Classifying economics for the common good: Connecting sustainable development goals to JEL codes

Abstract: How does economics research help in solving societal challenges? This brief note sheds additional light on this question by providing ways to connect Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) codes and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. These simple linkages illustrate that the themes of SDGs have corresponding JEL classification codes. As the mappings presented here are necessarily imperfect and incomplete, there is plenty of room for improvements. In an ideal world, there would be a JEL classification system for SDGs, a separate JEL code for each of the 17 SDGs.