In addition to performing market analyses in inner-city neighborhoods throughout the United States, Social Compact conducts research projects to contribute to innovation in the community development field.  These research projects are often undertaken in partnership with some of the most dynamic leaders, organizations and financial institutions in community development.  Current research projects include:

• Hidden in Plain Sight: In partnership with the Social Policy Department at the London School of Economics, Social Compact's Senior Research Analyst Jamie Alderslade, discusses the merits of presenting inner-city asset data over deficiency data in identifying market strength and opportunity in a position paper sponsored by the Greenlining Institute. The paper concludes that cities can play vital informational roles in bridging information gaps that contribute to market failures in America's underserved neighborhoods.
  

• Measuring the Informal Economy at a Local Level: The informal economy is a key component of low-income neighborhood markets. As part of its innovative DRILLDOWN analysis, Social Compact has designed, employed and honed a proprietary data tool for quantifying the informal economy in over one hundred underserved neighborhoods across the U.S. Using this experience, Social Compact, in partnership with the Brookings Institution's Urban Markets Initiative, is conducting a major literature review of current methods used around the world to measure the size and contribution of the informal economy in urban areas. The review will identify areas for future research and will provide the platform for progressive debate about the drivers for, and design of, a transferable information tool capable of measuring the informal economy at the local level. Please check regularly for updates.
  
  
• Determining the impact of DrillDown’s in inner-city neighborhoods -
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• Searching for additional data sources that better help us understand urban neighborhoods