The Lumen Gini Coefficient: a satellite imagery derived human development index

Abstract

The �Lumen Gini Coefficient� is a simple, objective, spatially explicitand globally available empirical measurement of human developmentderived solely from nighttime satellite imagery and population density.There is increasing recognition that the distribution of wealth andincome amongst the population in a nation or region correlates stronglywith both the overall happiness of that population and the environmentalquality of that nation or region. Measuring the distribution of wealthand income at national and regional scales is an interesting andchallenging problem. Gini coefficients derived from Lorenz curvesare a well-established method of measuring income distribution. Nonetheless,there are many shortcomings of the Gini coefficient as a measureof income or wealth distribution. Gini coefficients are typicallycalculated using national level data on the distribution of incomethrough the population. Such data are not available for many countriesand the results are generally limited to single values representingentire countries. In this paper we develop an alternative measureof the distribution of �human development�, called the �Lumen Ginicoefficient�, that is derived without the use of monetary measuresof wealth and is capable of providing a spatial depiction of differencesin development within countries.