research paper economics format

The Young Economist’s Short Guide to Writing Economic Research

Attributes of writing economics.

• The discourse is often mathematical, with lots of formulas, lemmas, and proofs.
• Writing styles vary widely. Some authors are very dry and technical while a few are quite eloquent.

Economics writing is different from many other types of writing. It is essentially technical, and the primary goal is to achieve clarity. A clear presentation will allow the strength of your underlying analysis and the quality of your research to shine through.

Unlike prose writing in other disciplines, economics research takes time. Successful papers are not cranked out the night before a due date.

General Guidelines for Quality Research

Getting started.

The hardest part of any writing assignment is starting. Economics research usually begins with a strong understanding of literature, and papers require a section that summarizes and applies previous literature to what the paper at hand. This is the best way to start.

Your writing will demonstrate that you understand the findings that relate to the topic.

Economists use the first few paragraphs to set up research questions and the model and data they use to think about it. Sure, it can be dry, but this format ensures the write and reader have strong grasp on the subject and structure of the work that follows.

Clear and Concise Work

Clarity is hard to achieve, but revising and reworking a paper ensures it is easy to read

• Organize your ideas into an argument with the help of an outline.
• Define the important terms you will use
• State your hypothesis and proceed deductively to reach your conclusions
• Avoid excess verbiage
• Edit yourself, remove what is not needed, and keep revising until you get down to a simple, efficient way of communicating
• Use the active voice
• Put statements in positive form
• Omit needless words (concise writing is clear writing)
• In summaries, generally stick to one tense

Time Management

Poor time management can wreck the best-planned papers. Deadlines are key to successful research papers.

• Start the project by finding your topic
• Begin your research
• Start and outline
• Write a draft
• Revise and polish

The Language of Economic Analysis

Economic theory has become very mathematical. Most PhD students are mathematicians, not simply economics majors. This means most quality economic research requires a strong use of mathematical language. Economic analysis is characterized by the use of models, simplified representations of how economic phenomena work. A model’s predictions about the future or the past are essentially empirical hypotheses. Since economics is not easily tested in controlled experiments, research requires data from the real world (census reports, balance sheets), and statistical methods (regressions and econometrics) to test the predictive power of models and hypotheses based on those models.

The Writing Process

Finding a topic.

There are a million ways to find a topic. It may be that you are writing for a specific subfield of economics, so topics are limited and thus easier to pick. However, must research starts organically, from passive reading or striking news articles. Make sure to find something that interests you. Be sure to find a niche and make a contribution to the subfield.

You will also need a project that can be done within the parameters of the assignment (length, due date, access to research materials). A profoundly interesting topic may not be manageable given the time and other constraints you face. The key is to just be practical.

Be sure to start your research as soon as possible. Your topic will evolve along the way, and the question you begin with may become less interesting as new information draws you in other directions. It is perfectly fine to shape your topic based on available data, but don’t get caught up in endlessly revising topics.

Finding and Using Sources

There are two types of economic sources: empirical data (information that is or can be easily translated into numerical form), and academic literature (books and articles that help you organize your ideas).

Economic data is compiled into a number of useful secondary sources:

• Economic Report of the President
• Statistical Abstract of the United States
• National Longitudinal Survey
• Census data
• Academic journals

The Outline

A good outline acts as an agenda for the things you want to accomplish:

• Introduction: Pose an interesting question or problem
• Literature Review: Survey the literature on your topic
• Methods/Data: Formulate your hypothesis and describe your data
• Results: Present your results with the help of graphs and charts
• Discussion: Critique your method and/or discuss any policy implications
• Conclusions: Summarize what you have done; pose questions for further research

Writing a Literature Review

The literature review demonstrates your familiarity with scholarly work on your topic and lays the foundations for your paper. The particular issues you intent to raise, the terms you will employ, and the approach you will take should be defined with reference to previous scholarly works.

Presenting a Hypothesis

Formulate a question, problem or conjecture, and describe the approach you will take to answer, solve, or test it. In presenting your hypothesis, you need to discuss the data set you are using and the type of regression you will run. You should say where you found the data, and use a table, graph, or simple statistics to summarize them. In term papers, it may not be possible to reach conclusive results. Don’t be afraid to state this clearly and accurately. It is okay to have an inconclusive paper, but it is not okay to make overly broad and unsupported statements.

Presenting Results

There are essentially two decisions to make: (1) How many empirical results should be presented, and (2) How should these results be described in the text?

• Focus only on what is important and be as clear as possible. Both smart and dumb readers will appreciate you pointing things out directly and clearly.
• Less is usually more: Reporting a small group of relevant results is better than covering every possible statistical analysis that could be made on the data.
• Clearly and precisely describe your tables, graphs, and figures in the text of your results section. The first and last sentence in a paragraph describing a result should be “big picture” statements, describing how the results in the table, graph or figure fit into the overall theme of the paper.

Discussing Results

The key to discussing results is to stay clear of making value judgments, and rely instead on economic facts and analyses. It is not the job of an economist to draw policy conclusions, even if the research supports strong evidence in a particular direction.

Referencing Sources

As with any research paper, source referencing depends on the will of a professor a discourse community. However, economists generally use soft references in the literature review section and then cite sources in conventional formats at the end of papers.

This guide was made possible by the excellent work of Robert Neugeboren and Mireille Jacobson of Harvard University and Paul Dudenhefer of Duke University.

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• Writing Tips for Crafting Effective Economics Research Papers – 2023-2024 Editio...

IZA DP No. 16276: Writing Tips for Crafting Effective Economics Research Papers – 2023-2024 Edition

This paper aims to provide insights for those who value careful, precise communication to draft effective economics papers. It is designed to be a helpful and convenient guide, which is divided into well-defined, thought-provoking sections.

• writing tips
• economics research
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Writing Tips for Economics Research Papers

MPRA_paper_105088.pdf |

This guide overviews several important rules for writing economics research papers. It focuses on three important pillars of economics writing: research, organization, and analysis. Economic research entails the use of state-of-the-art methods and data from any of a number of standard statistical sources or surveys. Organization entails organizing ideas coherently and persuasively, outlining the paper, and professional formatting. The final part focuses on the importance of analysis for economics writing: statistical or econometric analysis takes data and reports useful numerical summaries used to shed light on empirical relationships between important economic variables, test various economic models, or make predictions for the future.

Item Type:	MPRA Paper
Original Title:	Writing Tips for Economics Research Papers
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References:	American Economic Association. 2020. “Journals Indexed in EconLit.” Economics Journals Indexed in EconLit. Pittsburgh, PA: American Economic Association. https://www.aeaweb.org/econlit/journal_list.php. Chakravarty, S., M. Lundberg, Plamen Nikolov, and J. Zenker. 2019. “Vocational Training Programs and Youth Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from Nepal.” Journal of Development Economics 136 (January): 71–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2018.09.002. Feldstein, Martin. 1974. “Social Security, Induced Retirement, and Aggregate Capital Accumulation.” Journal of Political Economy 82 (5): 905–26. https://doi.org/10.1086/260246. Harrod, Roy Forbes. 1948. Towards a Dynamic Economics: Some Recent Developments of Economic Theory and Their Application to Policy. London, The United Kingdom: Macmillan. Heath, Chip, and Dan Heath. 2007. Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. 1st ed. New York, NY: Random House. Madrian, Brigitte. 1994. “Employment-Based Health Insurance and Job Mobility: Is There Evidence of Job-Lock?” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 109 (1): 27–54. https://doi.org/10.2307/2118427. Nikolov, Plamen, and Alan Adelman. 2019. “Do Pension Benefits Accelerate Cognitive Decline? Evidence from Rural China.” IZA DP No. 12524. Bonn, Germany: IZA Institute of Labor Economics. http://ftp.iza.org/dp12524.pdf. Nikolov, Plamen, Nusrat Jimi, and Jerray Chang. 2020. “The Importance of Cognitive Domains and the Returns to Schooling in South Africa: Evidence from Two Labor Surveys.” Labour Economics, May, 101849. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2020.101849. Oster, Emily. 2012. “HIV and Sexual Behavior Change: Why Not Africa?” Journal of Health Economics 31 (1): 35–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2011.12.006. Zinsser, William. 2001. On Writing Well : The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction - Harvard University. 1st ed. New York, NY: HarperResource Quill. Ye, Maoliang, Jie Zheng, Plamen Nikolov, and Sam Asher. 2019. “One Step at a Time: Does Gradualism Build Coordination?” Management Science 66 (1): 113–29. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2018.3210.
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Kristin A. Van Gaasbeck

Department of economics, college of social sciences and interdisciplinary studies, california state university, sacramento, writing in economics :: components of a research paper.

An economics research paper includes the parts listed below. Some of these may be, and often are, combined into sections of the research paper. Depending on the nature of the research question, some parts may be emphasized more than others.

I've condensed information from several different sources. This is cursory content on how to write in economics, please make use of the additional resources . Also, every researcher has his or her own opinion about the best way to proceed. The information I've collected below is one of many possible ways to approach an undergraduate or graduate research project in Economics.

The abstract is a description of your research paper. The writing style of the abstract is very condensed - it should be no more than 350 words (or 5-6 sentences). The abstract is designed to identify the following to a potential reader:

• The research question What is the question that is the focus of your research? A good research question is one that (i) doesn't have an obvious answer (otherwise, why bother researching it?) and (ii) is testable using data.
• Your contribution to the research on the subject What has the previous literature found and what is your contribution to general understanding of the economic problem/question.
• How you answer the research question How you use theoretical and/or empirical analysis to answer the research question.
• Results Your findings based on the aforementioned analysis

The abstract is written when the paper is completed. It should not be the same as your introduction - the audience is different.

Introduction

The introduction is designed to both identify and motivate your research question. Like an essay you would write in other subjects, the introduction begins with a broad statement, and then narrows down to your specific research question.

In the end, make sure that you've done the following in your introduction:

• State your research question
• Motivate why the subject of your research is important to economists and other stakeholders
• Explain to the reader where your research fits into the subject.
• Identify your contribution to general understanding on the subject/research question
• Summarize how you intend to answer the research question
• State your general results and answer to your research question.

The first paragraph of the introduction is used to motivate why this research is important and of interest to economists and other stakeholders (e.g., parents and teachers in education economics, central bankers in monetary policy, and residents and businesses affected by pollution). It may conclude with a statement of your research question, followed by a discussion of who is affected by the economic issue under study. It is not appropriate to include personal anecdotes in a written research paper. Remember, you are motivating why the research should be of interest to the reader.

The second paragraph typically has more detail about how you plan to answer the research question, possibly citing other work closely related to your own research. In fact, many authors combine the literature review with the introduction in order to streamline this discussion. This paragraph may conclude with your general findings.

You should be able to write the first paragraph when you begin your research. The second paragraph can be written as you are concluding your research, as it draws on information from subsequent sections of your paper.

Literature Review

The literature review serves two main purposes:

• motivate why your research question is important in the context of the broader subject
• provide the reader with information on what other researchers have found (highlighting your contribution)

If someone has done a similar analysis to yours, tell us, and then explain how yours is different. Explain their findings, and then follow up with what you expect to find in your own research, and compare.

Some things to keep in mind for your literature review:

• Conduct a comprehensive search of the research on your subject Familiarize yourself with search engines in Economics (ECONLit is the most comprehensive) - do not rely on Google or other general search engines because they will link to you information that is not peer-reviewed research. A good general rule is as follows: if it is a paper not listed on ECONLit, it is probably not appropriate for a research paper in economics. Of course, there are exceptions. See my ECON 145 resources for more information on search engines .
• Create an annotated bibliography for the papers you plan to cite in your research paper. More information on annotated bibliographies is given below . This is a good step to take early on in your literature review search because it helps you keep track of the papers you plan to cite, and helps you to summarize information in one place. This will help you with the subsequent steps below.
• Identify which papers are most relevant to your research question It is easy to find lots of articles on one topic, but difficult to sort out which ones are important and relevant to your specific topic. You need to find the most relevant articles for your topic, and tell the reader why these are relevant articles for your topic specifically.
• Make an outline of your literature review Write an outline of your literature review. When writing your literature review, you want to organize the research of others into themes that you want to convey to the reader. Do not simply list papers chronologically and summarize the results of others. You should group papers by common themes.
• Critically read research papers You cannot read research papers like novels or the newspaper. Economics research papers are often dense and technical, requiring carefully reading. If you are not actively engaged as a reader, taking notes and writing questions to yourself as you go along, you are making poor use of your time and will not get much out of your literature review. See my page on Critical Reading for more information on strategies for how to read economics research papers.
• Be aware of plagiarism. This is very difficult for the novice researcher because some information is generally taken as known, while other information is not. The best way to get a sense for how to appropriately cite and attribute material is to read economics research articles. Avoiding plagiarism doesn't mean rewriting someone else's ideas in your own words. If you are using someone else's idea, whether in quotes or not, you must cite it. When in doubt, cite.
• common research questions in the subject (introduction),
• economic models used to answer related research questions (economic model),
• empirical methodologies common in the field (empirical methodology),
• data sources you may use in your analysis (data description),
• how to report your results (empirical analysis), and
• how to identify your contribution to understanding of the research question/subject (conclusion/analysis).

Economic Model/Empirical Methodology

This section (or sections) or your paper are designed to show how you intend to answer your research question using economic theory (economic model) and empirically (using statistical tests). For the novice researcher, it is useful to think of these two approaches as separate. This avoids the temptation to confuse them.

Economic Model

This is what you have studied in most of your other economics classes. For example, what happens to the price of housing when the population increases? Using demand-supply model, we know that an increase in population leads to an increase in the demand for housing, increasing the equilibrium price. In reading economics research papers, the economic model is often not identified because it is assumed the reader (economic researchers) are familiar with the underlying model. However, to the novice researcher, the model may not be obvious, so it is important to outline the model and include it in your research paper.

Your economic model is how you make predictions of what you expect to find in the data. Based on the simple example above, we'd expect to see a positive relationship between housing prices and population, ceteris paribus (e.g., holding all other variables in the demand-supply model unchanged).

Another important point is that your economic model is what implies a causal relationship between the economic variables. While you may detect a positive or negative relationship in the data, this alone tells you nothing about which variable is causing a change in the other variable. The economic model can be used to model this relationship. In the example above, we assume that in the model, a change in population causes a change in the housing price.

The economic model should make no mention of data, regression analysis, or statistical tests. The model is a purely theoretical construct, based on an abstract notion of how the world works. The empirical methodology section of your paper is how you plan to test these relationships in the data. An economic model is NOT a regression equation.

Finally, you should use an economic model that is common in the literature on your subject. Unless you are proposing a new model, you should rely on those used by other researchers in the field. This will allow you to use your literature review to justify your choice of model. Also, this is why the economic model is often embedded in the literature review of the paper. For novice researchers, I recommend keeping it separate, to make sure you understand how to use your economic model to conduct theoretical analysis.

Empirical Methodology

This is where you describe to the reader how you plan to test the relationships implied by your economic/theoretical model. First, you want to identify your dependent variable. This is the variable you are seeking to explain the behavior of. Next, you want to identify possible explanatory variables. These are the variables that could potentially affect your dependent variable.

Often in economic models, there are abstract notions of how some variables affect others. For example, human capital affects production, but how would we measure human capital in the data? You can find suitable proxies for a variable like human capital by familiarizing yourself with the literature.

So, how could a researcher go about testing the relationship between housing prices and population? First, we know that housing price is the dependent variable. Population is one explanatory variable, but are there others that affect housing prices? Yes. We know this from the demand and supply model that there are other variables that shift demand for housing (income, prices of substitutes and complements, expectations, tastes and preferences, etc.) and the supply of housing (input costs, expectations, the number of sellers, etc.). In order to isolate the effect of population on house price, we need to control for these other factors.

The most common strategy for empirical work regression analysis because it allows the researcher to isolate the correlation between two variables, while holding other explanatory variables constant (e.g., ceteris paribus from the model above). Often in the empirical methodology section, the researcher will point out potential estimation issues, highlighting the need for more advanced econometric techniques that go beyond ordinary least squares (OLS).

This section does not actually do any statistical analysis, but it may include a description of the data (see below). In advising students on research papers, I usually recommend the following breakdown for the empirical methodology section:

• Data description This is a description of the data you plan to use for your analysis. It usually includes a citation of the primary source, data frequency, how the data are measured, the frequency of the data, etc. The amount of detail depends on the nature of the data. Also, this is the section where you would report any modifications you make to the data.
• Preliminary data analysis This section reports summary statistics, histograms, time series plots, and other similar information. This section is designed to give the reader a sense of what your sample looks like. In reporting this information, you should be selective - more is not always better. You need to decide which information you need/want to convey to the reader and how to best convey it. See my Empirical Methods in Economics page for ideas on basic statistical analysis.
• Regression Equation Now, you're ready to remind the reader of your particular test and how you are going to go about using regression to test it. This section should include a regression equation, a discussion justifying this equation, and a description of the expected signs on the coefficients for each of the explanatory variables (spending more time on those that are of particular interest for your study). Remember, the regression coefficient measure the marginal effects of the explanatory variable on the dependent variable (holding the other variables constant, ceteris paribus). When justifying your regression equation and discussing the expected signs for the coefficients, you should make some clear connections back to your theory section and the literature review section of your paper. Also, make sure that you are using your regression equation to answer your research question. What is the testable hypothesis? Does this test answer your research question? See my Empirical Methods in Economics page for a simple primer on regression analysis.

Data Description

An alternative to the ordering mentioned above is as follows. You can begin with a regression equation, then provide a detailed description of the data, along with some preliminary data analysis. It is most common to have the data description as its own section of the paper - mainly to make it easier for readers to reference it if they plan to do similar research. You could then follow this Data section with an Empirical Methodology section that consists of the #3 Regression equation described above.

Empirical Analysis

This section is often titled "Results" in economic research papers, as it reports the results from your regression analysis above. There are commonly-used templates for reporting regression results. The best way to familiarize yourself with these templates is from the papers you cite in your literature review. You will see that it is common to report multiple regressions in one table, with the explanatory variables listed vertically on the left. See my page on Empirical Methods in Economics for more details.

The empirical analysis should include a table with your regression results, and your written analysis of these results. Note, this does not mean repeating the information in your regression tables. It means interpreting these coefficients in light of your economic model and comparing your findings to other papers from your literature review.

The conclusion usually consists of about three paragraphs. The first begins with a restatement of the research question, followed by a description of what we know about this research question from the literature (very concisely). Then the paragraph concludes with a brief description of the theoretical answer to the question.

The second paragraph begins with an answer to the research question, based on your empirical analysis. The researcher then proceeds to compare his/her findings to the consensus in the literature, pointing out possible reasons for differences and similarities. For example, perhaps you studied a different time period, or a different country. Perhaps you used a different measure of the dependent or explanatory variables.

In the final paragraph, it is common to draw policy implications from your research. In a practical sense, who cares about this research question (remember the stakeholders from the introduction..) and what can they do with this knowledge? Often the conclusion will point toward directions for future research, based on possible extensions to your research.

Bibliography/References

The bibliography contains complete references of the works that cited and referred to in your research.

It is essential that you give proper credit to all works that you cite, even if they are not included in your literature review. For example, if you obtained data from a publication that is not easily available, it would be appropriate to cite it in your data description and include it in your bibliography. Incomplete or inaccurate citations are akin to plagiarism, so please be sure to carefully check your references and keep track of them while completing your literature review.

In economics, it is most common to use APA style in citing references in the text of your paper and in creating a bibliography. For more information, see the APA style guide provided by the Library , or simply pick up a copy of the APA style guide if you will be using it frequently.

Annotated Bibliography An annotated bibliography is one that includes the reference (mentioned above), along with a few sentences describing the research and how it relates to your research paper. Often the description will begin with a statement of what the research found, followed by one or two sentences that are relevant to the research question you are studying.

Even though APA style calls for a double-spaced annotated bibliography, many researchers prefer a single spaced one. The Library has information on annotated bibliographies and I have posted an outstanding example from undergraduate Economic Research Methods .

The best annotated bibliographies are those written by students who have read the literature critically. See my page on Critical Reading for more information on strategies for how to read economics research papers. Even if an annotated bibliography is not assigned as part of your research project, it is a useful exercise for you to engage in, especially if you have to present your research orally or using a poster. If you are unable to write an annotated bibliography, then you are probably writing a poor review of the literature on your subject and a less than satisfactory research paper.

How to Write Economics Research Paper: Ultimate Guide

Everything You Need to Know about Economics Research Paper

Whether you are a student, a doctor, or a dancer, we have all engaged in economic activities. Bartering or exchanging money for food and services has been a part of human life for millennia, and we are proud heirs of the tradition.

As society grows, economic issues become bigger, and they call for research and study. We debate whether certain economic systems are the best fit, whether we should have a shared currency, how cryptocurrencies can revolutionize modern economics, etc. Such an inquiry aims to find solutions to the economic crises humanity faces. Poverty, famine, and homelessness are some of the major problems experienced by millions around the world.

Professional researchers and students write research papers for economics to share their analysis and findings about the major economic topics, trends, policies, or theories. Some academics prefer to work with primary data, such as surveys or experiments, while others analyze secondary data, such as historical records or existing statistics.

This article will explore the steps to writing an exceptional economics research paper. Below you will find an ultimate economics research paper outline and plenty of topics to explore in your study. Our thoughtful essay service team has also prepared a research paper economics sample to simplify your writing process.

Economics Research Paper Example

Just as we promised in the beginning, our writers took the extra mile and wrote an economics research paper example for you. Check out what makes an essay exceptional and how the paper ensures the readers stay engaged all the way through. Explore the structure, format, and language with which our writers achieve the main purpose of economics research papers.

How to Write an Economics Research Paper: Easy Steps

Our professional dissertation writers know the six holy elements of crafting a compelling economics paper, do you?

Let's put the writing aside for a second and take time to learn how to write an economics research paper. We have prepared an ultimate guide with easy steps for you to impress the reader. Remember, a strong foundation and compatible building blocks keep the skyscrapers standing tall.

Economics Research Paper Outline

First, you need to master the structure of an economics research paper. Often students skip this part leading to a mess of information that is not readable or understandable, and hours of work go in vain. To avoid such problems below, we discuss six holy elements of an excellent economics paper.

Introduction - To impress the reader, start by offering a relevant and cutting-edge topic. There are endless amounts of research paper topics in economics; choose the one you feel passionate about and make it interesting for the audience.

Literature Review - Take your time to research information around the chosen topic. Sometimes our beliefs and prejudices blur our judgment, but we must remain unbiased. Secondary sources are there to guide you in the right direction.

Methods/data - describe the methodologies with which you plan to explore the topic and provide conclusions. Here you need to formulate your thesis and describe the data you gathered.

Results - Don't shy away from charts and graphs when presenting your study results. They are a great way to visualize large amounts of information.

Discussion - you can and need to challenge the methods you used for the research paper for economics. Credibility is as important as air when it comes to economic research.

Conclusion - Shortly restate your findings. Use clear and concise sentences. Emphasize why your study is important and what some questions are for future research.

Creating an Economics Research Paper Introduction

By an unwritten rule, an introduction is the first element of the economics research paper format. It aims to provide an overview of your study, explain its importance, explain why people should spend time thinking about the issue, and explain what value your research adds to the conversation.

Ensure that your introduction includes the research hypothesis and the objectives you aim to cover in your research paper economics study. You must also provide background information and a brief overview of your findings. Be sharp and stick to the point. The goal is to give the audience a clear understanding of what the paper is about and what problems it could solve.

Our team of custom research paper writing services can free you from worrying about writing a compelling introduction or providing a thorough statistical analysis. Let us know what is required, and we will return with an A+ essay.

Discussing the Existing Literature Review for Your Economics Research Paper

Everything in life has its context, and economic events are no exception to the rule. Before you start discussing your results, it is appropriate to provide a piece of background information, what we know from previous studies, and how that knowledge relates to your thesis statement.

According to the economics research paper outline, an introduction should be followed by a literature review section. Besides establishing the state of knowledge around the topic, the literature review can help you and the audience identify gaps, highlight the parts where further research is needed and put your research question in the larger scheme of things.

Literature reviews should include a critical analysis of relevant literature, reports, policy documents, etc. It should provide an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of each source, showing gaps in information and proving the importance of your scholarly work.

We know this is a lot. If you prefer learning by example, our professional writers have crafted an economics research paper example for you. You can find it below.

Explaining the Methodology for Your Economics Research Paper

For your hard labor to be appreciated, your study must be credible. Readers must be able to see where you derived your conclusions from. This is why explaining the methodologies and techniques used is such an important section of the economics research paper outline.

Research methodologies for economics are various, and you need to be aware of which one could be the best fit for your study. Not every topic can be examined with identical tools; you need to find the one that helps you provide unbiased, trustworthy results.

Here you can find some research methodologies that could be useful for your research paper for economics:

Econometric Analysis : Use of statistical techniques to analyze economic data and test hypotheses.

Experimental Design : Conducting controlled experiments to test economic theories

Case Study : An in-depth analysis of a particular case

Historical Analysis : Use of historical data and documents to analyze economic trends

Mathematical Modeling : Use of math models to analyze economic behavior and predict outcomes

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Presenting the Results in Your Economics Research Paper

Even though every section in the outline is equally important, the part where you present the results is the most interesting and anticipated. Here you need to get creative and focus on delivering the main points. Avoid passive voice; instead, take ownership of your work, rely on yourself, and use active voice. Use the following paragraphs to impress your audience.

The way you present the results depends on the type of data you collected and the analytical techniques you used. Some research papers need a numerical answer, and others focus on ideas.

Below you can see several techniques you can use in the results section of your economics research paper:

Tables : Effective way to present numerical data. Tables can be used to present descriptive statistics, regression results, and other types of quantitative data.

Figures : Effective way to demonstrate relationships between variables and trends over time.

Narrative Forms : Effective way to analyze non-numerical data such as surveys, interviews, or case studies.

Reviewing the Findings for Economics Research Paper

Our guide on how to write an economics research paper is nearing its end. Before concluding, you need to review the results of your study. This step might seem unnecessary, but it's vital for economics writing.

A critical analysis of one's writing can validate the research results even more. It is an excellent way to find out whether the original hypothesis is now supported by data. Reviewing can also help you identify the strength and weaknesses of the study, including the limitations in data or methods used.

It will also help you write a more comprehensive conclusion. Reviewing and interpreting the results will help you link the findings of your research paper for economics to the broader picture and also identify areas for further research.

Concluding Your Economics Research Paper

Like other disciplines, the economics research paper format also requires a comprehensive conclusion. Remember conclusion is not where you introduce new ideas; you simply have to restate your findings in a slightly different manner.

Explain the reasoning behind the results, and make it intuitive and engaging. Discuss what mechanisms could drive them and what obstacles you had to overcome during research. Let the reader know if there were any limitations to your approach.

Remember that other scholars will use your report as a secondary source just like you used other researchers' concepts and ideas, so make room and give enough time for future research and policy implications.

We understand that college is hard and following an economics research paper outline is not the easiest job. All you have to write to our college essay writing service and expert writers will come back with research writing that will put you at the top of your class.

30 Research Paper Topics in Economics

The tips above will help you write an excellent economics research paper. Now you have to select a cutting-edge topic. Below you will find the hottest economics topics for research paper:

• The Impact of Minimum Wage Increases on Employment
• Effects of Trade Tariffs on Consumer Prices
• The Role of Government Subsidies in Agriculture
• How Inflation Affects Household Savings
• The Economics of Renewable Energy Adoption
• Income Inequality and Economic Growth
• The Influence of Education on Economic Development
• Effects of Taxation on Small Businesses
• The Relationship Between Unemployment and Crime Rates
• The Economic Impact of Immigration
• The Role of Technology in Economic Growth
• Housing Market Trends and Economic Stability
• The Economics of Health Care Reform
• The Financial Crisis of 2008: Causes and Consequences
• The Impact of Globalization on Local Economies
• Behavioral Economics: How Psychology Affects Financial Decisions
• The Economics of Climate Change
• The Role of Central Banks in Economic Stability
• The Effect of Online Shopping on Traditional Retail
• The Economic Benefits of Tourism
• The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Profits
• How Student Loan Debt Affects the Economy
• The Economics of Cryptocurrency and Blockchain
• The Role of Women in Economic Development
• The Economic Effects of Pandemics
• The Influence of Political Stability on Economic Growth
• Economic Impacts of Natural Disasters
• The Economics of Public Transportation
• The Role of Microfinance in Poverty Reduction
• The Effect of Consumer Confidence on Economic Recovery

A Brief Afterword

Writing economics research papers is a lot of work. You must plan, research and analyze excessively to achieve the best quality. You'll need to find an attention-grabbing research question, come up with a methodology, and turn complex ideas into one paragraph.

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Conversable Economist

Writing the Intro to Your Economics Research Paper

You win or lose your readers with the introduction of your economics paper. Your title and your abstract should convince people to read your introduction. Research shows that economics papers with more readable introductions get cited more. The introduction is your opportunity to lay out your research question, your empirical strategy, your findings, and why it matters. Succinctly. …

Invest in your introduction. One reason that so many introductions in top journals have a similar pattern is that it’s clear: you tell the reader why the issue you studied is important, you tell them what you did, you tell them what you learned, and you tell them how it builds on what we already knew. You might tell them how it relates to policy or what the limitations of your work are. Interested readers can dive into the details of the paper, but good introductions give casual readers a clear sense of what they’ll get out of your paper. Your introduction is your kingdom. Rule it well.

• Motivate with a puzzle or a problem (1–2 paragraphs)
• Clearly state your research question (1 paragraph)
• Empirical approach (1 paragraph)
• Detailed results (3–4 paragraphs)
• Value-added relative to related literature (1–3 paragraphs)
• Optional paragraphs: robustness checks, policy relevance, limitations
• Roadmap (1 paragraph)

Evans also points to a couple of other recent discussions of introductions in economic research. For example, Keith Head presents his own view of \”The Introduction Formula,\” which starts like this:

1. Hook : Attract the reader’s interest by telling them that this paper relates to something interesting. What makes a topic interesting? Some combination of the following attributes makes Y something worth looking at. Y matters: When Y rises or falls, people are hurt or helped. Y is puzzling: it defies easy explanation. Y is controversial: some argue one thing while other say another. Y is big (like the service sector) or common (like traffic jams). Things to avoid: The bait and switch : promising an interesting topic but delivering something else, in particular, something boring. “all my friends are doing it” : presenting no other motivation for a topic than that other people have written papers on it. 2) Question : Tell the reader what this paper actually does. Think of this as the point in a trial where having detailed the crime, you now identify a perpetrator and promise to provide a persuasive case. The reader should have an idea of a clean research question that will have a more or less satisfactory answer by the end of the paper. Examples follow below. The question may take two paragraphs. At the end of the first (2nd paragraph of the paper) or possibly beginning of the second (3rd paragraph overall) you should have the “This paper addresses the question” sentence.

This post is for job market candidates. You need to spend more time editing your abstract and introduction. It will be worth more than your fourth robustness check. Promise. … Sadly, it is clear that economics departments and dissertation committees are NOT teaching their doctoral students how to communicate their research. … EVERY job market paper I read lacked a well-structured, well-written introduction and abstract. Many of these papers are from top schools and from native English speakers.

Sahm offers an intro structure as well, closely related to the others. She begins this way:

Structure of Introduction (in order) :

THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR PAPER

1) Motivation (1 paragraph)

• Must be about the economics.
• NEVER start with literature or new technique (unless econometrics).
• Be specific and motivate YOUR research question.

2) Research question (1 paragraph)

• Lead with YOUR question.
• THEN set YOUR question within most relevant literature.
• My favorite is an actual question: “My paper answers the question …”
• Popular and acceptable: “My paper [studies/quantifies/evaluates/etc] …”

3) Main contribution (2-3 paragraphs, one for each contribution)

• YOUR main contribution
•             MUST be about new economic knowledge.
•             Lead with YOUR work, then how it extends the literature.
• New model, new data, new method, etc.:
•             Can be second or third contribution.
•             Tools are important, not most important.
• Each paragraph begins with a sentence stating one of YOUR contributions.
• THEN follow with three or four sentences setting YOUR contribution in literature.
• Most important should be first (preferred) or last (sometimes most logical).
• YOUR contributions are very important. Make them clear, compelling, and correct.

Invest more time in the stepping-stones of exposition: introductions, opening paragraphs of sections, and conclusions. Introductions of papers are worth four times as much effort as they usually receive.The opening paragraph of each main section of a paper is worth three times as much effort as it usually receives. Conclusions are worth twice as much effort as they usually receive. This recommendation emphatically does not call for long introductions with a blow-by-blow overview each subsection of the paper to come. It doesn’t mean repeating the same topic sentences over and over again, in introduction and section headings and conclusion. It means making a genuine effort to attract the attention of the reader and let the reader know what is at stake up front, to signpost the argument as it develops, and to tell the reader the state of the argument at the end.

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General principles

Repec services, additional websites using repec.

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Quick links

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How you can use RePEc as a provider or publisher:

Join over 2000 providers and publishers to increase the visibility of your publications. Follow these step-by-step instructions to create your RePEc archive. They show how to quickly set up your RePEc archive on your http, https, or ftp server and describe the syntax of the required metadata for working papers, journal articles, books, chapters, and software. For the complete technical details on the infrastructure and the metadata, you can also read about the Guildford Protocol and ReDIF , the Research Documents Information Format.

How you can use RePEc as a reader:

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How you can use RePEc as an author:

With the RePEc Author Service , you can create a profile of your indexed works. This allows the other RePEc services to link your profile to your works and vice versa. You also get notifications about the visibility of your works and citations newly found by CitEc . And if your publisher does not participate in RePEc, you can upload missing items to MPRA , copyright permitting.

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RePEc can help you make your working papers (pre-prints) more visible, track how your researchers publish, and provide metrics to evaluate impact.

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Data assembled by RePEc can be used for many purposes. Examples are academic research, tracking how working papers get published, adding metrics to a website, and evaluating researchers or institutions. We have instructions on how to access the data, including through an API.

There is much more that RePEc can do for you. Below is a list of all the RePEc services:

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RePEc archive maintainers may also make good use of the template syntax and link checker , of tips and tricks and the FAQ .

RePEc emerged from the NetEc group , created in 1992, which received support for its WoPEc project between 1996-1999 by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) of the UK Higher Education Funding Councils, as part of its Electronic Libraries Programme (eLib). RePEc was created in June 1997 to decentralize the work done by WoPEc and thus make it independent of grant needs. RePEc is then guaranteed to remain free for all parties.

Economics Research Guide

• Background research and finding books
• Finding articles in databases
• Finding websites and statistics
• Evaluating sources

What is MLA?

Mla resources, citing your sources in mla style, cite right in mla library workshop, microsoft word templates, mla handbooks in the library.

Each academic discipline has its own rules for presenting research and citing ideas and words borrowed from other writers and researchers.

• Courses in English and the humanities use the  Modern Language Association  (MLA) style rules.
• The  MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers  contains comprehensive rules and examples for citing.
• MLA 9 Quick Guide
• MLA Style Sample Paper
• Excelsior OWL MLA Guide
• ZoteroBib Citation Generator
• How to Create a Hanging Indent in Word
• How to Create a Hanging Indent in Google Docs

How does citing in MLA work?

Step 1: Create a Works Cited page

• Include a Works Cited page at the end of your research paper. It should contain a full citation for each source referenced within your paper. The full citation should include the specific publication information required by the MLA rules. This allows your reader to find the sources, if desired.

Step 2: Use in-text citations throughout your paper

• Use an  in-text citation  to acknowledge that you are quoting or paraphrasing another author's words or ideas in the text of your research paper.
• Your reader will use the information provided in the signal phrase and in-text citation to find additional information about the source in your  Works  Cited  page.

Critser noted that despite growing numbers of overweight Americans, many health care providers still “remain either in ignorance or outright denial about the health danger to the poor and the young” (5). If the author is not named in the signal phrase, place the author’s name and the page number in parentheses after the quotation or paraphrase like this (Critser 5). 

Step 3: Double-check your formatting

• The MLA Handbook dictates the rules for formatting your in-text citations, Works Cited page, and your final research paper.
• Review the links in the " MLA Resources " box on this page to see formatting examples.

Use MLA templates in Word and Google Docs

When creating a new Microsoft Word document (or Google Doc), search for "MLA" to see  MLA-style research paper templates. 

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Economics Research Paper

This sample economics research paper features: 7800 words (approx. 26 pages), an outline, and a bibliography with 36 sources. Browse other research paper examples for more inspiration. If you need a thorough research paper written according to all the academic standards, you can always turn to our experienced writers for help. This is how your paper can get an A! Feel free to contact our writing service for professional assistance. We offer high-quality assignments for reasonable rates.

Evolutionary Economics Research Paper

Introduction, relationship between theories of biological and sociocultural evolution, the scope and methods of evolutionary economics, marxist models of evolution, original institutional economics, the new institutional economics, whither evolutionary economics.

• Bibliography

More Economics Research Papers:

• Budget Research Paper
• Cost-Benefit Analysis Research Paper
• Economic History Research Paper
• Fiscal Policy Research Paper
• Labor Market Research Paper

Evolutionary economics has gained increasing acceptance as a field of economics that focuses on change over time in the process of material provisioning (production, distribution, and consumption) and the social institutions that surround that process. It is closely related to, and often draws on research in, other disciplines such as economic sociology, economic anthropology, and international political economy. It has important implications for many other fields in economics, including, but not limited to, growth theory, economic development, economic history, political economy, history of thought, gender economics, industrial organization, the study of business cycles, and financial crises.

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Historically, evolutionary economics was the province of critics of the mainstream, neoclassical tradition. Both Marxist and original institutional economists (OIE) have long asserted the importance and relevance of understanding change over time and critiqued the standard competitive model for its abstract, ahistorical, and static focus. In recent years, however, the rise of the new institutional economics (NIE) as well as game theory has resulted in wider acceptance of evolutionary explanations by the mainstream (Hodgson, 2007b, pp. 1-15; North, 1990). Consequently, it is now possible to identify three major traditions in evolutionary economics: the Marxist (Sherman, 2006), the OIE (Hodgson, 2004), and the NIE (North, 1990). Each of these major traditions encompasses multiple strands within it. As a general rule, Marxists and OIEs seek to replace the standard competitive model of mainstream economics, while NIEs seek to complement the standard competitive model, although the growing acceptance of game theory may make this less of an important distinction. Despite their differences, it is possible to identify some common themes that are shared by each of these disparate traditions. For example, authors in each tradition have exhibited a concern with how the interaction of technology, social institutions, and ideologies leads to changes in economic and social organization over time.

The goal of this research paper is to introduce the reader to a few of the major concerns, themes, and important authors of each respective tradition. In doing so, it will first address some general issues in evolutionary economics, including its relationship to evolutionary biology as well as some conceptual, definitional, and taxonomic issues. It will then proceed to provide a brief overview of the evolution of each respective tradition. Unfortunately, the length of this research paper precludes discussion of many worthy contributions to each tradition as well as important topics that can and should be addressed by evolutionary economics. For example, space does not permit a discussion of how evolutionary economics could be applied to gender economics or how economists who write on gender often incorporate the contributions of evolutionary economists. Nor will this research paper attempt to assess the extent of empirical or conceptual progress in evolutionary economics within or between respective traditions. In addition, the reader should be aware that evolutionary economics itself is an evolving field and that the boundaries between the three traditions are often fluid.

General Issues in Evolutionary Economics

Taken at face value, the word evolution simply means change. But Darwin’s theory of gradual (step-by-step) evolution by variation of inherited characteristics and natural selection (differential survival based on the level of adaptation) removed both theological and teleological explanations from the process of biological evolution and placed humans firmly in the natural world. The modern neo-Darwinian synthetic theory of evolution combines Darwin’s focus on gradual (step-by-step) change based on variation of inherited characteristics and natural selection with modern population genetics. Both Darwin’s original theory and the modern synthetic theory of evolution explain change within a species, the rise of new species, and the more dramatic kinds of change such as the rise of mammals, primates, and eventually human beings as a result of the same step-by-step process (Mayr, 2001, 2004).

At the risk of oversimplifying slightly, it should be noted that the neo-Darwinian synthesis formulated by Thedosius Dobzhansky and Ernst Mayr in the 1950s has given rise to two sometimes opposing strands within the overarching frame of the synthesis (Mayr, 2004, pp. 133-138). One strand, exemplified by Richard Dawkins, who has written many widely read books on evolution, focuses on the role of genes in building organisms and on the tendency of natural selection to result in highly adapted organisms. This approach is sometimes referred to as the strong adaptationist program in evolutionary biology. It is closely related to fields such as sociobiology and evolutionary psychology, which explain many human behaviors in terms of their evolutionary origins.

Other evolutionary biologists have de-emphasized the role of natural selection and emphasize the importance of understanding biological evolution in terms of emergence, chance, path dependence, satisficing, and punctuated equilibrium. Richard Lewontin and the late Stephen J. Gould are two widely read authors who have advocated this position. Both Gould and Lewontin have been strongly critical of biologically based explanations for human behavior.

Although these two differing approaches to evolution are sometime viewed as rivals, they are in actuality complementary to each other. It is important to understand both aspects of biological evolution. In addition, biological evolution is a very complex process, and evolutionary biologists continue to push their field forward. Contemporary research in evolutionary biology focuses on the important interactions between genes, organisms, and their interaction with the environment in the process of development. Evolutionary biologists have also become more aware of the importance of lateral gene transfer and endo-symbiosis in bacteria evolution. However, there is still widespread consensus among evolutionary biologists that the synthetic theory of evolution is a true theory. Evolutionary biologists reject theories that incorporate teleological explanations or inheritance of acquired characteristics because these theories have been discredited empirically. Evolutionary biologists reject theories that are premised on or seek to find evidence of supernatural design as this adds nothing to the explanation and draws the focus of science away from understanding and explaining natural law.

Evolutionary economists often draw on and incorporate concepts developed by evolutionary biologists to explain how economic evolution occurs. For example, many evolutionary economists view economic evolution as a nondirected step-by-step process that is non-teleological (it lacks a specific goal or predetermined endpoint). Many, although not necessarily all, evolutionary economists agree that humans have at least some genetically based cognitive and social predispositions that are a result of genetic evolution. Some examples include the ability to learn a language, to learn social norms, to cooperate in groups, and to develop complex tool kits with which to transform nature into useable goods and services. In addition, the use of the Darwinian concepts of inheritance, variation, and selection as analogs to explain outcomes is pervasive in evolutionary economics. Evolutionary economists also distinguish between specific or microevolution (change that occurs within a sociocultural system) and general or macroevolution (change from one sociocultural system to another).

Some evolutionary economists view the market as natural and as an extended phenotype. Other evolutionary economists argue that evolutionary economics should be viewed as a generalization of the Darwinian concepts of variation, inheritance, and natural selection with each case specifying additional, relevant detail (Hodgson, 2007a; Hodgson & Knudsen, 2006). Others have argued that while Darwinian concepts often provide useful analogies for understanding sociocultural evolution, aspects of sociocultural evolution are distinctly non-Darwinian (Poirot, 2007). For example, in at least some instances, social and economic evolution results from the conscious decisions of groups of purposive agents who intentionally design or redesign human institutions. Also, in the process of socio-cultural evolution, we can pass on cultural traits that we acquire through the process of learning. Biological evolution results in a branching pattern and barriers between different species. But human cultures can always learn from each other. The more emphasis that is placed on purposive design of social institutions and cultural learning as well as the abruptness (instead of the step-by-step nature) of social change, the less Darwinian a model of sociocultural evolution becomes. However, it would be difficult to identify anyone today who argued for a strong teleological concept of sociocultural evolution or who sought to explain sociocultural evolution in terms of divine or supernatural intervention.

Two other important concepts borrowed from the natural sciences, emergence and complexity, also play a key role in evolutionary economics. Emergence means that an observed system results from the complex interaction of the components of the subsystems. This process of interaction gives rise to patterns that would not be predicted from and cannot be reduced to the behaviors of the individual components. However, understanding the system still requires an understanding of its components and the interaction of the components. So it is important to understand what individuals do. And it is also important to understand how individual choices and habits interact with social institutions in a dynamic way. It is often easier to think in mechanical terms. But if we are careless with mechanical analogies, then we can be easily misled.

This raises the question of what it is that evolves in sociocultural evolution. In evolutionary biology, selection takes place at multiple levels but logically requires changes in the gene pool of a population over time (Mayr, 2004, pp. 133-158). This has led some evolutionary economists to suggest that institutions and/or organizational routines provide us with an analog to the gene. Others argue that there is not a precise analog. To understand this debate, we first have to understand what an institution is.

It is popular to define institutions as “rules of the game.” This is a good start, but it confuses the function of institutions with a definition of institutions. A more extensive definition of institution defines an institution as any instituted process, or in other words a shared, learned, ordered, patterned, and ongoing way of thinking, feeling, and acting. Institutions may be tacit and informal or highly organized and structured. By this latter definition, modern firms, medieval manors, technology, nation-states, political ideologies, and even technology are all institutions. In other words, virtually everything that humans do is an instituted process. Institutions are component parts of a sociocultural system.

But to just call everything an “institution” can make it difficult to conduct analysis. So it is useful to draw a distinction between entities such as social ideologies (e.g., Calvinism and democracy), social institutions (e.g., class, caste, kinship, the family, the nation-state), organizations (e.g., the modern firm, the International Monetary Fund, the medieval manor), organizational routines of actors within specific organizations, and technology (the combined set of knowledge, practices, and tool kits used in production). So in that sense, everything in sociocultural systems is constantly evolving. There is no precise analog in sociocultural evolution to the gene pool of a population.

As suggested above, social institutions are part of more general wholes, which it is convenient to term sociocultural systems. A sociocultural system includes the direct patterns of interaction of a society with the ecosystem (its subsistence strategy, technology, and demographic patterns), its social institutions, and its patterns of abstract meaning and value. Many anthropologists classify sociocultural systems by their scale, complexity, and the amount of energy captured by their subsistence strategy. Standard classification includes bands, tribes, chiefdoms, agrarian states, and industrial states, each of which corresponds roughly to subsistence strategies of foraging, horticulture, pastoralism and fishing, settled agriculture, and modern industrial technology. This classification system provides a useful scheme with which to understand the rise of large agrarian empires in the neolithic era and, ultimately, the Industrial Revolution in northwestern Europe. It also provides a useful classificatory schema with which to understand the interaction of multiple kinds of contemporary societies in a globalizing world. However, care must be taken to emphasize the multilinear and dynamic nature of socio-cultural evolution rather than rigidly applying these concepts as a universal and unilinear schema (e.g., see Harris, 1997; Wolf, 1982).

The evolutionary biologist Ernst Mayr (2004) argued that biologists who study genetic evolution ask “why” questions while biologists who study things such as biochemistry ask “how” questions. Similarly, many mainstream economists ask “how” questions while evolutionary economists ask “why” questions. While the study of evolutionary economics does not preclude the use of formal mathematical models or quantification, most of its practitioners employ qualitative and interpretive methods. Also, as suggested above, some evolutionary biologists focus on changes that occur at the level of species, while others focus on more dramatic kinds of change. Similarly, evolutionary economists are interested in the study of sociocultural evolution on a grand scale, such as the rise of agrarian empires or modern capitalism, as well more specific, micro-level evolution such as changes in the organizational routines of individual firms.

Consequently, the kinds of issues that evolutionary economists are interested in overlap with the focus of other social sciences and even, in some instances, with the fields of ecology and evolutionary biology. Evolutionary economics reflects a tendency to counter the fragmentation of political economy into disparate social sciences that occurred in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Evolutionary economists, like their counterparts in economic sociology, economic anthropology, and political economy, focus more directly on those institutions with the strongest, most immediate, direct relevance to the process of material provisioning. So there may still be a need for some division of labor in the social sciences. What is of direct relevance will vary according to what is being analyzed in any particular study. An economic historian studying the rise of capitalism may, following Weber, find an understanding of Calvinist theology to be essential. Someone studying financial innovation in twenty-first-century industrialized societies would most likely find the religious affiliation of modern banking executives to be of little interest or relevance.

Research Traditions in Evolutionary Economics

Evolutionary economics is composed of three rival but sometimes overlapping major traditions: the Marxist, the OIE, and the NIE. While there is some degree of ideological overlap between the schools, each of the respective schools tends to share a common overarching ideology. Marxists seek to replace capitalism, OIEs seek to reform capitalism, and NIEs generally view capitalism as beneficent. This is not, notably, to argue that the ideology necessarily determines the empirical and theoretical analysis. Also, as previously noted, Marxists and OIEs seek to replace the standard competitive model while NIEs seek to complement the standard model. However, the reader should be aware that the boundary between the three traditions is often fuzzy, and there is sometimes overlap between the three traditions. Similarly, each of these three schools is composed of multiple strands and has undergone significant change over time.

The remainder of this research paper will focus on outlining in very broad terms a few of the significant themes and concerns of each respective tradition, how these traditions have changed over time, and the contributions of a few representative authors of each of the three traditions. The reader may note that despite the differences between the traditions, there is a strong interest in all three in understanding how technology, social institutions, and cognitive models interact in the process of sociocultural evolution. The division made between the three traditions may be of greater interest and relevance in the United States, where there is a strong correlation between specific organizations and schools of thought. For example, the Association for Evolutionary Economics (AFEE) has been the primary promoter of OIE in the United States. In contrast, the European Association for Evolutionary Political Economy (EAEPE) has a much wider umbrella. So there may be hope someday for a grand synthesis of the three respective traditions.

There are, of course, many different Marxist and quasiMarxist models of sociocultural evolution. For the purposes of this research paper, it is convenient to make the differentia specifica of a Marxist model of sociocultural evolution a focus on class struggle: the conflict between social groups defined in terms of differential access to the productive resources of a given society (Dugger & Sherman, 2000). This way of understanding sociocultural evolution is often referred to as historical materialism. While Darwinian reasoning may at times be employed in Marxist theories of sociocultural evolution, Marxists have generally emphasized the non-Darwinian aspects of sociocultural evolution as well as sharp discontinuities between human and infrahuman species. At the same time, it is hard to think of any academic Marxists writing today who would advocate Lysenkoism or Lamarckian theories of inheritance as valid explanatory concepts for understanding genetic evolution.

To understand historical materialism, we must begin with Marx’s concept of the mode of production (for extended discussions, see Wolf, 1982, chap. 3, and also Fusfeld, 1977). A mode of production includes the techno-environmental relationships (e.g., agriculture based on a plough or factories using steam engines) and the social relationships of production (e.g., warlords and peasants or factory owners and workers) or, in Marxist jargon, the forces of production and the social relations of production, respectively. These relationships between groups of people in Marx’s view are characterized by unequal relations of power, domination, subordination, and exploitation. This gives rise to social conflict over the terms of access to and the distribution of the productive resources of society. Social conflict requires the creation of a coercive entity to enforce the interests of the dominant social class (i.e., a state). In addition, human beings develop complex ideologies with which to justify their positions. Thus, the entire civilization (or what above is termed a sociocultural system) rests on a given mode of production, with the mode of production distinguished by the primary means of mobilizing labor (e.g., slavery, serfdom, wage labor).

In his analysis of Western history, Marx distinguished between the primitive commune, the slave mode of production of the ancient Roman Empire, the Germanic mode of production, the feudal mode of production of medieval Europe, and the modern capitalist mode of production. In analyzing Western history, Marx argued that each successive mode of production had produced technological advance, thus elevating the material level of human existence.

Capitalism, in Marx’s view, is qualitatively different from extended commodity production. Capitalism requires that land, labor, and capital are fully treated as commodities. This means that labor is “free” in the sense of not being legally bound to perform labor for the dominant class and “free” in the sense that it has no claim to the resources needed to produce goods and services. Therefore, capital is used as a means to finance innovation in production, and labor is compelled by economic circumstances to sell its labor power. Because capitalism promotes endless accumulation of capital, it is thus far the most successful in a material sense. However, the dynamic of capitalist accumulation gives rise to periodic crises, and it is therefore unstable. In addition, it is often destructive of human relationships. So a relationship of apparent freedom is in actuality a relationship of power, subordination, and domination that will give rise to social conflict. The only way to end this conflict, in Marx’s view, is to redesign social institutions so as to pro-mote both development of the forces of production and social cooperation (i.e., replace capitalism with socialism). There is disagreement among scholars who study Marx as to whether Marx thought that the triumph of socialism over capitalism was inevitable.

Insofar as one seeks to explain the historical origins of capitalism and the Industrial Revolution, two historical epochs are of particular relevance. Marxist historians and Marxist economists (and many others) with a particular interest in economic history thus often refer to two transitions (one from antiquity to feudalism and the other from feudalism to capitalism) as giving rise to modern capitalism. Howard Sherman (1995, 2006), a well-known Marxist economist, has summarized and synthesized much of this existing literature.

Sherman traces Western economic history from tribal organization through the rise of modern capitalism. Sherman is a materialist who analyzes societies by starting with the material base of human existence and examines the interaction between technology, economic institutions, social institutions, and ideologies. Technology and technological innovation as well as social conflict between classes are key variables in Sherman’s analysis. But overall, Sherman’s schema is holistic and interactive, rather than mechanical or reductionist.

In analyzing the breakdown of feudalism, Sherman focuses on the tripartite class conflict between peasants, nobles, and monarchs and the ability of each of the respective classes to force an outcome on the other classes. As a consequence of this conflict, a new pattern of relationships based on private property and production for profit in a market, as well as increasingly organized around new sources of mechanical power, gave rise to a unique and extremely productive system referred to as capitalism. This system of production encourages constant cost cutting, innovation, and capital accumulation, thus leading to the potential for the progressive material elevation of human society.

However, capitalist society is still riven by conflict between property-less workers and property-owning capitalists. Because the capitalist has a monopoly over the productive resources of society, the capitalist is still able to compel the worker to produce a surplus for the capitalist. This creates social conflict between the capitalist and worker and also forces the capitalist into an ultimately self-defeating boom-and-bust cycle of rising profits and increasing concentrations of capital, followed by falling rates of profit, leading to cycles of recession and crisis. The institutional structure of capitalism also magnifies other social conflicts and problems such as environmental degradation and destruction, as well as relations between racial and ethnic groups and genders. The solution to this social conflict, in Sherman’s view, is to replace the institutions of capitalism with economic democracy (i.e., democratic socialism).

Sherman, who has long been a critic of Stalinist-style socialism, also extends his analysis to change in Russia and the Soviet Union. The October Revolution of 1917 occurred because neither the czar nor the Mensheviks were able to satisfy the material aspirations of the vast majority of Russians. But industrialization in the Soviet Union became a nondemocratic, elite-directed process due primarily to the particular circumstances surrounding the Bolshevik Revolution, the ensuing civil war, and the problems of the New Economic Policy. In time, factions among the elites developed as the Soviet economy proved unable to satisfy the material aspirations of the majority of the Soviet population. This created new pressure for change as elites were able to capture this process. Due also to pressure from the West, change in the former Soviet Union took the direction of restoring capitalism rather than developing greater economic democracy.

It should be noted that the standard Marxist model of historical materialism focuses on the ability of capitalism to elevate the material capacity of human societies. This focus has been challenged by the rise of world systems and dependency theory. Theorists who follow this line of thinking focus on the uneven nature of development and the tendency of core economies to place boundaries on the development of formerly colonized areas of the world. Some theorists in this tradition have been justly accused of having a rather muddled conception of the term capitalism, insofar as they claim inspiration from Marx. The late Eric Wolf (1982), a well-known economic anthropologist, resolved many of these conceptual issues in his book Europe and the People Without History. So rather than assume that capitalism leads uniformly to material progress, Wolf extended the historical materialist model to analyze the process of uneven development in the world system as a whole. In their textbook on economic development, James Cypher and James Dietz (2004) provide an excellent history and exposition of classical Marxism, dependency theory, and extended analysis and discussion of the new institutional economics, original institutional economics, and modernization theory.

Thorstein Veblen (1898) was the founder of OIE, and his influence on OIE continues to be prevalent (Hodgson, 2004). Veblen was strongly influenced by Darwin’s theory of biological evolution and held evolutionary science as the standard for the social sciences, including economics, to emulate. He was also deeply influenced by the evolutionary epistemology of the American pragmatists Charles Saunders Peirce and John Dewey. In addition, he incorporated the contrasting positions of nineteenth-century evolutionist anthropology, as exhibited by the work of Tylor and Morgan, and the historical particularism of Franz Boas. Although he was strongly critical of Marx and of Marxism, there are both parallels as well as differences in the writings of Marx and Veblen.

Like Marx, Veblen focused on the importance of understanding the interaction of changes in technology, social institutions, and social ideologies as well as social conflict. Veblen also had a stage theory of history, which he borrowed from the prevailing anthropological schemas of his day. However, where Marx focuses on concepts such as class and mode of production, Veblen focuses on instituted processes and the conflicts created by vested interests seeking to reinforce invidious distinctions. Veblen’s model of sociocultural evolution is a conflict model in that it focuses broadly on social conflict that arises in the struggle for access to power, prestige, and property. But it is not a class-based model in the sense that Marxists use class.

In “Why Is Economics Not an Evolutionary Science?” (1898) and in “The Preconceptions of Economic Science” (1899) , Veblen developed a critique of the mainstream economics of his day. In developing this critique, Veblen was critical of the abstract and a priori nature of much of mainstream economic analysis. In articulating this point, he contrasted the “a priori method” with the “matter of fact method.” This particular aspect of Veblen’s criticism has often led some to view both Veblen and later OIEs as “atheoretical.” But this misses the point for at least two reasons.

Veblen did not eschew theoretical analysis per se. He was however, critical of theory that divorced itself from understanding actual, real-world processes of material provisioning. But most important, in Veblen’s view, economics was not up to the standards of evolutionary science because economics continued to implicitly embrace the concepts of natural price and natural law by focusing on economics as the study of economizing behavior and the adjustment of markets to equilibrium. In contrast, Veblen argued that the process of material provisioning entailed a constant process of adaptation to the physical and social environment through the adjustment of institutions or deeply ingrained social habits based on instinct. Veblen’s understanding of the term institution was broad enough to encompass any instituted process. Yet he drew a sharp distinction between institutions and technology. He was sharply critical of the former and strongly in favor of the latter.

When Veblen wrote about deep-seated and persistent social habits developing on the basis of genetically based instincts, he did in fact appear to mean something similar to contemporary theories of gene-culture evolution. Social habits are not consciously thought-through, purposive behaviors—they develop out of the complex “reflex arc” of enculturation based on genetically based propensities to act in the presence of environmental stimuli. Instincts are acquired through genetic evolution and social habits through enculturation. Both are inherited, vary in nature, and may therefore be selected for or against in the process of sociocultural evolution (Hodgson, 2004, Part III). However, Veblen also borrowed from Dewey a view of socialization in which individuals are active participants in socialization, a concept that was later more clearly articulated by Meade. In addition, Veblen also emphasized the ability of humans to conceptualize and engage in purposive behavior.

Veblen drew a sharp dichotomy between the instinct of workmanship and the instinct of predation. He associated the instinct of workmanship with a focus on adaptive, problem-solving, tinkering, and innovative behavior. In contrast, he associated predation with a focus on brute force, ceremonial displays of power, emulative behavior, conspicuous consumption, financial speculation, and the power of vested interests. Veblen argued that the instinct of workmanship arose in the primitive stage of human history (roughly corresponding to what contemporary anthropologists would term bands and tribes) and that the instinct of predation emerged during the stage of barbarism (roughly corresponding to the rise of chiefdoms). These instincts gave rise to deep-seated social habits. Both instincts continued to be present during the rise of civilization (agrarian states) and persisted in modern civilization (industrial states). But because modern civilization is based on the rise and extensive application of machine technology, further progress would require the triumph of the instinct of workmanship over the instinct of predation.

But in Veblen’s view, there was no reason to expect this would necessarily occur. Vested interests were often capable of instituting their power to reinforce the instinct of predation. Hence, institutions often served to encapsulate and reinforce the instinct of predation. The behaviors of predation were primarily exhibited by the new “leisure class” or, in other words, the robber barons of the late nineteenth century. In contrast, workmen and engineers often exhibited the instinct of workmanship. Consequently, Veblen tended to view institutions in general as change inhibiting and the instinct of workmanship as change promoting.

In later works, Veblen extended this kind of analysis to study other topics such as changes in firm organization and the business cycle. Veblen argued that as modern firms became larger and more monopolistic, a permanent leisure class arose, thus displacing technological thinking among this new class. In addition, increasing amounts of time and energy were channeled into financial speculation, leading to repeated financial crises. Emulative behavior in the form of conspicuous consumption and ceremonial displays of patriotism and militarism served to reinforce the instinct of predation. In his analysis of the rise of militarism in Prussia, Veblen noted the socially devastating impact of the triumph of the instinct of predation. Thus, Veblen tended to identify institutions with imbecilic behaviors that serve to block the triumph of technological innovations.

Veblen’s focus on the conflict between the instinct of workmanship and predatory and pecuniary instincts is often referred to as the instrumental-ceremonial dichotomy. Ayres (1938) in particular reinforced the tendency of the OIE to focus on the past binding and ceremonial aspects of institutions and on the scientific and progressive nature of instrumental reasoning. This dichotomy was, at one point in time, a core proposition of the OIE.

Most contemporary OIEs, however, recognize and accept that at least some institutions can promote and facilitate progressive change and that technology itself is an institution. This rethinking of the ceremonial-instrumental dichotomy is also reflected in the incorporation of Karl Polanyi’s (1944) dichotomy between habitation and improvement. Polanyi noted that the need for social pro-tection may actually serve a noninvidious purpose. Some improvements destroy livelihoods and reinforce invidious distinctions while others promote the life process. So the distinction might better be thought of in terms of “invidious versus noninvidious.”

One OIE who had a more positive understanding of the role of institutions is J. R. Commons (Commons, 1970; Wunder & Kemp, 2008). Commons in particular focused on the need for order in society and thus addressed the evolution of legal systems and the state. Commons’s theory is primarily microevolutionary insofar as he focuses on the evolution of legal arrangements and shifting power alignments in modern industrial states. Commons is not as critical of existing arrangements as Veblen. Institutions, including the state, in Commons’s view, are clearly both necessary and potentially beneficial. For example, with the rise of big business, labor conflict, and the problems inherent in the business cycle, there is a need for a strong state to manage this conflict. At the same time, Commons developed a theory of the business cycle that has strong elements in common with some of Keynes’s analysis.

The Veblenian strand as expressed by Commons is, by the standards of American politics, moderately left of center in that it expresses support for much of the regulatory framework and expanded role of government in managing the business cycle that came out of the New Deal and the publication of Keynes’s (1936) The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. Not surprisingly, a number of OIE economists have begun to attempt to synthesize OIE and Keynes, relying to a large degree on the work of Hyman Minsky (1982). This project, often referred to as PKI (post-Keynesian institutionalism), is microevolution-ary in nature in that it focuses on the problems of financial instability created by financial innovation and deregulation. The goal of PKI is wisely managed capitalism (Whalen, 2008). PKI clearly has a focus on the possibility of designing effective institutions, which logically implies that at least some institutions can embody instrumental reasoning.

In contrast to the direction taken by some OIEs, Hodgson (2004) has argued that Veblen’s focus on technological thinking and the Commons-Ayres trend in OIE was a wrong turn for OIE. He has sought to revivify OIE by reinterpreting Veblenian economics as generalized Darwinism. Generalized Darwinism, according to Hodgson, generalizes the basic principles of Darwin’s biological theory of evolution (inheritance, variation, and selection) to sociocultural evolution. In Hodgson’s view, the mechanisms of inheritance, variation, and selection are not just analogies or metaphors to explain outcomes in social evolution—they are ontological principles that describe any entity that evolves. As noted above, because institutions and organizational routines are inherited through cultural learning and vary, they are subject to selection. Social evolution is therefore a special case of the more general case of evolution.

However, Hodgson (2004) also acknowledges that human agents are purposive and that culture is an emergent phenomenon. So Hodgson is not seeking to biologize social inequality or to reduce the social sciences to genetic principles such as inclusive fitness. Indeed, as Hodgson states, “more is needed” than just the principles of inheritance, variation, and natural selection. This would appear to be an understanding of how social institutions, in concert with instincts and human agency, generate outcomes in a complex, emergent process of social evolution. To this end, Hodgson has incorporated some elements of structure agency theory into his analysis.

Hodgson’s program could be taken as an injunction to OIEs to build models of change that incorporate both Darwinian principles as well as more complex concepts of structure and agency. Hodgson has used this model to explain how changes in firm organization can be selected for or against by changes in market structure. So there are strong parallels between the work of Hodgson and that of Nelson and Winter (1982), who could notably be placed in either the OIE or NIE camp. As noted in the preceding section, Hodgson’s view of evolutionary economics as “generalized Darwinism” is controversial, even among his fellow OIEs.

One competing strand of Veblenian economics is the radical strand as advocated by Bill Dugger (Dugger & Sherman, 2000). Dugger focuses on the role of technology, instrumental reasoning, and institutions as providing the capacity for improving the material condition of humans. The full application of instrumental reasoning, however, in Dugger’s view is blocked by the key institutions of capitalism. These institutions are reinforced by ceremonial myths. Dugger also puts more emphasis on the social and ideological implications of the respective traditions and has been sharply critical of the NIE. He has also notably been instrumental in promoting dialogue between Marxists and OIEs and has often copublished works on sociocultural evolution with Howard Sherman. Dugger also tends to emphasize the non-Darwinian nature of sociocultural evolution.

It can be fairly argued that Adam Smith was the first evolutionary economist, even though his contributions predate any significant consideration of biological evolution by naturalists. Adam Smith provides an account of how an increasingly complex society arises out of the natural propensity of humans to truck, barter, and exchange (Fusfeld, 1977; Smith, 1776/1937). Ironically, some of Smith’s concerns with specialization and division of labor, as well as the writings of another political economist, Thomas Malthus, influenced Darwin. Many Social Darwinists in the late nineteenth century drew on Darwinian reasoning to explain how competitive markets work and to justify social inequality. Some twentieth-century theorists such as Frederick Hayek and Larry Arnhart have tended to view the market as a natural outgrowth of human genetic endowments.

Taken as a whole, however, evolutionary explanations fell out of favor among economists in the twentieth century. In the late nineteenth century, the social sciences became increasingly fragmented, and the new field of economics increasingly lost its evolutionary focus. With the triumph of the standard competitive model in the mid-twentieth century, economics became narrowly focused on providing formal mathematical proofs of narrowly defined “how” questions. However, there are some signs that the standard competitive model is in the process of being displaced by game theory. There is also widespread recognition that it is necessary to supplement the standard competitive model with an evolutionary account. These developments have led to an increased acceptance of evolutionary explanations among mainstream economists and renewed attention to the importance of institutions in framing economic outcomes.

Some strands of the NIE, particularly the version espoused by Coase (1974) and Williamson (1985), view institutions primarily as providing “solutions” to the problems of asymmetric information and transactions costs. This strand of NIE does not significantly challenge the standard competitive model or its underlying behavioral assumptions. To the contrary, it is a complement to the standard competitive model. It is also to a large degree a micro-oriented theory of sociocultural evolution.

A more dynamic view of economic evolution is that of Joseph Schumpeter (1908, 1950). Schumpeter focused on the individual entrepreneur and his role in promoting technological innovation. This technological innovation disturbs the equilibrium and leads to gales of creative destruction. However, with the rise of the modern, bureaucratically organized firm, the role of the entrepreneur was lessened, leading to a static and moribund organization. Schumpeter thought that this would eventually lead to the destruction of capitalism, an outcome that, in contrast to Marx, Schumpeter viewed in a negative way. Schumpeter, however, drew a strong distinction between statics, exemplified by the Walrasian model of his day, and dynamics, exemplified by theories of economic evolution. Thus, “dynamics” was intended to complement “statics” (Andersen, 2008). Many contemporary mainstream models of economic growth, often referred to as new growth theory, explicitly incorporate Schumpeterian analysis.

Some of the richness of Schumpeter’s focus on technological innovation as gales of creative destruction has been recaptured by the economic historian Joel Mokyr (1990) in his masterful work on technological progress. Mokyr adapts Gould’s concept of “punctuated equilibrium” to the history of technology. He also draws a distinction between invention (the rise of new techniques and processes) and innovation (the spread of these new techniques). The Industrial Revolution, in Mokyr’s view, is ongoing but is nevertheless a clear instance of a dramatic change in technological and social organization. Similarly, the work of Nelson and Winter (1982), previously cited, which acknowledges the contributions of Veblen, can also be considered neo-Schumpeterian. There are, it should be noted, significant parallels between Marx, Schumpeter, and Veblen, as well as differences.

The most prominent and most successful NIE, of course, is Douglas North. North’s career has spanned several decades, during which his contributions to multiple fields in economics have been voluminous. Notably, North’s own views themselves have undergone significant evolution. North’s (1981) earlier work on economic evolution was an application of the work of Coase (1974) and Williamson (1985) to the problem of economic evolution and did not significantly challenge the standard competitive model. North viewed economic evolution as taking place due to changing resource constraints in response to the growth in population as rational agents calculated the marginal costs and marginal benefits of shifting from foraging to farming.

North’s later work (1990, 1991, 1994), however, has challenged many aspects of the standard competitive model. North has focused specifically on the role institutions play in cognitive framing of decision making. Notably, North has explicitly abandoned the theory of strong rational choice in favor of models of human behavior that focus on the limited ability of humans to obtain, process, and act on information. In most textbook models of market behavior, price is the primary means of providing information. But in North’s view of markets, information encompasses much more than price. In addition, norms, values, and ideology can blunt the ability of humans to obtain and interpret some information. North is not arguing that humans are “irrational” as his approach still logically implies some degree of calculation and conscious decision making based on self-interest. But he has abandoned the strong view of rationality, which implies humans are lightning rods of hedonic calculation. In that sense, his view of human behavior is much closer to that of the Austrians in focusing on the purposiveness of human behavior.

For the most part, North tends to see institutions as constraints on human action, though he acknowledges that institutions can provide incentives both in terms of the things we actually do, as well as the things that we do not do. Thus, institutions that reward innovative behavior, risk seeking, and trade will lead to efficient outcomes. Institutions that reward rent seeking and prohibit innovation and trade will lead to inefficient outcomes. Once an institutional structure is set, there is a strong degree of inertia that perpetuates the existing institutional structure. In other words, evolutionary paths, in North’s view, tend to be path dependent. Clearly, the kinds of institutions in North’s view that promote efficient outcomes are those that clearly define the rules of the game in favor of the operation of markets. This does not necessarily imply laissez-faire as the state may still be necessary to perform multiple functions. It does serve to distinguish between states, such as Great Britain in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries or South Korea in the past several decades, that were able to define an institutional framework that promoted innovation and growth as opposed to states such as Spain in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries or in the Congo (Zaire) today that destroy any incentive for innovation and economic growth.

This raises two very interesting questions. How does a particular type of path become established, and how does it change? North’s explanation is one that is rooted in a metaphor of variation and selection. Greater variation will allow for a higher probability that a particular path will be successful. Greater centralization will reduce variation and increase the chances that the state will adopt or promote institutions that blunt technological and social innovation. North explains the greater success of Europe versus the rest of the world as a result of the relative decentralization of Europe in the early modern period. Arbitrary authoritarian states that destroyed incentives for growth such as Spain existed. But Spain was unable to impose its will on Europe or on the emerging world market. Consequently, this enabled states such as England, where the power of the Crown became limited as Parliament enacted laws to protect commercial interests and innovation, to industrialize rapidly and emerge as world leaders. These contrasting paths were transferred to the New World. The United States inherited and successfully modified the institutional framework of Britain and therefore developed. Latin America inherited and failed to successfully modify the institutional frame-work of absolutist Spain and developed much more slowly.

Evolutionary economics clearly has a future. Economists in general are becoming more attuned to the importance of understanding how humans organize the economy through institutions and how institutions change over time. This entails extensive borrowing of concepts from evolutionary biology and a reconsideration of the underlying behavioral assumptions of mainstream economics. Understanding how institutions permit or inhibit changes in technology, as well as how changes in technology in turn require changes in institutions, is a concern of all three schools of evolutionary economics. As NIE economists push the boundaries of the mainstream, at least some have increasingly asked heterodox questions, and a few have been willing to acknowledge heterodox contributions. Some Marxist and OIE scholars have also begun to note that at least some versions of NIE, if not necessarily entirely new, are at least genuinely institutional and evolutionary. Any grand synthesis seems distant, but there is at least a basis for further argumentation and even dialogue.

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Hidden Debt Revelations

How reliable are public debt statistics? This paper quantifies the magnitude, characteristics, and timing of hidden debt by tracking ex post data revisions across a comprehensive new database of more than 50 vintages of World Bank debt statistics. In a sample of debt data covering 146 countries and 53 years, the paper establishes three new stylized facts: (i) debt statistics are systematically under-reported; (ii) hidden debt accumulates in boom years and tends to be revealed in bad times, often during IMF programs and sovereign defaults; and (iii) in debt restructurings, higher hidden debt is associated with larger creditor losses. The novel data is used to numerically discipline a quantitative sovereign debt model with hidden debt accumulation and an endogenous monitoring decision that triggers revelations. Model simulations show that hidden debt has adverse effects on default risk, debt-carrying capacity and asset prices and is therefore welfare detrimental.

We received valuable comments from Fernando Arce, Tamon Asonuma, Gadi Barlevy, Volker Clausen, Aitor Erce, Stelios Fourakis, Juan Carlos Hatchondo, Aart Kraay, Leonardo Martinez, Julian Martinez-Iriarte, Marti Mestieri, Ugo Panizza, Juan Passadore, Carmen Reinhart, Diego Rivetti, Juan Sanchez, Zachary Stangebye, and Christoph Trebesch as well as from seminar participants at the Kiel Institute, the Inter-American Development Bank, the University of Duisburg-Essen, the Ruhr Graduate School in Economics, the World Bank, the University of Rochester, the University of Michigan, Purdue University, the Chicago Fed, the Richmond Fed, the 2024 NBER IFM Spring Meeting, the 2023 SED Annual Meeting and the 2023 Annual Meeting of the Verein für Socialpolitik. We thank Evis Rucaj and the entire team of the World Bank Development Data Group for answering countless questions on the International Debt Statistics. Gregor Ilsinger and Robert Remy provided excellent research assistance. We thank the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and the German Federal Ministry of Finance for their financial support. All views expressed in this paper are those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the World Bank. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

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Child marriage negatively affects women’s socio-economic empowerment, particularly in education and employment. This study aimed to explore women’ perspectives on the timing of their marriages, considering their educational and employment status at the time. It also sought to identify factors influencing early married women’s perception of their marriages as timely. We analyzed both quantitative and qualitative data. The quantitative data included a sample of 5,596 women aged 15–24 from the 2017/18 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey. Additionally, we collected qualitative data through six in-depth interviews, two focus group discussions, and 13 key informant interviews. We used a multilevel mixed-effects Poisson regression model to examine the relationship between women’s formal employment, education, and child marriage. Thematic analysis was employed for the qualitative data. Around 62% of the total women analysed reported their married occurred early with the mean age at marriage was 15.2 years. Approximately 55% of the total early married women believed their marriages occurred at the right time, especially among those who were employed at the time of their marriage. Among this subset, we also noticed a higher likelihood of discontinuing work and education following marriage. Qualitative findings revealed reasons behind this perception, such as escaping poverty, safety concerns, limited job prospects, and the impact of non-marital relationship and societal norms. While many early-married women perceived their marriage as timely, particularly those initially employed, this decision often coincides with a subsequent withdrawal from work and education. This underscores the pressing need for policies and programs aimed at educating women about the legal age for marriage and the negative consequences associated with early marriage while also equipping them with knowledge and resources for informed decision-making.

Introduction

Child marriage is a pervasive issue in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), especially in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa 1 . The 2022 UNICEF report on child marriage revealed that approximately 12 million girls in LMICs are married before the age of 18 each year, which translates to one in every five girls in those settings 2 . In Bangladesh, the situation is even more alarming, with recent estimates indicating that about 59% of women aged 20–24 years were married before turning 18 3 , and 22% were married before the age of 15 4 . The rate is further higher in rural areas, particularly those with widespread poverty, low education enrolment and significant concerns about family’s reputation 4 , 5 , 6 .

Child marriage can have devastating consequences for girls and their families, as it often leads to a cycle of poverty and disempowerment 7 . Girls who are forced into early marriage are often forced to drop out of school, which reduces and restricts their opportunities for education and limits their economic prospects 8 . Additionally, child marriage has been associated with higher rates of domestic violence and divorce, which can have significant negative impacts on girls’ physical and mental health, hampering the development and wellbeing of girls 9 , 10 . Moreover, child marriage has serious implications for maternal health. Child brides are more likely to experience complications during pregnancy and childbirth, such as obstetric fistula and maternal mortality 11 , 12 . Children born to child brides are also at a higher risk of mortality and malnutrition 13 . This leads to an intergenerational effect because malnourished children are often more likely to drop out of school and subsequently become child brides themselves 14 . These adverse consequences associated with child marriage, coupled with the high number of girls affected, highlight a significant burden in LMICs 1 . Therefore, it poses challenges to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to health and well-being (SDG 3), gender equality (SDG 5), education (SDG 4), and poverty reduction (SDG 1) 15 .

Socio-demographic factors associated with child marriage have been extensively studied in LMICs, including Bangladesh 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 . Although such observational studies played a crucial role in developing relevant policies and programs to reduce the occurrence of child marriage, they fall short comprehensively addressing the issue. Girls’ views over their marriage along with marriage age can carry a significant weight and override all socio-demographic factors by mediating their roles 20 . It is commonly assumed that every child marriage occurs on parental wishes and is not desired by the girls. However, this is not always the case in reality. The underlying reasons for girls choosing to marry at an early age instead of continuing education and work has remained understudied 21 . Therefore, it is crucial to explore the percentage of girls who perceive their marital age as appropriate or not, as this can inform the development of more effective policies and programs. However, undertaking this requires comprehensive research, integrating determinant factors of early marriage and perceptions of those who marry early. Unfortunately, such information is largely absent in existing literature due to the nature of available data in LMICs, including Bangladesh, where DHS surveys serve as primary data sources 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 22 . The survey provides important information on prevalence of early marriage and its socio-demographic predictors, however, lacking content related to girls’ views over early marriage as it typically requires qualitative study. This indicates a need for mixed-methods studies, which are mostly lacking in LMICs, with none conducted in Bangladesh 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 . To address these limitations, we aimed to investigate women’s perceptions of getting married at an earlier age, taking into account their education and employment status at the time of marriage. We also sought to identify the factors that influenced earlier-aged women to perceive their marriages as occurring at the right age.

Study design

The study applied a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design where analysis of secondary quantitative data were followed by the collection and analysis of qualitative data 27 . The qualitative findings, therefore, aimed to explain and interpret the findings of the quantitative study.

Quantitative study

Data source and sampling.

This study analysed data of most recent 2017/18 Bangladesh Demography and Health Survey (BDHS). The survey employed a two-stage stratified random sampling method to select the respondents. In the first stage, 672 Primary Sampling Units (PSUs) were selected from a list of 293,579 PSUs generated during the 2011 National Population Census of Bangladesh, excluding three PSUs due to extreme floods. In the second stage, 30 households were randomly selected from each of the PSUs, using probability proportional to PSU size. This generated a list of 20,160 households, and 19,457 of these households were interviewed. There were 20,376 respondents eligible in the selected households with the eligibility criteria: (i) being a married woman of reproductive age and (ii) spent the previous night of the survey day in the selected households. Of them data were collected from 20,127 women. Details of the BDHS survey procedure were published elsewhere 3 . A sub-sample, 5,596 women aged 15–24, of them was analysed in this study selected based on the following two inclusion criteria: (i) aged 15–24 years (to ensure inclusion of only recently married women following the recommendation of global literature 2 , 6 , 7 , 9 , 24 , 28 ) and (ii) married at the time of survey.

Outcome variable

The focus of our quantitative study was child marriage, which we defined as a binary outcome variable (yes or no). To collect this data, the BDHS asked women to report the age at which they first began living with their spouse or first spouse in case of more than one marriage. We categorized responses as either child marriage (1, if the marriage occurred before the woman turned 18) or normal-aged marriage (0, if the marriage occurred at age 18 or later) according to the universal recommendation which is also followed in Bangladesh 2 .

Exposure variables

Working status and educational status of respondents at the time of their marriage as well as following marriage were our primary exposure variables. The BDHS collected this data by asking whether the respondents were working or studying in school just before they got married. If the response was affirmative, the respondents were then asked two follow-up questions to determine their work or education continuity and the number of years of continuity. These follow-up questions were: (i) Did you continue working/studying after marriage? and (ii) If yes, for how long? Based on the responses, we created four variables: (i) study before marriage (yes, no), (ii) work before marriage (yes, no), (iii) after marriage study (no, continue less than a year, continue less than five years), and (iv) after marriage work (no, continue less than a year, less than five years). We also considered additional exposure variables by reviewing the available literature for Bangladesh and other LMICs 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 . These variables included respondents’ age, education level, partner’s education level, partner’s occupation, wealth quintile, place of residence, and region of residence.

Statistical analysis

Descriptive statistics, including frequency and percentage, were used to describe the characteristics of the respondents. Multilevel mixed-effect Poisson regression model was utilized to explore the association between early marriage and the working and studying status of the respondents, as well as the continuity of their working and studying status following child marriage. The reason for using a multilevel Poisson regression model was higher prevalence of child marriage (> 10%) and the clustering structure of the BDHS data. Previous studies have found that simple logistic regression analysis produces less precise findings when the prevalence of the outcome variable is high and the data come from a clustered structure 29 . Both adjusted and unadjusted models were run, where one particular exposure variable was considered with the child marriage variable in the unadjusted model, and other factors were adjusted in the adjusted model. Multicollinearity was checked before running each model. Results were reported as unadjusted or adjusted Prevalence Ratios (PRs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals. Stata version 18.0 was used for data analysis.

Qualitative exploration

In our quantitative study, we identified a higher prevalence of child marriage among working women. To explore why working women get married at an early age, we conducted a qualitative study during January 2023 and January 2024 as this information was not available in the BDHS survey data. The Gazipur district of Dhaka division was purposively selected as the study area. This area has a higher concentration of ready-made garments and small-scale industries where the majority of workers are women and married 30 . Two focus group discussions (FGDs) involving 16 participants (8 in each FGD), six in-depth interviews (IDIs), and 13 key informant interviews (KIIs) were conducted using two pre-developed interview topic guides. The topic guides covered several areas, including marriage experience, perceptions at the time of marriage, education and employment after marriage, respondents’ perspectives on marriage over time, and community and religious norms related to early marriage. The length of these interviews ranged from 75 to 90 min.

The participants included in the FGD and IDI were selected purposively selected based on the following criteria: (i) currently aged between 15 and 24 years, (ii) married before their 18th birthday, (iii) involved in either work or education just before marriage, and (iv) currently either continuing education or work or have left them to become housewives. These criteria aimed to ensure that the qualitative study participants were similar to those in the quantitative study. To recruit the participants, data collectors first approached them by sharing the details of the study plan and collected data on their preferred date. To protect privacy of the participants and ensure limited interruption during interview process, the participant and interviewer choose a private location. Prior to the qualitative data collection, participants were again briefed about its objectives and assured of the confidentiality of their responses. Informed consent was obtained from participants above 18 years old, while for participants under 18, informed consent was obtained from their legal guardians (father or husband).

Additionally, 13 key informant interviews (KIIs, male = 9; female = 4) were conducted with managers of ready-made garment factories ( n  = 2), small-scale industries ( n  = 1), local leaders (members of the Pourosova, n  = 3 [male = 2, female = 1]), the Upazila Nirbahi officer ( n  = 1, female), and parents of girls who married at an early age ( n  = 6 [male = 4, female = 2]). Their perspectives on early marriage were sought due to their significant involvement in the issue, including shaping cultural norms and exerting social pressures that perpetuate early marriage practices.

Participation was completely voluntary, and no participants were provided with any gifts or incentives to participate in this study. Experienced social researchers were involved in the qualitative data collection. The FGDs and IDIs were conducted by a female interviewer (second author). The KIIs were conducted by two male interviewers (first and third author). All conversations during FDGs, IDIs and KIIs were audio recorded with consent. The recorded audio files were subsequently reviewed and translated into English by the respective research team members. Relevant sections on the reasons behind early marriage and its impact on work and educational pursuits were extracted and discussed among the team to ensure accurate interpretation and presentation of the data. Qualitative data were thematically analysed 31 , using Nvivo version 12.10 32 . Key themes identified in the analyses were synthesized and presented as study findings. Ethical approval for the qualitative study was obtained from the Institutional Review Board of the University of Rajshahi.

Background characteristics of the respondents

Table  1 presents the background characteristics of the respondents included in the quantitative exploration. The mean age at marriage was 15.2 years (SD, ± 1.41) and the mean years of education were 6.9 years (SD, ± 2.95). About 32.8% of the respondents reported being engaged in a formal job. Of the respondents analyzed, 61.7% reported their marriage occurred before reaching their age 18 years. Over half of the (55.1%) total 61.7% who reported being married before 18 years reported that their marriage occurred at the right time, while 44.9% of them felt that they should have delayed their marriage.

Respondents’ perception about their marriage timing

Table  2 illustrates the distribution of respondents’ perception about their marriage timing as per their socio-demographic characteristics. Among the respondents who believed that their marriage occurred earlier, and they should delay, 49.8% were aged between 15 and 19 years, and 41.2% were aged between 20 and 24 years. Earlier-aged married women who believe their marriage occurred earlier and should be delayed, 36.6% were illiterate. This number was half to 63.4% of illiterate women who thought their marriage occurred at right age.

How women’s education and employment status before marriage influences their perception of marriage age

The unadjusted associations suggest that earlier-married women who thought their marriage occurred at the right time were more likely to have worked before marriage (PR = 1.88, 95% CI = 1.34–2.64) and less likely to have studied before marriage (PR = 0.55, 95% CI = 0.47–0.66) compared to women who thought they should delay their marriage (Table  3 ). After adjusting for confounding variables, the associations remain significant, but the effect sizes are attenuated. Earlier aged women who thought their marriage occurred at the right time were still more likely to have worked before marriage (aPR = 1.47, 95% CI = 1.01–2.18), but the association was no longer significant. However, adjusted likelihood of early marriage was found lower among studying girls (aPR = 0.43, 95% CI = 0.35–0.53).

Impact of early marriage on the continuation of education and employment

Table  4 presents the results of the analysis of the association between the women’s perception of their marriage timing and their continuation of education and work after marriage. In the unadjusted analysis, earlier aged women who think that their marriage occurred at right time were more likely to report continuation of their education up to five years (PR = 1.73, 95% CI 1.31–2.28) as compared to the women who did not continue their education. However, this association was not significant for those who continued their education for less than one year. In the adjusted analysis, the association between continuing education and women’s perception of their marriage timing was attenuated, with women who continued their education for less than five years having a non-significant lower likelihood of perceiving their marriage as occurring at the right time (aPR = 0.92, 95% CI 0.65–1.28). The association between continuing work and women’s perception of their marriage timing remained non-significant in the adjusted analysis.

Through qualitative investigation, we conducted an extensive exploration into the reasons why working women who married at an earlier age believed that their marriage took place at the right time, and also examined why studying women who married at an earlier age perceived their marriage as occurring earlier, as revealed in our quantitative analysis. The characteristics of the participants participated in qualitative interviews are presented in supplementary Tables 1 , 2 and 3 . Our comprehensive findings have uncovered a multitude of factors that can be categorized into distinct thematic patterns (supplementary Table 4). These include: (i) getting married is a way to recover from poverty, (ii) marriage was perceived as a means to ensure the safety and security of young unmarried girls, (iii) less hope for job prospects, and (iv) intimate relationships and social norms.

Getting married way to recover from poverty

Participants reported that a common influencing factor behind early marriage among young girls was their perception that it would help them escape poverty.

“I had dreams of studying and becoming a government service holder, but poverty choked those dreams before they could bloom. Marriage was the only path open to me, even if it means leaving those dreams behind.” (IDI participant 3, age 20). “My parents couldn’t afford to keep me in school anymore, and marriage seemed like the only way to have a roof over my head and food on the table.” (IDI participant 2, age 19).

Most female participants reported that they entered the labour market before reaching their 18th birthday. Since their families were from lower socio-economic backgrounds, they started looking for a job to support their families. They often engaged in low-wage occupations, such as house cleaning or garment factories.

“I worked in house cleaning before my marriage and received a very low wage, which was not enough for my living. As a result, I could not send money to my parents, even though they expected me to do so.” (FGD 1 participant, age 19).

According to them, like many young girls, they also moved to the city from rural areas leaving their families behind in search of jobs and started living in rental accommodations. The income derived from these jobs proved insufficient to meet their daily expenses, including paying for food, rent and utilities while providing financial assistance to their families. This issue was also highlighted in the KIIs. One ready-made garment manager reported that young female ready-made garment factory workers’ wages are not enough to support themselves and their parents. Therefore, they usually decide or agree to get married at an early age to overcome their financial struggles.

“Girls who started working here usually work on a daily basis and earn only 150–200 BDT (1.5-2 USD) per day, which is not enough to maintain their daily expenses. What’s even worse is that many of these girls migrated from rural areas to work here, meaning they have to pay for their rent and other associated costs. It’s no surprise that many of them end up choosing to get married, as it seems like the only way out of this financial struggle”. (Ready-garment manager, male, age 45).

Marriage was perceived as a means to ensure the safety and security of young unmarried girls

In the context of working girls who opt for early marriage, safety and security emerge as crucial factors. Participants reported that young girls working in different industries (such as ready-made garments factories) usually work alongside male workers. Due to the demands of their jobs, they usually spend prolonged hours working together at workplace. The nature of their joint work and spending prolonged hours at workplace often create tensions and a sense of insecurity among themselves and within their families. They fear being exposed to physical and sexual abuse and/or violence at workplace, thereby reinforcing the inclination towards early marriage.

“My parents were concerned about the potential risks of sexual and physical abuse when working outside the home, especially during evening hours and interacting with male colleagues. I would hold the same belief and take similar precautions if I had a young daughter engaged in employment, as there are multiple reasons to support this perspective”. (FGD 1 participant, age 18). “Living alone as a young woman in this city felt dangerous. Marriage, even if it’s not ideal, meant having someone to protect me and a family to belong to.” (IDI participant 2, age 20).

This fear also reflected in the KIIs with fathers. Families of young girls working in ready-made garment factories tend to marry off their young girls to protect their daughters or girls from any future risks of abuse.

“Soon after starting working at age 15, I arranged her marriage. Although it was not my intention, we did not feel secure leaving my young daughter outside the house, as she could be at risk of rape or harassment from strangers. My neighbours also suggested that I do so”. (Father of a married and working young girl, age 55).

One key informant, a supervisor of a ready-made garments industry, also confirmed that young girls working in the industries often become victims of physical and sexual harassments. He also added that the prevalence of sexual violence and harassment had been underreported like in other sectors in Bangladesh and remained a concerning reality. However, the families of the young girls are aware of these risks, even if based on limited evidence, which significantly influenced marry off their girls at a young age against the law.

“A significant number of girls who start working at a young age face violence from their male counterparts, including sexual violence. We are aware of this, and our organization has very strict laws against it. However, these incidents often go unreported, similar to other sectors in Bangladesh”. (A supervisor of a garment factory, male, age 38).

Even parents of young school or college-going girls also voiced their concern regarding their daughters’ safety while traveling to school or college. Sometimes local boys or men harassed these young girls on the way to home or college, and parents of these young girls usually perceived that marrying the young girls off was the only solution.

“I wanted my daughter to continue her education. However, a mischievous boy started following her to school. I contacted his parents and asked them to discipline their son and prevent him from following my daughter, but it did not work. Eventually, I had to marry off my daughter when she was only 16 years old”. (Father of earlier aged girls who marry off while studying, age 38).

However, during the FGDs, female participants expressed their viewpoints that the claims regarding safety concerns and incidents of violence were not always accurate. They argued that this phenomenon might stem from parents’ genuine apprehensions regarding the safety and their desire to uphold societal prestige, their parents mostly forced them to get married at an early age against their will. This highlights the need to delve deeper into the complexities surrounding early marriage and the factors that shape this decision.

“I started working as a house cleaner when I was 15 and got married at age 16. I wasn’t intending to get married at that time, but my parents pressured me to do so. They had heard that young girls working as house cleaners often face sexual and physical violence from homeowners. Though my homeowners treated me like their daughter. Therefore, they were strict in their decision to marry me off”. (FGD 2 participant, age 20).

Less hope for job prospects

Several female participants highlighted the interconnectedness between school dropout, limited employment opportunities for people with lower educational attainment, early entry into workforce, and early marriage. According to them, education could not guarantee job prospects in Bangladesh. Securing a job could be more challenging for individuals with low academic achievements. Therefore, they perceived that entering the job market early would be more worthwhile for them and their families than continuing their education, as it required financial resources.

“Studying seemed pointless when I knew there were barely any jobs at the end. Marriage offered a chance at some stability, even if it wasn’t the kind I hoped for.” (IDI participant 5, age 21).

One FGD participant reported that she perceived that she did not have the necessary qualities to compete in the increasingly competitive job market. She felt early employment would give her practical work experience, opening opportunities for better job prospects. Hence, she decided to dropout from school. Other FGD participants agreed with her, indicating they shared similar perceptions.

“Obtaining a job after completing education is only possible for highly meritorious students. I did not fall into that category. Hence, I decided to start working with the hope that by the time I finished my education, I would have accumulated several years of work experience, which would undoubtedly enhance my chances of securing a comparatively better job”. (FGD 2 participant, age 19).

Some guardians of young school or college-going girls also perceived that education would not guarantee any employment for their daughters and married them off at an earlier age.

“Why would I continue my daughter’s education? What hope was there? Even many educated and meritorious students are now unemployed. Therefore, I married off my daughter when she was only 15, and she is now leading her own life. I have no concern now”. (Father of earlier aged girls who marry off while studying, age 40).

Intimate relationships and social norms

Several female participants revealed that working girls were found to be more susceptible to developing relationships with their colleagues. These close bonds often evolve into sexual relationships, contributing to early marriage among working girls.

“Shortly after I began working, I entered into a relationship with one of my colleagues, which later turned into a sexual relationship. We then decided to marry, although our parents were unhappy with our decision. However, we did it without their approval because we knew what we did was not right according to our religion”. (FGD 1 participant, age 18).

The issue of having a relationship at the workplace without parents’ permission was identified as a growing concern for early marriage, even in the absence of an intimate relationship.

“Parents of the earlier-aged working girls are mostly uneducated and strongly influenced by the social norms and misconceptions. They believe female and male could not be co-worker. Therefore, they prefer to marry off their daughters earlier”. (Upazila Nirbahi officer, age 38).

Importantly, this perception was found to be common among parents of both working and studying girls. However, it does not pose a significant concern for the parents of studying girls. This is because their awareness of the negative effects of child marriage motivates them to prioritize the education of their daughters and prioritize their daughters’ safety above all else.

“I had concerns about the possibility of my school-going daughters engaging in intimate relationships, which have become more common due to modernization. However, my intention was not to abruptly end her education and arrange her marriage solely based on this risk. I believed she was young and had a promising future ahead. Eventually, I did make the decision to marry her, but it was primarily motivated by the opportunity to find a comparatively better groom within my family lineage”. (Father of earlier aged girls who marry off while studying, age 38).

Social norms were highlighted as significant reasons for early marriage among the women who married at a younger age.

“Marriage is a way to uphold our traditions, to show respect to our families and ancestors. Even if I had doubts, I knew I had to follow the path laid out for me.” (IDI participant 4, age 22).

One participant mentioned that she felt she did not belong in her society and remained a minor in society’s eyes when she found many of peers were getting married at an earlier age than her.

“Everyone around me was getting married young, building families. It felt like I was the only one left behind, stuck in a childhood that was no longer fitting. Marriage was a way to belong, to be seen as a responsible adult.” (IDI participant 5, age 21).

Another participant explicitly mentioned why marriage was important for them to become important in the society.

“Marriage is a social currency here. It defines your status, your worth. Choosing a career over marriage felt like choosing shame over acceptance, a path less traveled and less understood.” (IDI participant 3, age 19).

The primary objective of this study was to explore the perspectives of girls regarding the timing of their own marriages, taking into consideration their educational and employment backgrounds at the time of marriage. Furthermore, we aimed to investigate the factors that influenced earlier-aged women to perceive their marriages as occurring at the appropriate time. Our findings indicate that among the total population of earlier-aged women, 55% believe that their marriages took place at the right time, with a higher percentage observed among women who were employed at the time of marriage. Among those who held this perception, there was a notable trend of discontinuing work and education after getting married. Through qualitative analysis, we gained insights into the underlying reasons why these women considered their marriages to be timely, including the desire to escape poverty, concerns regarding safety and security, and the influence of intimate relationships and societal norms.

The study findings convey three significant messages concerning early marriage in the country. Firstly, a substantial portion of early marriages are a result of girls’ choice. Secondly, the engagement of girls in formal employment contributes to an increase in early marriage rates, unless measures are implemented to ensure economic security and safety. Lastly, early-married girls who believe that their marriages occurred at the right time are more likely to discontinue their education and withdraw from the workforce.

The perception of working girls who marry early that their marriage occurred at the right time can be understood from two distinct directions. Firstly, these girls may lack awareness regarding the appropriate age for marriage and the potential negative consequences associated with marrying at a young age. Secondly, their working environment and the challenges they face may have influenced their decision to marry early, despite being aware of the adverse outcomes of early marriage. This may include parental pressure for marriage once girls start working, especially if they work alongside male colleagues or develop intimate relationships with them, which can conflict with societal norms 33 . Traditional patriarchal values in Bangladesh further reinforce these pressures 33 . Regardless of the direction, these perceptions indicate a failure of policies and programs, which can result in long-term burdens for the country.

If the first direction holds true, it suggests that a portion of women have not received the message regarding the correct age for marriage at early ages and consequences of early marriage. Factors such as early dropout from education to enter the workforce and limited exposure to mass media due to work obligations may contribute to this lower level of awareness 28 , 29 , 34 . These directions are influenced by various socio-demographic and socio-cultural factors. While leaving the parental home to enter the workforce can indicate a degree of freedom for girls, this is not always the case in many LMICs, including Nepal and India 8 , 18 . In these contexts, girls who start working early, often without continuing their education, typically come from low-income families where they are expected to support their families. Early marriage remains a long-standing norm in these communities, perpetuated by the fact that their mothers and grandmothers also married at a young age. Furthermore, these girls often move from their parental homes to their workplace, which is often seen as opposite of social norms in Bangladesh as well as other LMICs 35 .

On the other hand, if the second directions is true, it indicates a failure of long-standing governmental priorities to ensure continuing girls’ education and prevent child labour, as well as a failure to ensure the safety of working girls 18 . Though Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in reducing violence against women, incidents still occur frequently with one in three women faces it 36 . Importantly, any such incidents are usually spread widely with additional rumours, causing concern for the girls’ security and motivating their parents to marry them off early. However, the above explanations may not be true for the girls who continue education. They are usually better aware off about the right age of marriage and risk of early marriage as well as usually stay at home with less security issue. They are also from a comparatively better family status.

In this study, we have also found that there is a lower likelihood of continuing work after marriage. This change is mainly due to the presence of family pressure or intention to have a child, as well as the desire to give more time to the family 37 , 38 . Moreover, we found that while women are employed, their wages in the factories are very low. This financial constraint limits their opportunities, often pushing them towards early marriage or leading them to leave work altogether to assume traditional roles as wives, mothers, and homemakers 39 . However, this practice can have several adverse consequences on women’s economic flexibility, empowerment and decision making abilities in the family 40 , 41 . For instance, stopping work can lead to face earlier aged pregnancy, which is associated with various adverse maternal and child health outcomes, including lower utilization of maternal healthcare services, pregnancy complications, and maternal and child mortality 40 , 42 . Furthermore, this trend indicates a significant dropout rate of girls from continuing their education and working status, which negatively affects women’s empowerment and decision-making abilities 40 , 41 . These consequences can lead to higher household poverty, greater sensitivity to economic shocks, and less income diversification 41 . These factors, in turn, can have significant intergenerational impacts, resulting in poorer health among children and lower investment in education and other forms of human capital accumulation 43 , 44 . All of these factors increase the likelihood of early marriage in subsequent generations 43 .

Regardless of the explanation provided, these findings indicate challenges for the country to achieve relevant SDG’s targets related to the improvement of sexual and reproductive health rights as well as equity. This highlights the need for policies and programs to educate and raise awareness among studying and working girls about the correct age of marriage and the adverse effects of early marriage. Increasing the wages of working girls at the initial level is also important. Nevertheless, the existing initiatives remain ineffective unless appropriate engagement of multiple stakeholders including girl’s parents and local leaders for implementation of target-oriented policies and programs to reduce early marriage. Reducing gender-based violence and improving their safety in the workplace are also crucial to reducing early marriage.

This study exhibits several notable strengths as well as a few limitations. It stands as the first investigation in Bangladesh and other LMICs that delves into women’s perceptions of their marriage age, accounting for their educational and employment statuses, and utilizing nationally representative quantitative survey data. Additionally, the qualitative survey findings offer insight into the motivating factors behind the marriage decisions of working and educated girls. The qualitative interviews were conducted by the authors of this study, who have extensive experience in academia and public health research. They hold postgraduate degrees in population science, public health, and anthropology, and possess substantial expertise in conducting research in LMICs, including Bangladesh. All authors agreed on and approved the interpretation presented in the manuscript. The study employed appropriate statistical modelling techniques to analyze the data, incorporating a diverse range of confounding variables. As a result, the reported findings possess sufficient robustness to inform national-level policies and programs. However, one key limitation of this study is that the quantitative data analyzed in this study were derived from a cross-sectional survey, which restricts the ability to establish causal relationships. While the study explored cultural factors associated with early marriage through qualitative analysis, these factors were not adjusted for in the quantitative analysis due to their unavailability within the survey. We were also unable to account for other important factors, such as spousal age differences and the extent of early marriage within the women’s families, due to a lack of data, despite their relevance to the occurrence of early marriage. Furthermore, the women’s age of marriage was self-reported, introducing the potential for recall bias. Nevertheless, any such bias is expected to be random in nature and should not significantly skew the reported results in any particular direction. Conducting qualitative study was another strength of this study, where representation of women (in IDIs and FGDs) and men (in the KIIs) allowed us to capture diverse perspectives on this complex issue. We conducted the qualitative study in a purposively selected district and utilized data to explain and interpret findings from the nationally representative quantitative data. However, this comparison may introduce errors due to different social norms and cultural issues regarding early marriage in various parts of the country. Moreover, the perception of early marriage among this group of women might differ slightly from that of women in other regions and rural areas due to factors such as their relocation, economic stability, community engagement, and relatively higher decision-making autonomy. This indicates a need for qualitative interviews to be conducted in different regions of the country. However, we were unable to do so due to a lack of funding. It is worth noting that although participants included in our qualitative survey were from only one district, a significant portion of them reported their origins as being from different parts of the country, including rural areas, rather than their present location. They had moved to this district for employment, given that ready-made garment and small-scale industries are predominantly located in this area. Moreover, we conducted qualitative interviews in 2023–2024, while the quantitative data we analysed was collected in 2017–2018. Comparing data from different time points may introduce some distortion in the reported associations and conclusions. However, we could not address this issue further as the quantitative survey data we analysed is the most recent available in Bangladesh.

Our findings revealed that approximately 55% of women who married at an early age believed that their marriage took place at the right time. Among early-married women, those who were employed at the time of their marriage were more likely to perceive their marriage as timely, whereas those who were pursuing studies at the time of their marriage were more inclined to view their marriage as occurring too early and should have been delayed. Multiple factors emerged as influential in shaping the perception of earlier-aged married women regarding the timing of their marriage, including the desire to escape poverty, concerns related to safety and security, and the influence of intimate relationships and societal norms. These findings highlight that a significant proportion of early-married women believe their marriage occurred at the right time, indicating a gap in policies and programs designed to raise awareness about the risks of early marriage and early childbearing. It is crucial for policies and programs to prioritize comprehensive education for all girls and those around them, including parents, to ensure they are informed about the appropriate age for marriage and the potential consequences of early marriage. Additionally, those involved in decision-making and upholding social norms around early marriage should receive extensive counselling on its adverse effects. This focus should particularly target working girls, who may be more vulnerable to early marriage.

Data availability

“The data that support the findings of this study are available from The DHS Program, but restrictions apply to the availability of these data, which were used under license for the current study, and so are not publicly available. Data are, however, available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request and with permission of The DHS Program. To proceed, researchers are required to submit a research proposal via the website (https://dhsprogram.com/data/available-datasets.cfm). Subsequently, the designated individual will review the proposal and approve access for data download. We are unable to share the qualitative interview data due to restrictions imposed by the ethical review committee”.

Abbreviations

Low- and middle-income countries

Demographic Health Survey

Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey

adjusted odds ratio

Confidence interval

Sustainable development goal

National Institute of Population Research and Training

Primary sampling unit

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Acknowledgements

We are thankful to MEASURE DHS for the data support and also grateful to icddr, b where the data for this study was analysed. We are also acknowledged the Governments of Bangladesh, Canada, Sweden and the UK for providing core/unrestricted support for to run icddr, b. The authors also acknowledge the support of Health System and Population Studies Division of icddr, b and Department of Population Science of Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University, where this study was designed and conducted.

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Nossal Institute for Global Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, 3010, Australia

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Maternal and Child Health Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), 68 Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Sarani, Mohakhali, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh

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Health System and Population Studies Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), 68 Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Sarani, Mohakhali, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh

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“Khan MN designed the study. Khan MN, Khanam SJ and Khan MMA collected qualitative data. Khan MN and Billah MA analysed quantitative data while all authors analysed qualitative data. Khan MN, Khan MMA, Billah MA and Khanam SJ wrote the first draft of this manuscript. Akter S critically reviewed and edited the previous versions of this manuscript. All authors approved this final version of the manuscript”.

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Correspondence to Md. Nuruzzaman Khan .

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Ethical approval

The quantitative data analysed in this study was extracted from the survey which was approved by the institutional review board of ICF macro (Inner City Fund) and the National Research Ethics Committee of the Bangladesh Medical Research Council. Informed consent was obtained from all participants. All necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived. No separate ethical approval was required to conduct this study. We obtained permission to access this survey and conduct this research. All methods were performed in accordance with the relevant guidelines and regulations. Ethical approval for conducting the qualitative survey was obtained from the Institutional Review Board of the University of Rajshahi (123/430/IAMEBBC/IBSc), ensuring compliance with ethical guidelines and protocols. Informed consent was obtained from all participants who were 18 years of age or older. For participants who were under 18 years of age, their legal guardian, such as their husband or father, provided informed consent on their behalf. This process ensured that all participants had a clear understanding of the survey’s purpose, procedures, and potential risks, and voluntarily agreed to participate. So that this applies to illiterate respondents as well.

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Khan, M.N., Khanam, S.J., Khan, M.M.A. et al. Exploring the impact of perceived early marriage on women’s education and employment in Bangladesh through a mixed-methods study. Sci Rep 14 , 21683 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-73137-w

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-73137-w

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