Assessing Oil and Non-Oil GDP Growth from Space: An Application to Yemen 2012-17

Majdi Debbich

No 2019/221, IMF Working Papers from International Monetary Fund

Abstract: This paper uses an untapped source of satellite-recorded nightlights and gas flaring data to characterize the contraction of economic activity in Yemen throughout the ongoing conflict that erupted in 2015. Using estimated nightlights elasticities on a sample of 72 countries for real GDP and 28 countries for oil GDP over 6 years, I derive oil and non-oil GDP growth for Yemen. I show that real GDP contracted by a cumulative 24 percent over 2015-17 against 50 percent according to official figures. I also find that the impact of the conflict has been geographically uneven with economic activity contracting more in some governorates than in others.

Keywords: WP; real GDP; radiant heat; conflict; economic growth; nighttime lights; nightlights data; nightlights intensity; producing governorate; oil production data; data remains; growth in Yemen; VIIRS data; satellite data; real GDP equation; Oil; Oil production; Natural gas sector; Economic recession; Oil sector; Sub-Saharan Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 34
Date: 2019-10-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ara and nep-ene
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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