IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/empeco/v65y2023i3d10.1007_s00181-023-02376-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Estimating Mexican municipal-level economic activity indicators using nighttime lights

Author

Listed:
  • Francisco Corona

    (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía)

  • Elio Atenógenes Villaseñor

    (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía)

  • Jesús López-Pérez

    (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía)

  • Ranyart R. Suárez

    (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía)

Abstract

In this paper we address the problem of estimating of Municipal-level of Mexican economic activity indicators (IAEM in Spanish) by using different data sources. We build on the preliminary estimations of López-Pérez and Corona (Real Datos Espac Rev Int Estad Geogr 1(3):102–123, 2020), however because of the shortcomings of standard data sources, such as national accounts and economic censuses, in terms of update frequency, this study enhances preliminary estimations with nighttime lights data. We rely on the statistic relation between economic activity with nighttime lights intensity, and the uncorrelatedness of the latter with the measurement error in the preliminary estimations to produce an estimate of true economic growth, as has been described, among others, in and Mendoza (Empir Econ 57(3):971–990, 2019). Our results are interesting in three ways: (i) develops a practitioner's guide for estimating IAEM for all Mexican municipalities since 1993, (ii) for users and analysts of economic information provides detailed results of economic activity evolution for some municipalities, (iii) represent a novel application pursuant Big Data in economics framework.

Suggested Citation

  • Francisco Corona & Elio Atenógenes Villaseñor & Jesús López-Pérez & Ranyart R. Suárez, 2023. "Estimating Mexican municipal-level economic activity indicators using nighttime lights," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 65(3), pages 1197-1214, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:empeco:v:65:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1007_s00181-023-02376-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s00181-023-02376-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00181-023-02376-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s00181-023-02376-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. J. Vernon Henderson & Adam Storeygard & David N. Weil, 2012. "Measuring Economic Growth from Outer Space," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(2), pages 994-1028, April.
    2. Jaqueson K. Galimberti, 2020. "Forecasting GDP Growth from Outer Space," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 82(4), pages 697-722, August.
    3. Hu, Yingyao & Yao, Jiaxiong, 2022. "Illuminating economic growth," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 228(2), pages 359-378.
    4. Víctor M. Guerrero & Juan A. Mendoza, 2019. "On measuring economic growth from outer space: a single country approach," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 971-990, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Matthieu Charpe, 2023. "Convergence heterogeneity at the local level in sub‐Saharan Africa," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 102(2), pages 273-305, April.
    2. Dang, Hai Anh H. & Jolliffe, Dean & Serajuddin, Umar & Stacy, Brian, 2024. "Country statistical capacity: a recent assessment tool and further reflections on the way forward," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 124060, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Shapiro, Daniel & Oh, Chang Hoon & Zhang, Peng, 2023. "Nighttime lights data and their implications for IB research," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(5).
    4. Dang, Hai-Anh H & Pullinger, John & Serajuddin, Umar & Stacy, Brian, 2024. "Reviewing Assessment Tools for Measuring Country Statistical Capacity," IZA Discussion Papers 16745, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Bachtrögler-Unger, Julia & Dolls, Mathias & Krolage, Carla & Schüle, Paul & Taubenböck, Hannes & Weigand, Matthias, 2023. "EU cohesion policy on the ground: Analyzing small-scale effects using satellite data," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    6. Carlo Fezzi & Valeria Fanghella, 2020. "Real-time estimation of the short-run impact of COVID-19 on economic activity using electricity market data," DEM Working Papers 2020/8, Department of Economics and Management.
    7. Chor, Davin & Li, Bingjing, 2024. "Illuminating the effects of the US-China tariff war on China’s economy," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    8. Rangel González Erick & Llamosas-Rosas Irving, 2021. "Observing the Evolution of the Informal Sector from Space: A Municipal Approach 2013-2020," Working Papers 2021-18, Banco de México.
    9. Menezes, Flavio & Figer, Vivian & Jardim, Fernanda & Medeiros, Pedro, 2022. "A near real-time economic activity tracker for the Brazilian economy during the COVID-19 pandemic," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    10. Liu, Honglin & Liu, Qiao & Liu, Yufei, 2023. "The world price of macro opacity: Through the lens of nighttime satellites," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).
    11. Beyer, Robert C.M. & Jain, Tarun & Sinha, Sonalika, 2023. "Lights out? COVID-19 containment policies and economic activity," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    12. Carlo Fezzi & Valeria Fanghella, 2020. "Real-Time Estimation of the Short-Run Impact of COVID-19 on Economic Activity Using Electricity Market Data," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 76(4), pages 885-900, August.
    13. Jiandong Chen & Ming Gao & Shulei Cheng & Yiyin Xu & Malin Song & Yu Liu & Wenxuan Hou & Shuhong Wang, 2022. "Evaluation and drivers of global low-carbon economies based on satellite data," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-12, December.
    14. McSharry, Patrick & Mawejje, Joseph, 2024. "Estimating urban GDP growth using nighttime lights and machine learning techniques in data poor environments: The case of South Sudan," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    15. Carlo Fezzi & Valeria Fanghella, 2020. "Real-time estimation of the short-run impact of COVID-19 on economic activity using electricity market data," Papers 2007.03477, arXiv.org.
    16. Mitze, Timo & Breidenbach, Philipp, 2023. "The complex regional effects of macro-institutional shocks: Evidence from EU economic integration over three decades," Ruhr Economic Papers 1007, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    17. Jaqueson K Galimberti & Stefan Pichler & Regina Pleninger, 2023. "Measuring Inequality Using Geospatial Data," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 37(4), pages 549-569.
    18. Zhang, Qi & Hu, Yi & Jiao, Jianbin & Wang, Shouyang, 2023. "Is refined oil price regulation a “shock absorber” for crude oil price shocks?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    19. Zhen Yang & Lu Zhang & Chengkun Liu & Yu Chen & Rongwei Wu & Yaomin Zheng, 2024. "Evaluation of economic inequality in ‘the Belt and Road’ region – The application of night‐time satellite imagery," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(7), pages 3076-3096, July.
    20. Flávio Menezes & Vivian Figer & Fernanda Jardim & Pedro Medeiros, 2021. "Using electricity consumption to predict economic activity during COVID-19 in Brazil," Discussion Papers Series 641, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    True economic activity; Big data; Economic censuses; Municipal-level economic activity indicators; Nighttime lights;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C10 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - General
    • C19 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Other
    • C50 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - General
    • C55 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Large Data Sets: Modeling and Analysis
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:empeco:v:65:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1007_s00181-023-02376-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.