Shamayla Durrin Islam

I am a Bangladeshi fourth-year undergraduate student at the University of Toronto, studying Mathematics, Economics, and Statistics. I really enjoy economics research and data analysis, particularly within the context of developing countries, and I am currently working on multiple research papers. I am also deeply committed to autism awareness, a cause close to my heart due to my journey with my special sibling. I am the founder and president of Project Bornali, a non-profit organization committed to creating autism awareness in Bangladesh and supporting individuals with special needs from underprivileged backgrounds.

GDP growth estimates can be unreliable for several reasons, including weak national statistical systems or authoritarian governments overstating growth. Bangladesh, for example, has a Statistical Capacity score of "C" from the World Bank, meaning its data should be "used with caution," and it has been under authoritarian rule for the past 15 years. Studies, such as Elvidge et al., have shown that nighttime light (NTL) data is strongly correlated with GDP (r^2= 0.97). Henderson et al. developed a statistical framework that combines reported GDP growth with NTL growth to create a synthetic measure of economic growth. In this project, I am further refining that framework by incorporating additional country-specific factors, aiming to improve its accuracy and apply it to reconstruct GDP growth for Bangladesh and other developing countries.