Reproducibility and Replicability in Economics

Abstract

I provide a summary description of the history and state of reproducibility and replicability in the academic field of economics. I include a discussion of more general replicability and transparency, including the tradition of sharing of research findings and code outside of peer-reviewed publications. I describe the historical context for journals and grey literature in economics, the role of precollected public and nonpublic data, and touch on the role of proprietary software in economics. The increasing importance of restricted-access data environments in economics and the interaction with reproducibility is highlighted. The article concludes with an outlook on current developments, including the role of big data and increased verification of reproducibility in economics.