From talent maps to talent geography

Abstract

This research investigates three methodologically distinctive, but thematically related topic areas. The first part is connected to the theory of talent geography; the second one deals with its methodological questions, while the third part is an attempt to comprehend its spatial aspects from an empirical point of view. Research into spatial differences of talent is not unfamiliar to geography; in fact, its traditions are rooted in the very same discipline. Those approaches and methods are introduced, which are used to deal with the spatial relations of talent by geography, as well as by several of its branches. It is also pointed out, that, in addition to the necessity of considering traditional models, talent is to be examined from a broader spatial-temporal perspective, that is, within the context of geographical and historical processes. Talent geography is interpreted as a branch of geography, investigating the connection between the links, the networks and the mutual interrelatedness of human talent and structures of the geographical environment.

Recently, electronic versions of encyclopaedias have become available online, all of which contain spatial data in large numbers. These data are suitable for processing when GIS-tools are used. A method is introduced which can be used in order to create a manageable and coherent database from encyclopaedic material. The digital version of the Hungarian Biographical Encyclopedia, containing more than 17,000 entries, was used for this purpose. Due to the great variety of samples, which can be obtained from the database by using a variety of search criteria, the search results can be used for multiple purposes in further research.

In the third part of the study, spatial distribution as well as mobility patterns of talent are modelled. Model analyses provide indicators, gained from the data available and the conclusions derived from them.

Further, the talent reservoir function of individual settlements, counties and regions are defined and related indicators are compared (the capacity of giving birth to talent, attracting, retaining and mobilising it). Our findings suggest that the talent centre of gravity in Hungary has lately shifted toward the east. Still, it is mainly the capital that has been able to keep or attract talent. On the other hand, it is only a fraction of the other settlements or counties that could do the same. Disregarding the capital’s dominant role, settlements of good, medium and bad talent reservoir function can be identified. The capacity of nurturing talented people and the inability to keep them never co-existed, while the capacity of nurturing talent and the inability to keep it only rarely existed in parallel. The counties that were able to nurture and keep their talented inhabitants coincided with the developed core areas and with those of pre-World War I Hungary, which were the first to be modernised (Northwest Hungary, The Great Plain). In conclusion, the geographical environment can influence the spatial distribution of talent. The spatial structures, processes and patterns (quantitative and qualitative distribution, development, growth, spatial concentration and de-concentration, the relationship between periphery and centre, attractive and repelling elements) are all factors that manifest themselves in the spatial distribution of talent. The spatial distribution of talent reveals a dimension of a complicated social system of inequality.