Measuring and Explaining Patterns of Spatial Income Inequality from Outer Space : Evidence from Africa

Mveyange, Anthony

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: INCOME INEQUALITY;    GEOSPATIAL ECONOMICS;    WEATHER;    SUBNATIONAL INCOME DATA;    SPATIAL INCOME INEQUALITY;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-8484
RP-ID  :  WPS8484

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This paper argues for night--lights dataas an alternative data source for measuring spatialinequalities in Africa, where the paucity of subnationalincome data is persistent. The analysis compares thestatistical relationships between income and lights-basedmeasures of spatial income inequality in South Africa andshows that night-lights are a decent proxy for spatialincome inequality. Further analysis of the patterns oflights-based spatial income inequality across 48 countriesin Africa broadly reveals rising patterns between 1992 and2013. Following the climate-economy literature, the analysisalso reveals that temperature and precipitation changessignificantly increased spatial inequality in the long-runand the effects penetrated through income and agriculturechannels across countries in the continent. These findingsprovide important lessons for policy discussions about howto measure, explain the patterns of, and mitigate thepotential drivers of spatial inequality in Africa.