Curriculum vitae

Rendell E. de Kort · Savaneta, Aruba · rendell@c-economics.com · ORCID 0009-0006-5402-0500

Current positions

Partner, Capstone Research Group VBA, trading as Cornerstone Economics and LovelyData, Oranjestad. 2018 to present. Independent economics practice providing economic and financial advice, research design, and data analysis to governments and institutions in the Dutch Caribbean.

Network Administrator, Dutch Caribbean Digital Competence (DCDC) Network, University of Aruba. 2025 to present, 0.4 FTE. NWO-funded research-infrastructure network connecting the University of Aruba, University of Curaçao, and University of Sint Maarten with TU Delft and VU Amsterdam across all six islands. Responsible for training in data management and open science, and for the baseline assessment of digital competence across the participating institutions.

PhD candidate, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. 2022 to expected 2028. Economic resilience and adaptive capacity in small island economies. Promotor Prof. Kees Boersma; co-promotor Prof. Mark Sanders (Maastricht University); daily supervisor Dr. Eric Mijts (University of Aruba).

Previous positions

Consultant, The World Bank. 2020 to 2026. Disaster risk financing and post-disaster needs assessment: a PDNA and carrying-capacity assessment for Bonaire, a disaster risk financing assessment for Sint Maarten, an operational plan for disaster risk financing in Dominica, and structuring work on a CAT-DDO facility for Barbados.

Medior economist, Centrale Bank van Aruba. 2010 to 2018. Macroeconomic forecasting models, the economic narrative and policy recommendations, and secretary to both the Monetary Policy Committee and the public-sector coordination committee.

Lecturer, part-time, University of Aruba. 2012 to 2024. Macroeconomics; Political and Economic Development; Small Island Developing States Economics.

Governance

Supervisory director, Aruba Agri Development Company N.V., a wholly government-owned company. 2024 to 2025. Sole supervisory director: strategic oversight, financial control, and governance of an agricultural fund operated in partnership with Qredits Aruba.

Board member and treasurer, Fundacion Guia Mi, a subsidised foundation for foster care and youth protection, Oranjestad. 2015 to 2024.

Education

MSc Development Economics and Policy, University of Manchester, 2009.

Graduate Diploma in Economics, University of Nottingham, 2008.

BBA, Inholland, including an Erasmus exchange at ESCE Paris, 2007.

Books

The Conch Paradox: Rethinking Resilience, Prikichi Press, 2026. ISBN 978-99904-70-15-4.

Searching for Binding Constraints on Economic Growth in Aruba, 2012.

Articles and chapters

“Being prepared for exogenous shocks: exploring strategies to transform the food systems of Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten”, chapter in Southern Entanglements: Southern Epistemologies, Southern Praxes and the Languages, Literatures and Cultures of the Dutch Caribbean and Beyond, 2023.

“Strengthening economic resilience in small island states: a situational analysis of food entrepreneurship, with a focus on the Cucumis anguria cucumber in Aruba”, with Siguerd Obispo, Antonio Carmona Báez, Elisabeth Echteld, and Eric Mijts. University of Curaçao and University of Puerto Rico, 2024. Record

“Forecasting tourism demand through search queries and machine learning”, in Big Data, IFC Bulletin No. 44, Bank for International Settlements, 2017. PDF

“De economische consequenties van de verdwijning van Natalee Holloway”, Me Judice, 2015. With Wolter Hassink and Jorge Ridderstaat. Article

Working papers

“The truncated toolkit: disaster risk finance and the limits of autonomy in the Dutch Caribbean”, Cornerstone Economics Working Paper WP-2026-02, 2026. DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21111149

“The diaspora multiplier: Curaçao at the 2026 World Cup and what the resident-population unit cannot see”, Cornerstone Economics Working Paper WP-2026-01, 2026. DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20126987

Policy reports

“Exploring amplified food security vulnerabilities in Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten amidst the COVID-19 pandemic”, Island Innovation policy brief, 2024. Record

“Advancing disaster risk financing in Sint Maarten”, The World Bank, 2023. Report

“Curaçao food security assessment: enhancing the resilience of vulnerable households while boosting sustainable economic growth”, The World Bank, 2023. Report

“Building resilience in Aruba’s food security during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond”, The World Bank, 2021. DOI 10.1596/38506

“Diagnostics on the technology divide on Aruba”, Cornerstone Economics, for the Aruba Futura Foundation and the Government of Aruba, 2022.

Software, data, and teaching material

islandcodes: reference data and helpers for small island states and territories. R package, CRAN, 2026. DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20259253

SIDS criterion decomposition dataset, 2026. DOI 10.5281/zenodo.19445688

Introduction to R for SPSS Users: DCDC Network Training Materials, 2026. DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20057762

Essays and commentary

“Small islands reveal a blind spot in resilience thinking”, World Economic Forum, 4 February 2026. Read

Opinion pieces in Dossier Koninkrijksrelaties (2026) and analysis published through Cornerstone Economics since 2018. Full list on the writing page.

Languages

Papiamento (native). Dutch and English (fluent, written and spoken). Spanish (conversational). French (basic).