Carlos Mendez
Academic Positions
2018-Present Associate Professor, Graduate School of International Development,
University, Japan.

Nagoya2019-Present Founding Director, Quantitative Regional and Computational Science Network.
2015-2018 Lecturer, Faculty of Arts and Science, Kyushu University, Japan.

Education2015 Ph.D. in International Development, Nagoya University, Japan.
2012 M.A. in International Development, Nagoya University, Japan.
2010 Research Student in International Development, Nagoya University, Japan.
2008 B.A. in Commercial Engineering (Business-Economics), Universidad Católica
Boliviana, Bolivia.
2007 Visiting Student in Commercial Engineering (Business-Economics), Pontificia
Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile.

Research and Teaching Fields
Primary: Development Economics, Regional Economics
Secondary: Applied Econometrics, Macroeconomics

Teaching Experience
Graduate Courses
2022–Present Associate Professor, Applied Econometrics, Nagoya University.
2022–Present Associate Professor, Introduction to Statistics and Data Science, Nagoya
University.
2022–Present Associate Professor, Regional Development, Nagoya University.
2022–Present Associate Professor, Introductory Macroeconomics, Nagoya University.

Graduate School of International Development – Nagoya University, JAPANT +81 052 789 4345 • B carlos@gsid.nagoya-u.ac.jp
Í https://carlos-mendez.org

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2018–Present Associate Professor, Seminar in Economic Development Policy and Management
I and II, Nagoya University.
2019–2022
2021–2022
2012–2014
2012–20142013

Associate Professor, Development Macroeconomics, Nagoya University.
Associate Professor, Quantitative Economic Analysis, Nagoya University.
Teaching Assistant, Development Macroeconomics, Nagoya University .
Teaching Assistant, Development Microeconomics, Nagoya University .
Teaching Assistant, Advanced Microeconomics I, Nagoya University .

2013 Workshop Instructor, Advanced Topics in Economic Growth and Productivity,
Nagoya University.
2013 Workshop Instructor, Advanced Topics in Macroeconomics, Nagoya University.

Undergraduate Courses
2016-20182016-20182017-20182016-2017

Lecturer, Introduction to Economics, Kyushu University.
Lecturer, Kikan- General Education Seminar, Kyushu University.
Lecturer, Academic Presentations in English (FC-SP), Kyushu University.
Lecturer, Global Poverty and Development, Kyushu University.

2016-2017 Lecturer, Interdisciplinary Collaborative Learning of Social Issues, Kyushu
University.
2017-2017 Lecturer, Introduction to Data Analysis and Visualization (SALC), Kyushu
University.
2015-2017 Lecturer, Economics is Everywhere (SALC), Kyushu University.
2008 Invited Lecturer, Microeconomics I, Universidad Católica Boliviana.

Other Experience
2012–2015 Research Assistant, Globalization and Development Research Project, JSPS ClassA International Joint Research Project lead by Prof. Shigeru Otsubo, Nagoya
University.
2008–2009 Local Consultant, Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and OPMAC corporation, Bolivia.
2007–2008 Junior Consultant, The World Bank and the Danish International Development
Agency (DANIDA), Bolivia.
2007–2008 Junior Consultant, Pro-Mujer Microcredit International, Bolivia.
2007 Intern, FIE Microcredit, Bolivia.
2006 Junior Consultant, Pro-Mujer Microcredit, Bolivia.

Awards2023 Top Cited Article 2021-2022, Regional Science Policy and Practice, Regional
convergence and spatial dependence across subnational regions of ASEAN: Evidence
from satellite nighttime light data.

Graduate School of International Development – Nagoya University, JAPANT +81 052 789 4345 • B carlos@gsid.nagoya-u.ac.jp
Í https://carlos-mendez.org

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2023 Top Cited Article 2021-2022, Review of Development Economics, Disparities inregional productivity, capital accumulation, and efficiency across Indonesia: A clubconvergence approach.
2022 Top Cited Article 2020-2021, Regional Science Policy and Practice, Regional
convergence, spatial scale, and spatial dependence: Evidence from homicides andpersonal injuries in Colombia 2010-2018.
2022 Top Cited Article 2020-2021, Review of Development Economics, Disparities inregional productivity, capital accumulation, and efficiency across Indonesia: A clubconvergence approach.
2021 Encouraging Award, Japan Section of the Regional Science Association
International.
2017
2013
2012–2015
2010–20122009–2010

Emerging Scholar Award, Interdisciplinary Social Sciences Research Network.
Outstanding Research Assistantship, Nagoya University.
Doctoral Studies Scholarship, Japanese Government MEXT.
Master Studies Scholarship, Japanese Government MEXT.
Research Student Scholarship, Japanese Government MEXT.

2008 Medal of Academic Excellence, Highest GPA (92/100) in the Commercial Engineering Major , Universidad Católica Boliviana.
2008 University Valedictorian, Universidad Católica Boliviana.
2007 Bolivian Representative Fellowship, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
2005–2007 Academic Excellence Fellowship, Best Student of the Commercial Engineering
Major, Universidad Católica Boliviana.
2003 New Millennium Leader, Latin American Circle in Oratory.
2003 Diploma of Academic Excellence, Best Student of High School, Instituto Salesiano Domingo Savio.

Research Grants
2023-Present Integrating Satellite Images with Socieconomic Data for Monitoring Sustainable Development, Strategic Proposal for Fusion Research, ISEE, Nagoya
University.
Principal Investigator

2024-2027 Measuring and Modeling Local Economic Development using New Satellite
Data and Spatial Econometrics, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science,
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) 24K04884.
Principal Investigator

2023-2026 Spatial Econometric Analysis of Regional Economies and Decentralization inIndonesia Based on Legal Mapping Method and Satellite Nighttime Light
Data, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific
Research (B) 23H03617.
Co-investigator

Graduate School of International Development – Nagoya University, JAPANT +81 052 789 4345 • B carlos@gsid.nagoya-u.ac.jp
Í https://carlos-mendez.org

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2019-2023 Testing for Distributional Divergence in the Pillars of Global Sustainable
Development: Integrating the Insights from a New Hierarchical Clustering
Algorithm, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Grant-in-Aid for EarlyCareer Scientists 19K13669.
Principal Investigator

2018-2019 Designing Integrated Industrial Policies for Pro-Poor Growth under Globalization: Promoting Surviving Industries in Developing Countries in Asia andAfrica with New Public-Private Partnership, Japan Society for the Promotionof Science, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A) 15H02620.
Co-investigator

Computer skills
Programming: Python, R, Stata, Matlab, Julia, JavaScript, Gauss, LATEX
User: QGIS, GeoDA, Maple, Mathematica, EViews, SPPS, MINITAB, GTAP, ADEPT

Professional Activities
Spatial Econometrics Association (SEA)
Japan Society for International Development (JASID)
Japan Section of the Regional Science Association International (JSRSAI)
Referee: Regional Science Policy and Practice, REGION, Sustainability, GeoJournal, AsiaPacific Journal of Regional Science, Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences,
Economic Change and Restructuring, Journal of Economic Structures, Regional
Studies, Regional Science, Essays on Economic Policy, Forum of International
Development Studies, Economics Bulletin.

Publications and ResearchPeer-reviewed Articles
2024 Exploring economic activity from outer space: A Python notebook for processing
and analyzing satellite nighttime lights, Region. (with Ayush Patnaik)
2024 Can higher-quality nighttime lights predict sectoral GDP across subnational regions?
Urban and rural luminosity across provinces in Turkiye, Letters in Spatial andResource Sciences. (with Yilin Chen and Ugur Ursavas)
2023 Regional unemployment dynamics in Indonesia: Serial persistence, spatial dependence, and common factors, Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences. (with Tifani
Siregar)2023 Regional Okun’s law and endogeneity: Evidence from the Indonesian districts,
Applied Economics Letters. (with Harry Aginta and Masakazu Someya)
2023 Convergence clubs and spatial structural change in the European Union, Structural
Change and Economic Dynamics. (with Eleonora Cutrini)
2023 Measuring and understanding regional inequality through the lens of the Indonesian
experience: A book review of regional inequality and development by Takahiro Akita
and Mitsuhiko Kataoka, Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science
Graduate School of International Development – Nagoya University, JAPANT +81 052 789 4345 • B carlos@gsid.nagoya-u.ac.jp
Í https://carlos-mendez.org

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2022 Regional income convergence and conditioning factors in Turkey: Revisiting the roleof spatial dependence and neighbor effects, Annals of Regional Science. (with Ugur
Ursavas)2022 Schooling ain’t learning in Europe: A club convergence perspective, Comparative
Economic Studies. (with Linda Glawe)2022 Social and economic convergence across districts in Indonesia: A spatial econometricapproach, Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies. (with Cani Miranti)
2022 Regional convergence and spatial dependence in Thailand: Global and local assessments, Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy. (with Katikar Tipayalai)
2022 Economic and social disparities across subnational regions of South America: A
spatial convergence approach, Comparative Economic Studies.(with Felipe Santos)
2021 Regional income disparities, distributional convergence, and spatial effects: Evidence
from Indonesian regions 2010-2017, GeoJournal. (with Felipe Santos and Anang
Gunawan)2021 Regional income disparities and convergence clubs in Indonesia: New district-level
evidence, Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy. (with Harry Aginta and Anang
Gunawan)2021 Sectoral productivity convergence, input-output structure and network communities
in Japan, Structural Change and Economic Dynamics. (with Alvaro Dominguez andFelipe Santos)
2021 Provincial income convergence clubs in Indonesia: Identification and conditioning
factors, Growth and Change. (with Anang Gunawan and Shigeru Otsubo)
2021 Human capital constraints, spatial dependence, and regionalization in Bolivia: A
spatial clustering approach, Economia. (with Erick Gonzales)
2021 Regional convergence and spatial dependence across subnational regions of ASEAN:
Evidence from satellite nighttime light data, Regional Science Policy and Practice.
(with Felipe Santos)
2021 Disparities in regional productivity, capital accumulation, and efficiency acrossIndonesia: A club convergence approach, Review of Development Economics. (with
Mitsuhiko Kataoka)
2021 Regional convergence, spatial scale, and spatial dependence: Evidence from homicides and personal injuries in Colombia 2010-2018, Regional Science Policy andPractice (with Felipe Santos)
2020 Regional efficiency convergence and efficiency clusters: Evidence from the provincesof Indonesia 1990-2010, Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science.
2020 Labor productivity, capital accumulation, and aggregate efficiency across countries:
New evidence for an old debate, Forum of International Development Studies.
2019 Lack of global convergence and the formation of multiple welfare clubs acrosscountries: An unsupervised machine learning approach, Economies.
2019 A comparison of TFP estimates via distribution dynamics: Evidence from lightmanufacturing firms in Brazil, Empirical Economics Letters. (with Erick Gonzales)
Graduate School of International Development – Nagoya University, JAPANT +81 052 789 4345 • B carlos@gsid.nagoya-u.ac.jp
Í https://carlos-mendez.org

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2019 Industrial productivity divergence and input-output network structures: Evidence
from Japan 1973-2012, Economies. (with Alvaro Dominguez)
2018 Beta, sigma and distributional convergence in human development? Evidence
from the metropolitan regions of Bolivia, Latin American Journal of Economic
Development.
2018 On the distribution dynamics of human development: Evidence from the metropolitan
regions of Bolivia, Economics Bulletin.
2018 Investment constraints and productivity cycles in Bolivia, Conyuntural Economics.
2017 Heterogeneous growth and regional (di)convergence in Bolivia: A distribution
dynamics approach, Coyuntural Economics.
2015 The world productivity distribution: Convergence and divergence patterns in the
postwar era, Latin American Journal of Economic Development.
2015 On the development gap between Latin America and East Asia: Welfare, efficiency,
and misallocation, Forum of International Development Studies.

Books2020 Convergence Clubs in Labor Productivity and its Proximate Sources: Evidence from
Developed and Developing Countries. Springer
2015 Essays on Aggregate Productivity, Structural Change, and Misallocation. LambertAcademic PublishingBook Chapters
2021 Regional Economic Growth Convergence and Spatial Growth Spillovers at Timesof COVID-19 Pandemic in Indonesia. In Resosudarmo B. et al. (Ed.), Regional
Perspectives of Covid-19 in Indonesia. IRSA Press
2021 Promoting Both Industrial Development and Regional Convergence: Towards a
Regionally Inclusive Industrial Policy. In Otsubo S. and Otchia C. (Ed.), Designing
Integrated Industrial Policies. Routledge
2015 Divergent and Unequal Development in Latin America: Causes and Policy Challenges. In Otsubo S. (Ed.), Globalization and Development: In Search of a New
Development Paradigm. Routledge

Reports
2008 Productive Investment Complementarity across Local and Regional Governments in
Bolivia, Consultancy Report, The World Bank–DANIDA. (with Guillermo Gonzales)

Dissertations
2015 Essays on Aggregate Productivity, Structural Change and Resource Misallocation,
Doctoral Dissertation, Nagoya University
2012 On the Determinants of Bolivia’s Economic Growth: Productivity and Institutional
Puzzles, Master Dissertation, Nagoya University
2008 The Relative Importance of the Industry Forces and Firm Resources on Performance:
An Empirical Evaluation of the Biggest Firms in Bolivia, Undergraduate Dissertation,
Universidad Católica Boliviana
Graduate School of International Development – Nagoya University, JAPANT +81 052 789 4345 • B carlos@gsid.nagoya-u.ac.jp
Í https://carlos-mendez.org

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Recent Conference Presentations
2023 Mapping multidimensional poverty in Cambodia: Integrating big data, socioeconomic surveys, and machine learning, GSID-ISEE 2023 Research Workshop, Nagoya, Japan.
2023 Regional luminosity through the lens of the spatial Solow model: Evidence
from Java, Indonesia, The 14th version of the Bolivian Conference on Development Economics, Bolivian Catholic University, Bolivia.
2023 Regional luminosity through the lens of the spatial Solow model: Evidence
from Java, Indonesia, The 60th Annual Meeting of the Japan Section of theRegional Science Association International, Nagoya, Japan.
2023 Regional Okun’s law, endogeneity, and heterogeneous effects: District-level
evidence from Indonesia, The 62nd Congress of the European Regional Science
Association, Virtual Conference, Spain.
2023 Exploring economic activity from outer space: A Python notebook for processing and analyzing satellite nighttime lights, The 62nd Congress of theEuropean Regional Science Association, Virtual Conference, Spain.
2022 Regional luminosity and economic activity in Java: What do the new satellite
nighttime light data say?, The 59th Annual Meeting of the Japan Section of theRegional Science Association International, Virtual Conference, Japan.
2022 Regional income convergence and conditioning factors in Turkey: Revisiting
the role of spatial dependence and neighbor effects, The 61st Congress of theEuropean Regional Science Association, Virtual Conference, Hungary.
2022 Regional inequality clubs in the Philippines: A view from outer space, The
27th Conference of the Pacific Regional Science Conference Organisation (PRSCO),
Virtual Conference, Japan.
2021 Regional disparities and heterogeneous convergence in Indonesia: A multiscale geographically weighted regression approach, XV World Conference of
the Spatial Econometrics Association, Virtual Conference, Japan.
2021 Regional disparities and heterogeneous convergence in Indonesia: A multiscale geographically weighted regression approach, The 13th World Congressof the Regional Science Association International, Virtual Conference, Morocco.
2020 Regional Convergence and Spatial Dependence across Subnational Regionsof ASEAN: Evidence from Satellite Nighttime Light Data, The 57th Annual
Meeting of the Japan Section of the Regional Science Association International,
Virtual Conference, Japan.
2020 Regional Convergence and Spatial Dependence across Subnational Regionsof ASEAN: Evidence from Satellite Nighttime Light Data, The 57th Annual
Meeting of the Japan Section of the Regional Science Association International,
Virtual Conference, Japan.
2020 National and Subnational Inequality in Africa: A Club Convergence View
from Outer Space Motivation, The 31st Annual Conference of the Japan Society
for International Development, Virtual Conference, Japan.
Graduate School of International Development – Nagoya University, JAPANT +81 052 789 4345 • B carlos@gsid.nagoya-u.ac.jp
Í https://carlos-mendez.org

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2020 Human Development Disparities and Convergence across Districts of Indonesia: A Spatial Econometric Approach, The Applied Regional Science Conference(ARSC) 34th Annual Meeting, Virtual Conference, Japan.
2020 Regional Income Disparities and Convergence Clubs in Indonesia: New
District-Level Evidence, The 2020 Fall Meeting of the Japan Association of Applied Economics (JAAE), Virtual Conference, Japan.
2020 Economic and Social Disparities across Subnational Regions of South America: A Spatial Convergence Approach, The 57th/2020 Annual Conference of
the Japan Society of Social Science on Latin America, Virtual Conference, Japan.
2020 Regional Income Disparities, Distributional Convergence, and Spatial Effects: Evidence from Indonesian Regions 2010-2017, The 19th International
Conference of the Japan Economic Policy Association, Virtual Conference, Japan.
2020 Productivity Differences and Convergence Clubs in Latin America, The 2020
Bolivian Conference of Development Economics, Virtual Conference, Bolivia.
2019 Disparities in Regional Productivity, Capital Accumulation, and Efficiency
across Indonesia: A Convergence Clubs Approach, The 2019 Applied Regional
Science Conference (ARSC), Saga, Japan.
2019 Productivity Differences and Convergence Clubs in Latin America, The 2019
International Joint Conference of JAHSS and JASID, Tokyo, Japan.
2019 Input-Output Efficiency and Regional Convergence Clusters: Evidence fromthe Indonesian Provinces 1990-2010, The 56th Annual Meeting of the Japan
Section of the Regional Science Association International, Kurume, Japan.
2019 Regional Efficiency Dispersion, Convergence, and Efficiency Clusters: Evidence from the Provinces of Indonesia 1990-2010, The 2019 Spring Conferenceof the Japanese Association of Applied Economics, Nagoya, Japan.
2019 Environmental Efficiency and Regional Convergence Clusters in Japan: A
Nonparametric Density Approach, The 3rd International Conference on Economic Structures of the Pan Pacific Association of Input-Output Studies, Osaka,
Japan.

Graduate School of International Development – Nagoya University, JAPANT +81 052 789 4345 • B carlos@gsid.nagoya-u.ac.jp
Í https://carlos-mendez.org

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