Denis de Crombrugghe joined Nazarbayev University and the GSB after retiring from Maastricht University (Netherlands), where he taught courses in the fields of statistical inference, theoretical and empirical econometrics, policy impact evaluation, and panel data. He holds an MA degree in economics from the University of Leuven (KUL, Belgium), an MBA degree from the University of Chicago (now Booth GSB), and a PhD from Maastricht University (Netherlands). His experience in econometrics began with the construction of a multicountry macro-econometric model (COMET III) for the European Commission, and his focus evolved naturally towards the econometrics of panel data. His main interest is making sense of complex data to unearth useful insights, especially when (as is common nowadays) data vary in both time and space. This comprises various applications of panel data methodology and the econometrics of growth and development.

Methodological issues in multi-unit and panel data analysis, especially in the presence of dynamics
Econometrics of growth and development, like the projection of poverty trends, the evaluation of development policies, or the appraisal of efforts to diversify economies reliant on natural resources
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and its role in the development of the domestic economy
Factor models for firm performance, aiming at assessing the importance and comparative value of different industry classifications (with Venkat Subramanian a.o.)
The Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS-HSE) vs the official Rosstat Household Budget Survey, esp. in relation to the measurement of and inference about inequality. 

Statistical and econometric methods
Empirical econometrics (macro/micro, finance/marketing, policy evaluation)
Survey and panel data