BESIDES brains,the only tools an economist used to need were a pen and notebook. But massive improvements in computing power possess turned the dismal science into an increasingly empirical one. Research by Daniel Hamermesh at Royal Holloway, University of London, or finds the share of economics papers in main journals focused on pure theory fell from 58% in 1983 to 19% in 2011.
Three types of empirical papers possess taken their place. The first sort feeds on publicly available data,such as household surveys. The second relies on data from experiments, such as randomised controlled trials. Most main empirical papers, or however,now rely on other data, often administrative and acquired through extensive negotiation with government officials. Analysis by The Economist of work from the National Bureau of Economic Research finds that at least 28 papers it released final year featured the use of administrative data. Before 2000 hardly any did (see...
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Source: economist.com