Abstract: The methods and systems described herein attempt to address the above-mentioned need by providing an algorithm and software capability to automatically detect and assess “natural experiments” that exist in any underlying dataset. In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method for identifying an experiment to use in an analysis of a business initiative comprises storing, by a computer, a set of historical data regarding entities in a business network; receiving, by the computer, a selection of inputs for the historical data; detecting, by the computer, a natural experiment based upon changes in the discretized historical data; and outputting, by the computer, a report of a detected experiment from the discretized historical data.

Abstract: The methods and systems described herein attempt to address the above-mentioned need by providing an algorithm and software capability to automatically detect and assess “natural experiments” that exist in any underlying dataset. In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method for identifying an experiment to use in an analysis of a business initiative comprises storing, by a computer, a set of historical data regarding entities in a business network; receiving, by the computer, a selection of inputs for the historical data; detecting, by the computer, a natural experiment based upon changes in the historical data; and outputting, by the computer, a report of a detected experiment from the historical data.

Abstract: The methods and systems described herein attempt to address the above-mentioned need by providing an algorithm and software capability to automatically detect and assess “natural experiments” that exist in any underlying dataset. In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method for identifying an experiment to use in an analysis of a business initiative comprises storing, by a computer, a set of historical data regarding entities in a business network; receiving, by the computer, a selection of inputs for the historical data; detecting, by the computer, a natural experiment based upon changes in the historical data; and outputting, by the computer, a report of a detected experiment from the historical data.

Abstract: The systems and methods described herein can index the economic activity in a trade area of a location by identifying a set of data concerning the economic activity of a plurality of locations and storing it with the associated geographic position of each of the locations. A geographic trade area is then determined for each of the locations, using either a pre-set area defined as a radius from the location or through input by a user. The database is queried to identify all of the locations within the trade area of the subject location. The economic activity associated with the locations is aggregated and compared across time periods to create the index of the economic activity within the subject location's trade area. The economic activity from these locations may also be weighted by any number of factors, including distance from the subject location, and type of retailer.