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Better Night Lights Data, For Longer

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  • John Gibson

Abstract

Night lights data are increasingly used in applied economics, almost always from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP). These data are old, with production ending in 2013, and are flawed by blurring, lack of calibration and top‐coding. These inaccuracies in DMSP data cause mean‐reverting errors. This paper shows newer and better VIIRS night lights data have 80% higher predictive power for real GDP in a cross‐section of 269 European NUTS2 regions. Spatial inequality is greatly understated with DMSP data, especially for the most densely populated regions. A Pareto correction for top‐coding of DMSP data has a modest effect.

Suggested Citation

  • John Gibson, 2021. "Better Night Lights Data, For Longer," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 83(3), pages 770-791, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:obuest:v:83:y:2021:i:3:p:770-791
    DOI: 10.1111/obes.12417
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    as
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    18. Lee, Yong Suk, 2018. "International isolation and regional inequality: Evidence from sanctions on North Korea," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 34-51.
    19. John Gibson & Geua Boe-Gibson, 2020. "Three Facts About Night Lights Data," Working Papers in Economics 20/03, University of Waikato.
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    Cited by:

    1. Anna Josephson & Jeffrey D. Michler & Talip Kilic & Siobhan Murray, 2024. "The Mismeasure of Weather: Using Remotely Sensed Earth Observation Data in Economic Context," Papers 2409.07506, arXiv.org.
    2. Yutian Jiang & Na Zhang, 2023. "Does commerce promote theft? A quantitative study from Beijing, China," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-14, December.
    3. Jules Gazeaud & Victor Stephane, 2023. "Productive Workfare? Evidence from Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Program," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 105(1), pages 265-290, January.
    4. Linsenmeier, Manuel, 2021. "Temperature variability and long-run economic development," SocArXiv xvucn_v1, Center for Open Science.
    5. GIBSON, John & ZHANG, Xiaoxuan & PARK, Albert & YI, Jiang & XI, Li, 2024. "Remotely measuring rural economic activity and poverty : Do we just need better sensors?," CEI Working Paper Series 2023-08, Center for Economic Institutions, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    6. John Gibson & Yi Jiang & Xiaoxuan Zhang & Geua Boe-Gibson, 2024. "Are Disaster Impact Estimates Distorted by Errors in Popular Night-Time Lights Data?," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 8(3), pages 391-416, November.
    7. Yit Wey Liew & Muhammad Habibur Rahman & Audrey Kim Lan Siah, 2023. "Rail Stations To Development: Evidence From Colonial Malaya," Department of Economics Working Papers 2023_01, Durham University, Department of Economics.
    8. Linsenmeier, Manuel, 2021. "Temperature variability and long-run economic development," SocArXiv xvucn, Center for Open Science.
    9. Gong, Da & Shang, Zhuocheng & Su, Yaqin & Yan, Andong & Zhang, Qi, 2024. "Economic impacts of China's zero-COVID policies," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    10. van der Weide, Roy & Blankespoor, Brian & Elbers, Chris & Lanjouw, Peter, 2024. "How accurate is a poverty map based on remote sensing data? An application to Malawi," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    11. John Gibson, 2023. "Jabbing the economy back to life?," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(21), pages 2999-3005, December.
    12. Omoniyi Alimi & Geua Boe-Gibson & John Gibson, 2022. "Noisy Night Lights Data: Effects on Research Findings for Developing Countries," Working Papers in Economics 22/12, University of Waikato.
    13. Gibson, John & Olivia, Susan & Boe-Gibson, Geua & Li, Chao, 2021. "Which night lights data should we use in economics, and where?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    14. Katarzyna A. Bilicka & André Seidel, 2022. "Measuring Firm Activity from Outer Space," NBER Working Papers 29945, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Bonggeun Kim & John Gibson & Geua Boe‐Gibson, 2024. "Measurement errors in popular night lights data may bias estimated impacts of economic sanctions: Evidence from closing the Kaesong Industrial Zone," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 62(1), pages 375-389, January.
    16. John Gibson & Susan Olivia & Geua Boe‐Gibson, 2020. "Night Lights In Economics: Sources And Uses," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(5), pages 955-980, December.
    17. John Gibson & Bonggeun Kim & Geua Boe-Gibson, 2022. "How effective are sanctions on North Korea? Popular DMSP night-lights data may bias evaluations due to blurring and poor low-light detection," Working Papers in Economics 22/06, University of Waikato, revised 14 Nov 2022.
    18. Roberts,Mark, 2021. "Tracking Economic Activity in Response to the COVID-19 Crisis Using Nighttime Lights — The Case of Morocco," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9538, The World Bank.
    19. repec:ags:aaea22:335528 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Idriss Fontaine & Sabine Garabedian & Hélène Vérèmes, 2022. "The current and future costs of tropical cyclones: A case study of La Réunion," TEPP Working Paper 2022-10, TEPP.
    21. Linsenmeier, Manuel, 2023. "Temperature variability and long-run economic development," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    22. Linsenmeier, Manuel, 2023. "Temperature variability and long-run economic development," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 119485, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    23. Miguel Puente-Ajovín & Marcos Sanso-Navarro & María Vera-Cabello, 2022. "The distribution of urban population and economic activity in the European Union and the United States," Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 517-522, December.
    24. Xiaoxuan Zhang & John Gibson & Xiangzheng Deng, 2023. "Remotely too equal: Popular DMSP night‐time lights data understate spatial inequality," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(9), pages 2106-2125, December.
    25. Tanner Regan & Giorgio Chiovelli & Stelios Michalopoulos & Elias Papaioannou, 2023. "Illuminating Africa?," Working Papers 2023-11, The George Washington University, Institute for International Economic Policy.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E20 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)

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