Are all economic facts greatly exaggerated? Theory competition and selectivity

Journal of Economic Surveys

Volumn 27, Issue 2, 2013, Pages 316-339

  Doucouliagos, Chris ^a   Stanley, T D ^b  

^a DEAKIN UNIVERSITY   (Australia)

^b HENDRIX COLLEGE   (United States)

Author keywords

Contested theory; Empirical economics; Meta analysis; Publication selectivity

Indexed keywords

COMPETITION (ECONOMICS); ECONOMETRICS; ECONOMIC ANALYSIS; EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS; META-ANALYSIS; POLICY MAKING;

EID: 84874932143     PISSN: 09500804     EISSN: 14676419     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-6419.2011.00706.x     Document Type: Article

References (81)

1. Abreu, M., Groot, H.L.F. de and Florax, R.J.G.M. (2005) A meta-analysis of beta-convergence: the legendary two-percent. Journal of Economic Surveys 19: 389-420.
2. Allouche, J. and Laroche, P. (2005) A meta-analytical examination of the link between corporate social and financial performance. Revue de Gestion des Ressources Humaines 57: 18-41.
3. Alston, R., Kearl, M. and Vaughan, M.B. (1992) Is there a consensus among economists in the 1990s? American Economic Review 82(2): 203-209.
4. Ashenfelter, O., Colm, H., and Hessel Oosterbeek, H. (1999) A review of estimates of the schooling/earnings relationship, with tests for publication bias. Labour Economics 6: 453-470.
5. Ashenfelter, O. and Greenstone, M. (2004) Estimating the value of a statistical life: the importance of omitted variables and publication bias. American Economic Review 94: 454-60.
6. Barro, R. (1974) Are government bonds net wealth? Journal of Political Economy 82: 1095-117.
7. Barro, R. (1989) The Ricardian approach to budget deficits. Journal of Economic Perspectives 3: 37-54.
8. Bel, G. and Fageda, X. (2009) Factors explaining local privatization: a meta-regression analysis. Public Choice 139: 105-119.
9. Bernheim, D.B. (1987) Ricardian equivalence: an evaluation of theory and evidence. In S. Fischer (ed.), NBER Macroeconomic Annual: 1987 (pp. 263-304). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
10. Besley, T., Persson, T. and Sturm, D. (2005) Political Competition and Economic Performance: theory and evidence from the United States. NBER Working Paper 11484.
11. Burnside, C. and Dollar, D. (2000) Aid, policies and growth. American Economic Review 90: 847-868.
12. Card, D. and Krueger, A.B. (1995) Time-series minimum-wage studies: a meta-analysis. American Economic Review 85: 238-243.
13. Caudill, S.B. and Holcombe, R.G. (1999) Specification search and levels of significance in econometric models. Eastern Economic Journal 25: 289-300.
14. Davidson, R. and MacKinnon, J.G. (2004) Econometric Theory and Methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
15. DeLong, J.B. and Lang, K. (1992) Are all economic hypotheses false? Journal of Political Economy 100: 1257-1272.
16. Disdier, A.-C. and Head, K. (2008) The puzzling persistence of the distance effect on bilateral trade. Review of Economics and Statistics 90: 37-48.
17. Dobson, S., Ramlogan, C. and Strobl, E.A. (2006) Multinational companies and productivity: a meta-analysis. Scottish Journal of Political Economy 53: 153-173.
18. Doucouliagos, C. and Laroche, P. (2003) What do unions do to productivity: a meta-analysis. Industrial Relations 42: 650-691.
19. Doucouliagos, C. and Stanley, T.D. (2009) Publication selection bias in minimum wage research? British Journal of Industrial Relations 47: 406-428.
20. Egger, M., Smith, G.D., Schneider, M. and Minder, C. (1997) Bias in meta-analysis detected by a simple, graphical test. British Medical Journal 315: 629-634.
21. Ellison, G. (2002) Evolving standards for academic publishing: a q-r theory. Journal of Political Economy 110(5): 994-1034.
22. Engers, M. and Gans, J.S. (1998) Why referees are not paid (enough). American Economic Review 88(5): 1341-1349.
23. Feige, E. (1975) The consequence of journal editorial policies and a suggestion for revision. Journal of Political Economy 83: 1291-1295.
24. Feigenbaum, S. and Levy, D.M. (1996) The technological obsolescence of scientific fraud. Rationality and Society 8: 261-276.
25. Feld, L. and Heckemeyer, J.H. (2011) FDI and taxation: a meta-study. Journal of Economic Surveys 25: 233-272.
26. Florax, R. and Poot, J. (2007) Learning from the flood of numbers: meta-analysis in economics. Paper presented at the Aarhus Colloquium of Meta-analysis in Economics, September 27-30, Sandbjerg Manor, Sønderborg, Denmark.
27. Freeman, R. and Medoff, J. (1984) What do unions do? New York: Basic Books.
28. Frey, B.S. (2003) Publishing as prostitution? Choosing between one's own ideas and academic success. Public Choice 116: 205-223.
29. Frey, B.S. and Eichenberger, R. (1992) Economics and economists: a European perspective. American Economic Review 82(2): 216-220.
30. Fuchs, V., Krueger, A.B. and Poterba, J.M. (1998) Economists' views about parameters, values, and policies: survey results in labor and public economics. Journal of Economic Literature 36: 1387-1425.
31. Fuller, D. and Geide-Stevenson, D. (2003) Consensus among economists: revisited. Journal of Economic Education 34(4): 369-387.
32. Gans, J.S. and Shepherd, G.B. (1994) How are the mighty fallen: rejected classic articles by leading economists. Journal of Economic Perspectives 8(1): 165-179.
33. Goldfarb, R.S. (1995) The economist-as-audience needs a methodology of plausible inference. Journal of Economic Methodology 2: 201-222.
34. Goodman, S.N., Berlin, J., Fletcher, S.W. and Fletcher, R.H. (1994) Manuscript quality before and after peer review and editing at Annals of Internal Medicine. Annals of Internal Medicine 121: 11-21.
35. Görg, H. and Strobl, E. (2001) Multinational companies and productivity: a meta-analysis.Economic Journal 111: 723-739.
36. Haggard, S. (1990) Pathways from the Periphery: The politics of growth in the Newly Industrializing Countries. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
37. Harlow, L.L., Mulaik, S.A. and Steiger, J.H. (eds.) (1997) What If There Were No Significance Tests? Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
38. Havranek, T. (2010) Rose effect and the Euro: is the magic gone? Review of World Economics 146: 241-261.
39. Heckman, J.J. (1977) Sample selection bias as a specification error. Econometrica 47: 153-162.
40. Hedges, L.V. (1992) Modelling publication selection effects in meta-analysis. Statistical Science 7: 246-255.
41. Hirsch, B. (1991) Labor Unions and the Economic Performance of Firms. Michigan: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, Kalamazoo.
42. Hirsch, B. (2004) What do unions do for economic performance? Journal of Labor Research 15: 415-455.
43. Hodgson, G.M. and Rothman, H. (1999) The editors and authors of economics journals: A case of institutional oligopoly? The Economic Journal 109: F165-F186.
44. Hunter, J. and Schmidt, F. (2004) Methods of Meta-Analysis: Correcting error and bias in research findings. London: Sage.
45. Huntington, S.P. (1968) The Political Order in Changing Societies. New Haven: Yale University Press.
46. Jensen, P. and Paldam, M. (2006) Can the two new aid-growth models be replicated? Public Choice 127: 147-175.
47. Kearl, J.R., Pope, C.L., Whiting, G.C. and Wimmer, L.T. (1979) A confusion of economists? American Economic Review 69(2): 28-37.
48. Keuzenkamp, H.A. and Magnus, J.R. (1995). On tests and significance in econometrics, Journal of Econometrics 67: 5-24.
49. Klein, D.B. and Stern, C. (2006) Economists' policy views and voting. Public Choice 126(3-4): 331-342.
50. Knell, M. and Stix, H. (2005) The income elasticity of money demand: a meta-analysis of empirical results. Journal of Economic Surveys 19(3): 513-533.
51. Krakovsky, M. (2004) Register or perish. Scientific American 291: 18-20.
52. Krassoi-Peach, E. and Stanley, T.D. (2009) Efficiency wages, productivity and simultaneity: a meta-regression analysis. Journal of Labor Research 30: 262-268.
53. Kuhn, T.S. (1962) The structure of scientific revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
54. Laband, D.N. (1990) Is there value-added from the review process in economics? Preliminary evidence from authors. Quarterly Journal of Economics May: 341-352.
55. Laband, D.N. and Piette, M.J. (1994) Favoritism versus search for good papers: empirical evidence regarding the behavior of journal editors. Journal of Political Economy 102(11): 194-203.
56. Laird, N. and Mosteller, F. (1988) Discussion of the paper by Begg and Berlin. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, (Series A) 151: 456.
57. Lakatos, I. and Musgrave, A. (eds). (1970) Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press.
58. Longhi, S., Nijkamp, P. and Poot, J. (2005) A meta-analytic assessment of the effect of immigration on wages. Journal of Economic Surveys 19(3): 451-477.
59. Lovell, M.C. (1983) Data mining. The Review of Economics and Statistics 65: 1-12.
60. Mankiw, G.N. (2008) Principles of Microeconomics. Mason, OH: South-Western.
61. Moreno, S.G., Sutton, A.J., Ades, A., Stanley, T.D., Abrams, K.R., Peters, J.L. and Cooper, N.J. (2009) Assessment of regression-based methods to adjust for publication bias through a comprehensive simulation study. BMC Medical Research Methodology9:2.
62. Nelson, J. (2011) Alcohol marketing, adolescent drinking, and publication bias in longitudinal studies: a critical appraisal using meta-analysis. Journal of Economic Surveys 25: 191-232.
63. Nijkamp, P. and Poot, J. (2005) The last word on the wage curve? A meta-analytic assessment. Journal of Economic Surveys 19(3): 421-450.
64. North, D. (1990) Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
65. Olson, M. (1993) Dictatorship, democracy, and development. American Political Science Review 87: 567-576.
66. Phillips, J.M. and Goss, E.P. (1995) The effects of state and local taxes on economic development: a meta-analysis. Southern Economic Journal 62: 2-29.
67. Popper, K.R. (1959) Logic of Scientific Discovery. London: Hutchinson.
68. Roberts, C.J. and Stanley, T.D. (eds). (2005) Meta-Regression Analysis: Issues of Publication Bias in Economics. Oxford: Blackwell.
69. Rose, A.K. and Stanley, T.D. (2005) A meta-analysis of the effect of common currencies on international trade. Journal of Economic Surveys 19: 347-365.
70. Stanley, T.D. (2001) Wheat from chaff: meta-analysis as quantitative literature review. Journal of Economic Perspectives 15: 131-150.
71. Stanley, T.D. (2005) Beyond publication bias. Journal of Economic Surveys 19:309-345.
72. Stanley, T.D. (2008) Meta-regression methods for detecting and estimating empirical effect in the presence of publication selection. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics 70: 103-127.
73. Stanley, T.D. and Doucouliagos, H. (2010) Picture this: A simple graph that reveals much ado about research. Journal of Economic Surveys 24: 170-191.
74. Stanley, T.D. and Doucouliagos, C. (2011) Meta-regression approximations to reduce publication selection bias. School Working Paper, Economics Series 2011-4, Deakin University.
75. Stanley, T.D., Jarrell, S.B. and Doucouliagos, H. (2010) Could it be better to discard 90% of the data? A statistical paradox, The American Statistician 64: 70-77.
76. Stanley, T.D. and Rosenberger, R.S. (2009) Are recreation values systematically underestimated? Reducing publication selection bias for benefit transfer. Bulletin of Economics and Meta-Analysis. Available at: http://www.hendrix.edu/maer-network/default.aspx?id=15206. (last accessed September 2011)
77. Tullock, G. (1959) Publication decisions and tests of significance: a comment. Journal of the American Statistical Association 54: 593.
78. Whaples, R. (2006) Do economists agree on anything? Yes! The Economists' Voice 3(9): 1-6.
79. Wheeler, E., Costa-Font, J. and Stanley, T.D. (2009) Is health care a luxury? Regions, aggregation, publication bias and the winner's curse. Presented at the 3rd Annual MAER-Net Colloquium, Corvallis OR, October 3.
80. Young, N.S., Ioannidis, J.P.A. and Al-Ubaydli, O. (2008) Why current publication practices may distort science. PLoS Med 5, doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0050201.
81. Ziliak, S.T. and McCloskey, D.N. (2008) The Cult of Statistical Significance. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.