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STEM foundation

STEM foundation of Economic Development

The science, technology, engineering and mathematics Economic Development rests on. Each method has a canonical page in the STEM Commons, hosted by GCRI, and a page here on how it is applied in this field.

Open Development economics Back to Economic Development
Publisher
The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation
Field
Economic development, Development finance
Status
In development
Service level
R0: information and enquiries

Method registry

Economic development · 11 methods in use

Reviews currentGCRI · Economic Development

Methods in use

Economics and development…3Expert reviewQ2Current
Econometrics14BenchmarkQ1Current
Causal inference and impact…4Cross-validationQ3Review due
Network science and contagion5BenchmarkQ3Current
Complex systems and…10Cross-validationQ4Review due

Selected method

Method
Economics and development…
Steward
Ministry of finance
Assumptions
stated on its page
Limits
what it cannot say, published

Skill on held-out data

050100score 0 to 1 by method, illustrativeEconomics…EconometricsCausal…Network…Complex…

Economic Development · Method registryMethod registry, in outline: domain structure with placeholder names and illustrative values, not a record.

01In brief

The short answer.

The Economic Development STEM foundation is the set of canonical methods its findings depend on, from economics and development economics to complex systems and agent-based modelling. For the Consortium, Economic Development stewards three of them, among them economics and development economics as well as econometrics. Each method has a canonical STEM Commons page and a page here on its use in the economic development field.

02Canvas

Methods feeding this platform.

Canvas · methods feeding this platformDesign, not a record
STEM foundation of Economic Development: how an economic shock propagatesA shock to prices or demand propagates through input-output linkages to sector output, then to jobs and household income, and to public finances; policy responses are tested against the same chain. Design of the process, not a record of a run.

Fig.The methods this platform draws on and what each one feeds. Design, not a record.

03Geography

Activity and hazards in Africa.

For STEM foundation of economic development, in GCRI's spatial-intelligence reading, the map opens on night lights, population density and true-colour imagery with true colour from NASA GIBS, framed on Africa; every other NASA layer, live feed and forecast waits in the layer list.

The interactive map needs JavaScript; the layer list and sources are below.

Layers 3

Activity and hazards, for this page

Latest available

NASA GIBS / EOSDIS · ASTER GDEM (METI, NASA) · Blue Marble (NASA) · © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Natural Earth

Loading the latest NASA imagery.

Drag to move. Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll, pinch or the buttons to zoom; hover for the values under the pointer; reset returns to the region.

For STEM foundation of economic development, in GCRI's spatial-intelligence reading, the map opens on night lights, population density and true-colour imagery with true colour from NASA GIBS, framed on Africa; every other NASA layer, live feed and forecast waits in the layer list.Satellite and model products as NASA publishes them, each with its own date; indicators, not assessments of any place; claim ceiling INTEGRATED.

Data: NASA GIBS · ASTER GDEM · Blue Marble · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Natural Earth · GDACS · Copernicus Sentinel-2 L2A · NASA HLS S30Sources and licences

  • We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • VIIRS Black Marble night-time lights, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; distributed by the NASA Level-1 and Atmosphere Archive and Distribution System (LAADS DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University. 2018. Gridded Population of the World, Version 4 (GPWv4): Population Density, Revision 11. NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). CC BY 4.0
  • VIIRS near-real-time products (flood, land surface temperature, snow cover, corrected reflectance), NASA LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • MODIS land products (vegetation indices, gross primary production, land cover), NASA LP DAAC and LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • ASTER GDEM is a product of METI and NASA (ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003, NASA LP DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • Made with Natural Earth. Free vector and raster map data @ naturalearthdata.com. Public domain
  • © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), via NASA GIBS (coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). ODbL
  • Blue Marble, NASA Earth Observatory; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • Context on the globe and flat map: coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names from NASA GIBS reference layers (OpenStreetMap data, ODbL, © OpenStreetMap contributors); Blue Marble imagery as an optional base; 3D terrain and the elevation read-out from the ASTER GDEM elevation colour index (5 m to 200 m classes, exaggerated for legibility). Boundaries are drawn as published and imply no position on any territory.
  • Globe: MapLibre GL JS 6.9.1, BSD-3-Clause, © MapLibre contributors.
  • Live: GDACS (EC JRC / UN OCHA) Events are indicative, not official warnings.
  • Observed (EO): Copernicus Sentinel-2 L2A (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026), Microsoft Planetary Computer
  • Observed (EO): NASA HLS S30 (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026). We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS).
  • Optional layers (35 sources in the layer list: live, forecast, observed and context) print their provider credit on the map and here when switched on; forecasts are model output and derived indices are estimates.

Layers and dates

  • Night-time lights, daily: VIIRS Black Marble (VNP46A2), NASA LAADS DAAC · 12 Oct 2026
  • Population density, 2020: Population: CIESIN, Columbia University, Gridded Population of the World v4.11 (2018), NASA SEDAC, CC BY 4.0 · static
  • True colour: VIIRS NOAA-20 corrected reflectance, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026
  • Flood water, 3-day composite: VIIRS Global Flood Product, NASA LANCE · 14 Oct 2026
  • Land cover type (IGBP), yearly: MODIS Terra and Aqua land cover (MCD12Q1), NASA LP DAAC · 2024
  • Enhanced vegetation index, rolling 8 days: MODIS Terra EVI, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026

04Methods

The methods behind the field.

  1. Economics and development economicsGrowth diagnostics · Structural transformation analysis · Distributional incidenceSteward · Economic DevelopmentApplied here
    Canonical · STEM Commons
  2. EconometricsShock transmission models · Panel analysis across countries · Nowcasting with alternative dataSteward · Economic DevelopmentApplied here
    Canonical · STEM Commons
  3. Causal inference and impact evaluationRandomised evaluations · Evaluating place-based policies · Regression discontinuitySteward · Economic DevelopmentApplied here
    Canonical · STEM Commons
  4. Network science and contagionProduct space analysis · Input-output shock propagation · Financial interconnectednessSteward · Systems Science and ModellingApplied here
    Canonical · STEM Commons
  5. Complex systems and agent-based modellingAgent-based macroeconomic scenarios · Feedback in fiscal and financial stressSteward · Systems Science and ModellingApplied here
    Canonical · STEM Commons
05Method mix

Why development needs this combination of methods.

Economic development work combines economics for theory, econometrics for estimation, causal inference for policy effects, network science for production linkages and complex systems for how shocks propagate through economies. Each method answers a different part of the question of how far and how long a shock depresses output, employment and public revenue.

Economic development work combines economics and econometrics with causal inference, network science and complex systems.

06Why it matters

Grounding makes claims checkable.

When a finding names the methods it depends on, a reader can see its assumptions and limits, and an expert in that method can challenge it.

07Key terms

Terms used on this page.

Each term as this page uses it. Where a standard-setting body defines the term, the wording follows that body.

TermDefinition
STEM CommonsThe shared reference of science, technology, engineering and mathematics methods for the Nexus network, hosted by GCRI, with one canonical page per method and a named steward platform.
Steward platformThe platform that maintains the canonical description of a method in the STEM Commons and reviews how other platforms apply it.
Economics and development economicsEconomics and development economics study how societies produce, distribute and consume resources and how living standards change.
EconometricsEconometrics applies statistical methods to economic data to estimate relationships, test theories and forecast.
08Sources

Where this page's references lead.

The bodies and documents this page is read against. Status and editions change; each link goes to the issuing body.

09Pages

Pages in STEM foundation of Economic Development.

Method

Development economics

Method

Econometrics for development

Method

Impact evaluation

Method

Network science for economies

Method

Complex systems economics

10Questions

Questions and answers.

What is a steward platform?
The platform that maintains the canonical description of a method and reviews how it is applied across the Consortium.
Related

Around Economic Development.

Economic Development

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