Understanding the effects of administrative boundary in sampling spatially embedded networks

When analyzing spatially embedded networks, networks consisting of nodes and connections within an administrative boundary are commonly analyzed directly without considering possible errors or biases due to lost connections to nodes outside the network. However, connections exist not only within administrative boundaries but also to nodes outside of the boundaries. This study empirically analyzed the geographical boundary problem using a mobile communication network constructed based on mobile phone data collected in Heilongjiang province, China. We find that although many connections outside of the administrative boundary are lost, sampled networks based on administrative boundaries perform relatively well in terms of degree and clustering coefficient. We find that the mechanisms behind the reliability of these sampled networks include the effects of distance decay and cohesion strength in administrative regions on spatially embedded networks.