| By: |
Frank Mueller-Langer;
Benedikt Fecher;
Dietmar Harhoff;
Gert G. Wagner |
| Abstract: |
Replication studies are considered a hallmark of good scientific practice. Yet
they are treated among researchers as an ideal to be professed but not
practiced. To provide incentives and favorable boundary conditions for
replication practice, the main stakeholders need to be aware of what drives
replication. Here we investigate how often replication studies are published
in empirical economics and what types of journal articles are replicated. We
find that from 1974 to 2014 less than 0.1% of publications in the top-50
economics journals were replications. We do not find empirical support that
mandatory data disclosure policies or the availability of data or code have a
significant effect on the incidence of replication. The mere provision of data
repositories may be ineffective, unless accompanied by appropriate incentives.
However, we find that higher-impact articles and articles by authors from
leading institutions are more likely to be subject of published replication
studies whereas the replication probability is lower for articles published in
higher-ranked journals. |
| Keywords: |
Replication, economics of science, science policy, economic methodology |
| JEL: |
A1 B4 C12 C13 |
| Date: |
2017 |
| URL: |
http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1640&r=sog |