Poverty in China Seen from Outer Space

Ingvild Almås (), Åshild Johnsen and Andreas Kotsadam
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Ingvild Almås: NHH Norwegian School of Economics and University of Oslo,, Postal: Department of Economics , NHH Norwegian School of Economics and University of Oslo , Norway

No 11/2014, Memorandum from Oslo University, Department of Economics

Abstract: Estimates of poverty are highly sensitive to price and income measures across time and space. This paper offers a complementary approach to traditional poverty measurement that ensures comparability: we use nighttime light as a proxy for poverty measurement. We measure the percentage of populated areas in China with no nighttime light, and the percentage of the population living in these areas.Between 1992 and 2005, both measures reveal a steady decrease in poverty in China. From 2005 to 2010, however, we find no evidence of a significant poverty reduction.

Keywords: China; Poverty; Nighttime light (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I30 I32 O10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 19 pages
Date: 2014-06-23
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cna and nep-tra
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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