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Measuring districts'monthly economic activity from outer space

Author

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  • Beyer,Robert Carl Michael
  • Chhabra,Esha
  • Galdo,Virgilio
  • Rama,Martin G.

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Beyer,Robert Carl Michael & Chhabra,Esha & Galdo,Virgilio & Rama,Martin G., 2018. "Measuring districts'monthly economic activity from outer space," Policy Research Working Paper Series 8523, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:8523
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Areendam Chanda & C. Justin Cook, 2019. "Who Gained from India's Demonetization? Insights from Satellites and Surveys," Departmental Working Papers 2019-06, Department of Economics, Louisiana State University.
    2. 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.
    3. Beyer, Robert C.M. & Franco-Bedoya, Sebastian & Galdo, Virgilio, 2021. "Examining the economic impact of COVID-19 in India through daily electricity consumption and nighttime light intensity," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    4. Galdo Virgilio & Acevedo Gladys Lopez & Rama Martin, 2021. "Conflict and the composition of economic activity in Afghanistan," IZA Journal of Development and Migration, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 12(1), pages 1-23, January.
    5. Yonatan Navon & Ashton de Silva, 2023. "Measuring Local Economic Activity Using Pedestrian Count Data," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 99(S1), pages 35-49, December.
    6. Soma Sarkar, 2021. "Rapid assessment of cyclone damage using NPP-VIIRS DNB and ancillary data," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 106(1), pages 579-593, March.
    7. Felbermayr, Gabriel & Gröschl, Jasmin & Sanders, Mark & Schippers, Vincent & Steinwachs, Thomas, 2022. "The economic impact of weather anomalies," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    8. 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).
    9. Jeet Agnihotri & Subhankar Mishra, 2021. "Indian Economy and Nighttime Lights," Papers 2103.03179, arXiv.org.
    10. Pandey, Vivek & Singh, Shyam & Kumar, Deepak, 2022. "COVID-19, information management by local governments, and food consumption," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    11. Syed Abul, Basher & Jobaida, Behtarin & Salim, Rashid, 2022. "Convergence across Subnational Regions of Bangladesh – What the Night Lights Data Say?," MPRA Paper 111963, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. 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.
    13. Martin Rama, 2019. "Challenges in Measuring Poverty and Understanding its Dynamics: A South Asian Perspective," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 65(S1), pages 2-32, November.
    14. Chanda, Areendam & Cook, C. Justin, 2022. "Was India’s demonetization redistributive? Insights from satellites and surveys," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    15. World Bank, 2020. "India Development Update, July 2020," World Bank Publications - Reports 34367, The World Bank Group.
    16. World Bank, "undated". "South Asia Economic Focus, Spring 2020," World Bank Publications - Reports 33478, The World Bank Group.
    17. Singh, Vinay Kumar & Ghosh, Sajal, 2021. "Financial inclusion and economic growth in India amid demonetization: A case study based on panel cointegration and causality," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 674-693.
    18. Tushar Bharati & Adnan M. S. Fakir, 2022. "Health Costs of a “Healthy Democracy”: The Impact of Peaceful Political Protests on Healthcare Utilization," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 22-15, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    19. Markus Eller & Branimir Jovanovic & Thomas Scheiber, 2021. "What do people in CESEE think about public debt?," Focus on European Economic Integration, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank), issue Q3/21, pages 35-58.
    20. Najam, Rafiuddin, 2024. "Closing the gap: Effect of a gender quota on women’s access to education in Afghanistan," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    21. José Joaquín Endara, 2020. "Refugee influx and economic activity: evidence from Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh," Asociación Argentina de Economía Política: Working Papers 4341, Asociación Argentina de Economía Política.

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