Distribution

THE ACT OF SPREADING or apportioning of goods and services to those with a demand or need for them is referred to as distribution. This includes the commercial activity of transporting and selling goods from a producer to a consumer. The pattern of need for distribution is determined in part by the demographic characteristics, or spatial property, of the need, which is scattered about over a geographic area, population density, or volume. In epidemiological terms, the frequency and pattern of health-related characteristics and events in a population may also be referred to as distribution. With respect to the statistical or mathematical distribution of attributes of a population, a distribution may be thought of as an arrangement of values of a variable showing their observed or theoretical frequency of occurrence.

Economically, trades that are specialized in distribution make up a large portion of social and financial activity within a society. Distribution is central to, and an essential part of, a population's economic activity directed toward self-sustenance and survival. Consistent distribution via logistics and transportation of goods and services is directly related to the capacity of a society to maintain employment opportunities for members and the capacity to distribute income and shared prosperity among members.

The availability of goods and services and social conventions observed by vendors and consumers at the local level is heavily influenced by the patterns of distribution frequently determined by manufacturers and suppliers at distant locations. Distribution statistics are maintained by both governments and suppliers to provide predictive information for determining rates of consumption and need among existing and projected populations. These include pricing information for the manufacture and distribution of goods and services and rates of consumption.

Distribution and associated administrative and direct costs of distribution are directly related to the capacity to provide relief to a population during times of disaster and to the capacity of a society to prosper and reduce poverty and need among members. Distribution effectiveness is in part related to the reliability of current or recent census data and shifts in population need, the capacity to transport materials over the terrain of a geographic area, the availability of labor to provide transportation, the political and environmental barriers to distribution, and trends in consumer behaviors.

Infrastructure, available energy, and reliable communicative technology are also directly related to the effectiveness of distribution efforts. Theoretically, during periods of increased global equity in trade and distribution efforts, poverty rates and global income inequity diminish. The equitable distribution of income and opportunities to obtain income within a population are directly [Page 268]related to the rates of, and emergence of, poverty within a population or geographic area.