wber-theory-model
Use when a development model is needed to interpret an empirical result or to run a policy counterfactual for a The World Bank Economic Review (WBER) manuscript, or when deciding whether a formal model is needed at all. Disciplines the model-to-data link and the counterfactual; it does not run estimation or write prose.
Profile →npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills --skill wber-theory-model --agent claude-code
Same command for any agent — swap --agent for codex, cursor, copilot.
Weekly change comes from our own snapshots, not the repository page — it measures attention, not adoption.
# Theory and Model Craft (wber-theory-model) ## When to trigger - A reduced-form result needs a model to interpret a mechanism or run a counterfactual - A referee asks "what is the model that rationalizes this?" or "what does welfare do?" - You want to extrapolate beyond the estimated policy to an un-tried policy (requires structure) - The paper has a heavy model but it is decorative — it does not discipline the empirics or the counterfactual - You are unsure whether WBER expects a formal model here at all ## Does WBER even want a model here? WBER publishes both **theoretical and empirical** development research, but most accepted papers are empirical, and **a formal model is a means, not a merit badge**. Add a model only when it earns its place: - **To interpret** — convert a reduced-form coefficient into a structural parameter (an elasticity, a friction) policymakers can reason about. - **To extrapolate** — answer a counterfactual the data alone cannot (an un-tried transfer size, a national roll-out, a price change). - **To aggregate** — move from a partial-equilibrium treatment effect to a general-equilibrium or welfare statement. If none of these apply, a clean reduced-form eva
- When to trigger
- Does WBER even want a model here?
- Disciplining a development model
- Reduced-form ↔ structure handoff
- Referee pushback mapped to the model fix
- Checklist
- Theory-to-policy translation
- Anti-patterns
- Worked vignette (illustrative)
- When a conceptual framework beats a formal model
- Output format
What does the wber-theory-model skill do?
Use when a development model is needed to interpret an empirical result or to run a policy counterfactual for a The World Bank Economic Review (WBER) manuscript, or when deciding whether a formal model is needed at all. Disciplines the model-to-data link and the counterfactual; it does not run estimation or write prose.
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills --skill wber-theory-model --agent claude-code` — it drops the skill into your project so the agent can pick it up. Swap the --agent value for codex, cursor or copilot if you use one of those.
Where does this skill come from?
From brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills, a repository with 909 stars. We read it straight from the repository tree rather than a submitted listing, so what you see here is what is actually published.
Is a popular skill a good skill?
Not necessarily. Stars measure attention, not adoption — a repository can trend for a week and be abandoned. That is why we show the weekly change from our own snapshots next to the total, instead of a single flattering number.