Measuring Local Economic Activity Using Pedestrian Count Data*

Abstract

Measures of timely local economic activity are elusive. In this study, we explore the extent to which the volume of pedestrians in a central business district may be associated with its economic activity. Both logically and theoretically there is a strong rationale to expect such a relationship. We find that this is supported empirically also. We also briefly consider the extent to which this observed association may be applied to other use cases.