Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 25, 2025

Development of an Individual-Tree Basal Area Increment Model using a Linear Mixed-Effects Approach
Published on: July 3, 2020
Biased Trade Narratives and Its Influence on Development Studies: A Multi-level Mixed-Method Approach
Matthias Aistleitner1, Stephan Puehringer1
1Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy (ICAE), Johannes Kepler University of Linz, Altenbergerstraße 69, 4040 Linz, Austria.
Abstract:
Recent evidence from citation analysis (Mitra et al., World Dev 135:105076, 2020) suggests that research published in top economic journals is becoming more influential in the development discourse. In this article, we argue that this trend has nontrivial implications for the development discourse on trade in general. Based on an analysis of more than 400 papers published in high-impact economic journals between 1997 and 2017, we highlight three core trade narratives that stand for different biases apparent in the elite economic discourse on trade: "trade championing", "Ignorance in a world full of nails" and "microfounding trade benefits". Further insights derived from citation analysis of five development studies journals and a case-study-oriented approach that focusses on the reception of this particular trade debate in World Development suggests that these biased trade narratives are effectively transmitted into development research.
Supplementary Information:
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1057/s41287-023-00583-z.
Related Concept Videos
Bias
In statistics, a sampling bias is created when a sample is collected from a population, and some members of the population are not as likely to be chosen as others (remember, each member...
Study Design in Statistics
Does aspirin reduce the risk of heart attacks? Is one brand of fertilizer more effective at growing roses than another? Is fatigue as dangerous to a driver as the influence of alcohol? Questions like these are answered using randomized experiments with proper...
Types of Biopharmaceutical Studies: Controlled and Non-Controlled Approaches
Non-controlled studies, commonly employed for initial exploration, lack a control group, rendering them susceptible to biases and external influences. In contrast,...
Bias in Epidemiological Studies
Regression Toward the Mean
Group Design

