Documents
Trends in the publication of experimental economics articles
Reuben, Ernesto; Li, Sherry X.; Suetens, Sigrid; Svorenčík, Andrej; Turocy, Theodore; Kotsidis, Vaslieios (August 2021). Trends in the publication of experimental economics articles. SSRN Working Paper 3907528.
We report data on the experimental articles published in the last two decades in seven prominent, general-interest economics journals, considering laboratory and other types of experiments separately. In addition, we also look at time trends in the characteristics of the published experimental articles. We find an overall increasing trend in the publication of experimental research. This is mainly driven by non-lab experiments, which have overtaken lab experiments in all considered outlets. The reversal of fortunes is most striking in the AER, where the share of lab experiments more than halved over the past twenty years and converged to the share of lab experiments in other Top 5 journals. We also observe some heterogeneities in publication, citations, rankings, and locations of authors’ affiliations across journals and types of experiments.
White paper on replication
In the wake of the replication crisis in psychology, a range of new approaches has been advocated to improve scientific practices and the replicability of published studies in behavioural sciences. The ESA Executive Committee commissioned an ad hoc committee to review the issues raised by the replication crisis, how they affect research in experimental economics, and to make recommendations for experimental economics.
The present report is the result of this review. Its content has greatly benefited from the personal views and insights of a large number of ESA members. The views in the community of researchers in experimental economics are diverse. The present report does not aim at determining a strict ESA policy. Rather, it aims to bring to the community of experimental economists the collective wisdom, which is spread across experimentalists. The report presents an informed discussion of the different issues related to replicability and discusses the different solutions, with their benefits and pitfalls.
The report also contains a series of recommendations which aim to address the challenges presented by the replication crisis, while respecting the diversity of views within the ESA community.