Measuring Firm Activity from Outer Space /

To understand how global firm networks operate, we need consistent information on their activities, unbiased by their reporting choices. In this paper, we collect a novel dataset on the light that factories emit at night for a large sample of car manufacturing plants. We show that nightlight data ca...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:
1. Verfasser:
Bilicka, Katarzyna A.
Körperschaft:
National Bureau of Economic Research
Weitere Verfasser:
Seidel, André
Format:
Elektronisch E-Book
Sprache:
Englisch
Veröffentlicht:
Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2022.
Zusammenfassung:
To understand how global firm networks operate, we need consistent information on their activities, unbiased by their reporting choices. In this paper, we collect a novel dataset on the light that factories emit at night for a large sample of car manufacturing plants. We show that nightlight data can measure activity at such a granular level, using annual firm financial data and high-frequency data related to Covid-19 pandemic production shocks. We use this data to quantify the extent of misreported global operations of these car manufacturing firms and examine differences between sources of nightlight.
Umfang:
1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);
Anmerkungen:
April 2022.
Schlagworte: