Exploring factors affecting the relationship between light consumption and GDP based on DMSP/OLS nighttime satellite imagery

We consider night light as a type of consumer goods and propose a model for factors affecting the relationship between night lights and GDP. It is then decomposed into agricultural and non-agricultural productions. Further, the model is modified to determine how the factors affect residents' propensity to consume lights. Models are tested with time-fixed regression on a set of 15-year panel data of 169 countries globally and regionally. We find that light consumption propensity is affected by GDP per capita, latitude, spatial distribution of human activities and gross saving rate, and that light consumption per capita has an inverted-U relationship with GDP per capita. (c) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.