135342 20260217205555.0 doi 10.1111/jors.12703 sideral 138576 ART-2024-138576 eng Puente-Ajovín, Miguel Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0001-9728-668X Comparing city size distributions: Gridded population versus nighttime lights 2024 Access copy available to the general public Unrestricted This paper compares the size distributions of cities when they are measured using gridded population and nighttime lights (NTLs) data. To do so, we exploit recent and accurate satellite imagery to proxy urban economic activity. Similarly to related studies, our results suggest that population is more equally distributed than lights at the country level. However, and calling assumptions established for urban NTLs into question, our findings do not support a Pareto function for their distribution. We also obtain evidence of a nonlinear and heterogeneous link between population and lights for a global sample of cities. Grounded on our empirical analysis, we develop a simple theoretical framework that relates the difference between the distributions of population and light emissions to the strength of agglomeration economies. info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA/S39-23R info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICINN/PID2020-112773GB-I00 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/UZ/JIUZ-2020-SOC-11 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess All rights reserved http://www.europeana.eu/rights/rr-f/ 2.7 2024 ECONOMICS 139 / 620 = 0.224 2024 Q1 T1 REGIONAL & URBAN PLANNING 22 / 55 = 0.4 2024 Q2 T2 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES 103 / 193 = 0.534 2024 Q3 T2 1.17 2024 Environmental Science (miscellaneous) 2024 Q1 Development 2024 Q1 5.8 2024 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/submittedVersion Sanso-Navarro, Marcos Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0002-5926-2166 Vera-Cabello, María (orcid)0000-0001-8973-6804 4000 415 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Análisis Económico Área Fund. Análisis Económico 64, 4 (2024), 1323-1358 J. reg. sci. JOURNAL OF REGIONAL SCIENCE 0022-4146 1338749 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/135342/files/texto_completo.pdf Preprint 1443182 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/135342/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon icon Preprint oai:zaguan.unizar.es:135342 articulos driver 2026-02-17-20:42:24 ARTICLE