Research

The Center for Economic Information specializes in public health research and community-led economic development research and advocacy. Their history of partnerships with academics, practitioners, public health officials, and community organizations have provided CEI researchers with the unique skill set necessary for successful interdisciplinary research and policy advocacy.

Public Health

 CEI researchers have been awarded grants to study public health issues like pediatric asthma, elevated pediatric blood lead levels, and firearms violence. Our interdisciplinary teams offer unique insights into these matters and how the built environment influences outcomes in the KCMO metropolitan area, especially among its most vulnerable residents. 

Spatial Data Analysis

CEI specializes in spatial data collection and analysis. For more than twenty years, CEI researchers have used our parcel-level Neighborhood Housing Conditions Survey to track changes in the built environment, assess health risks, and guide public health investments. Our researchers also have extensive experience in using spatial data visualization in community engagement and public health education campaigns.

 

Community Economic Development

CEI researchers have decades of practical experience in holistic, and comprehensive community-led economic development projects. Community economic development is much more than increasing median household incomes or property values - community economic development should improve the well-being of all community members. Improvement is measured by metrics that community members establish themselves, not those picked by academic economists. Helping community members build safer, healthier communities is a reflection of CEI's commitment to advancing the public good. 

Public Money and Macroeconomic Policy

CEI researchers are experienced in process analysis and stock-flow consistent macroeconomic accounting which makes them uniquely suited to study fiscal and monetary operations, central banking, and financial regulation. The public money perspective offers an alternative to the debt trap-laden approach to economic development in the Global South. CEI offers training and consulting services to national governments and regional blocks that are improving their fiscal policy space and investing in their capacity to pursue green and full employment policies.

Research Collaborations

UMKC School of Medicine

The Child Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (CLPPP) at the Kansas City Health Department

Children's Mercy Hospital