In a regional economy, the central city of a metropolitan area has a radiative effect and an accumulative effect on its surrounding cities. Considering the limitations of traditional data sources (e.g., its subjectivity) and the advantages of nighttime light data, including its objectivity, availability and cyclicity, this paper proposes a likelihood spatial statistical transformation model (LBSSTM) to invert for the gross domestic product (GDP) of the surrounding cities, using time series of Sum of Lights (SOL) data covering the central city and taking advantage of the economic and spatial as...
