Measuring Districts' Monthly Economic Activity from Outer Space
Evening-hour luminosity observed using satellites is a good proxy for economic activity. The strengths of measuring economic activity using nightlight measurements include that the data capture informal activity, are available in near real-time, ar...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2018
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/835491531401292135/Measuring-districts-monthly-economic-activity-from-outer-space http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29996 |
| Summary: | Evening-hour luminosity observed using
satellites is a good proxy for economic activity. The
strengths of measuring economic activity using nightlight
measurements include that the data capture informal
activity, are available in near real-time, are cheap to
obtain, and can be used to conduct very spatially granular
analysis. This paper presents a measure of monthly economic
activity at the district level based on cleaned Visible
Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite nightlight and rural
population. The paper demonstrates that this new method can
shed light on recent episodes in South Asia: first, the 2015
earthquake in Nepal; second, demonetization in India; and,
third, violent conflict outbreaks in Afghanistan. |
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