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  4. Development research at high geographic resolution: an analysis of night-lights, firms, and poverty in India using the SHRUG open data platform
 
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Development research at high geographic resolution: an analysis of night-lights, firms, and poverty in India using the SHRUG open data platform
File(s)
almn-shrug.pdf (537.27 KB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Asher, Sam
Lunt, Tobias
Matsuura, Ryu
Novosad, Paul
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The SHRUG is an open data platform describing multidimensional socioeconomic development across 600,000 villages and towns in India. This paper presents three illustrative analyses only possible with high-resolution data. First, it confirms that nighttime lights are highly significant proxies for population, employment, per capita consumption, and electrification at very local levels. However, elasticities between night-lights and these variables are far lower in time series than in cross section, and vary widely across context and level of aggregation. Next, this study shows that the distribution of manufacturing employment across villages follows a power law: the majority of rural Indians have considerably less access to manufacturing employment than is suggested by aggregate data. Third, a poverty mapping exercise explores local heterogeneity in living standards and estimates the potential targeting improvement from allocating programs at the village—rather than at the district—level. The SHRUG can serve as a model for open high-resolution data in developing countries.
Date Issued
2021-11-01
Date Acceptance
2021-03-01
Citation
The World Bank Economic Review, 2021, 35 (4), pp.845-871
URI
https://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/117311
DOI
https://www.dx.doi.org/10.1093/wber/lhab003
ISSN
0258-6770
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Start Page
845
End Page
871
Journal / Book Title
The World Bank Economic Review
Volume
35
Issue
4
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2021 Oxford University Press. This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in The World Bank Economic Review following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version Sam Asher, Tobias Lunt, Ryu Matsuura, Paul Novosad, Development Research at High Geographic Resolution: An Analysis of Night-Lights, Firms, and Poverty in India Using the SHRUG Open Data Platform, The World Bank Economic Review, Volume 35, Issue 4, November 2021, Pages 845–871, is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/lhab003
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2021-03-18
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