Measuring Human Behaviour

This video installation visualises findings from two ongoing research programs at Monash Business School:

Measuring Human Economic Behaviour from Outer Space
Dr. Raschky and Dr. Hodler (University of St. Gallen) have conducted seminal work on the use of satellite data on nighttime light intensity to measure economic activity at the subnational level. Based on their findings, it is now possible to estimate, at a global scale, differences in economic development between and within subnational units rather than countries. They have used this data to measure the economic effects of regional and ethnic favouritism of political leaders around the globe, as well as the impact of Chinese foreign aid on local development in Africa.

The Internet as Quantitative Social Science Platform: Insights from a Trillion Observations
Dr. Ackermann, Dr. Angus and Dr. Raschky have developed a one-of-a-kind database that has mapped global internet use against human behaviour. It is the culmination of more than three years’ work using the Australian Synchrotron’s MASSIVE and Nectar computing facility to process more than one trillion observations of whether computers around the world were online or offline. This tool can shed new light on everything from global sleep patterns to how economic activity is impacted by internet use. This project has developed through the Monash IP Observatory where global internet space is monitored in real time, providing insights and analysis to journalists, non-profit organisations and decision makers in times of crisis. The Observatory provided key data on Russian internet speeds the night before the invasion of Ukraine, suggesting Russia was either censoring online content or actively slowing the internet and restricting access to news media.

These projects are now part of a number of initiatives including the foundation of SoDa Laboratories, an empirical research laboratory associated with Monash University’s Department of Economics and Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics. The laboratory applies new tools from data science, machine learning, and beyond to answer social science questions.

Furthermore the projects have initiated the creation of KASPR Datahaus which utilises real-time internet insights at global scale.