The Economics of Research Reproducibility

Empirical evidence documents a relatively low level of research reproducibility in economics. In this paper, we investigate why this is the case and what can be done to move out of this low-reproducibility equilibrium. We study the supply and demand for research reproducibility, provide empirical evidence on authors' preferences for reproducibility, and estimate the cost of verifying reproducibility. We theoretically show that competition between journals to attract authors leads to a suboptimally low level of reproducibility. Leading journals with sufficient market power can set higher reproducibility standards, which is consistent with recent changes in data availability policies.