To replicate or not to replicate? Exploring reproducibility in economics

Zacharias Maniadis, Fabio Tufano and John A. List

Several research findings appear not to be reproducible. Consequently, the sciences have currently experienced an era of an alleged 'credibility crisis'. However, the extent to which economics is affected by a reproducibility problem is still far from being fully understood.

In this forthcoming publication in the Economic Journal, Zacharias Maniadis, Fabio Tufano, and John A. List employ both theory and empirical evidence to discuss the import of replication for improving confidence in novel research findings in (empirical) economics. In this study, they focus on the sub-discipline of experimental economics, which arguably has the best a priori credibility. First, Maniadis, Tufano and List introduce a theoretical contribution emphasising the importance of replications, even when replication suffer from research biases. Second, Maniadis, Tufano and List illustrate the empirical evidence obtained from a pilot meta-study of replications of economic experiments. They conclude by highlighting some of the difficulties encountered when applying meta-research methods to systematise the literature in economics as well as some of the challenges ahead.

Economic Journal, "To Replicate or Not To Replicate? Exploring Reproducibility in Economics through the Lens of a Model and a Pilot Study", by Zacharias Maniadis, Fabio Tufano and John A. List.

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