Wheat From Chaff: Meta-Analysis As Quantitative Literature Review

TLDR

Economics is theory‑driven, yet meta‑regression analysis offers an objective statistical method to summarize empirical knowledge and explain study‑to‑study variation. The authors develop a quantitative literature‑review method, meta‑regression analysis, to empirically evaluate economic research and determine if economics can advance. Meta‑regression analysis is applied to assess Ricardian equivalence and compare its findings with conventional narrative reviews. The analysis shows that meta‑regression can distinguish genuine empirical effects from specification errors, providing a platform for more reliable economic evidence.

Abstract

This paper presents and develops a quantitative method of literature reviewing and evaluating empirical research, meta-regression analysis or MRA. Economics is theory-driven. Yet, we must learn empirically if economics is to advance. MRA offers a more objective statistical method to summarize our empirical knowledge and to explain the wide study-to-study variation in economic research. MRA is used to assess the evidence for Ricardian equivalence, and its findings are contrasted to those of conventional narrative review. Furthermore, MRA establishes a platform from which to distinguish genuine empirical effect from the exploitable specification error that infests applied econometrics.