Welcome to Narrative Economics. We are a research led organisation, working in partnership with the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) to study the origination, spread and propagation of narratives and how they create socio-political and economic impacts. Our work builds on the original research by Nobel Laureate Professor of Economics, Robert Shiller.
The term ânarrativesâ refers to stories or ideas, particularly those of human interest and emotion that are conveyed in communication. The human brain has always been highly attuned to narratives, whether factual or not, to justify ongoing actions. Stories motivate and connect activities to deeply felt values and needs. When narratives âgo viral,â they spread far and wide and are often accompanied by deep sociopolitical and economic change. The 1920â21 Depression, the Great Depression of the 1930s, the Great Recession of 2007â9, and todayâs contentious political-economic situation are all considered the results of the popular narratives of their respective times.
We have developed an approach to algorithmically analyse narratives and their propagation through topic modelling and natural language understanding techniques.
Our research goals are:
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Capture trending narratives from across the world through mediums such as GDELT, reviews, blogs and social media
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Predict the spread, mutation and propagation of narratives
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Develop decision support mechanisms  to help businesses and communities to make better decisions to avert reputational risk, or to generate viral levels of interest in products or services
We are presenting at the Strata data conference in London on the 23rd of May 2018. Come and speak to us if you are interested in our research areas or would simply like to know more.