the shades of gray would be helpful (there is explanation in the text, but adding the legend to the chart would be beneficial for readers).

Response 5 : Thank you for your reminder.As per your suggestion, the word "chart" has been removed, and a grayscale legend has been added to Figure 2.

 

Comments 6：Figures  5, 6, 7, 8  should be improved in quality -  font in legend should be bigger or sharper to be readable.

Response 6 : As per your suggestion, the legends for Figures 5, 6, 7, and 8 have all been enhanced to improve readability for the readers. For details, please refer to Figures 5, 6, 7, and 8.

 

 

Comments 7：Missing space  - lines 275, 362, 392, 489, 493, 517, 533, 556.

Response 7 : As per your suggestion, the sections with missing spaces have been corrected.