DFG project "Shining (New) Light" completed

The DFG project "Shining (New) Light on Regional Inequality, Convergence and Development" has been successfully completed. Prof. Dr. Christian Leßmann together with JProf. Melanie Krause, PhD (University of Hamburg) and Dr. Richard Bluhm (University of Hannover and UC San Diego) investigated the relationship between light emissions from the Earth at night measured by satellites and economic development. "As part of our basic research, research questions on the determinants of regional income differences, especially in developing countries, have been investigated," says Prof. Dr. Christian Leßmann. For example, machine learning methods have shown that natural geography has a much stronger impact on regional income distribution than previously known. Regional inequalities also act as a hindrance to the development of states as a whole. "Many researchers are benefiting from our work because we have developed approaches to solving measurement problems in light data in cities and very sparsely populated areas." Three doctoral students have been working on the DFG project, which was completed at TU Braunschweig after Prof. Leßmann moved to TU Dresden, and they are now close to submitting their dissertation theses. For more information, please visit: https://lightinequality.com/