A paper has been accepted for publication in the Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy

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A paper titled “Capturing the spatiotemporal inequality in electricity consumption at the subnational level of Bangladesh using Nighttime Lights” has been accepted for publication in the Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy (SJR Q2, H-index 38, (Scopus) CiteScore 3.7 in 2023).

The research work was led by Dr Amin Masud Ali, Professor, Dept of Economics, JU and a co-director / supervisor of Data Science wing, CCDS. The paper is co-authored by Muntasir Wahed (then RA of DnDLab and Data Science wing, currently PhD student at UIUC), Dr Amin Ahsan Ali (Dept of CSE, IUB, and Director, AI & ML Wing, CCDS), and Dr Moinul I Zaber (Dept of CSE, DU and a collaborator of the Data Science wing, CCDS).

This paper examines the spatiotemporal inequality in electricity consumption at the subnational level (Zila and Upazila/Thana) of Bangladesh using nighttime light (NTL) data. The NTL data, sourced from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) day/night band (DNB) for the period from 2013 to 2020, reveals persistent variability in electricity consumption among the districts. Notably, the gap between urban and non-urban areas has widened. While within district inequality (measured by NTL Gini) has declined over time, it remains high in several districts. Convergence analysis confirms that while lagging districts are showing a catching up effect, the sub-districts are diverging among themselves (in terms of mean NTL per capita). Interestingly, the rural sub-districts are converging among themselves despite urban sub-district divergence. The study also identifies regions with significant imbalance between NTL, population, and built-up area density values.

These findings have implications for policymakers aiming to ensure electricity for all and reduce inequality. First, these findings provide a clear picture of the NTL inequality pattern at the subnational level of the country. The findings should contribute to the process of ensuring electricity for all (SDG, Goal 7) producing and monitoring the evolution of inequalities within the country (SDG, Goal 10) to achieve the sustainable development goal of reducing inequalities. Secondly, this investigation also captures the inequality in regional economic development as NTL is a recognized proxy indicator of poverty, public service coverage, and economic activity.