Methodology gaps in Economics

Representative open questions

Showing 30 of 60 — one per source paper, highest-quality first.

• Assessment of biomass utilization pathways: a German case study (2026) · doi

  The paper assesses multiple biomass utilization pathways for Germany but lacks spatially-explicit analysis of raw material collection locations and their impact on transportation costs for different biomass thermal conversion technologies. The referenced work by Cheng et al. (2020b) demonstrates that spatial distribution of biomass feedstock significantly affects economics, yet this German case study does not systematically model collection point optimization across different regional biomass availability scenarios.

• Black and green: How electoral outcomes influence provincial circular economy performance in Italy (2026) · doi

  The research demonstrates socio-economic factors (unemployment rate, population density, GDP per capita, graduate education) as key determinants of circularity practices, but does not test interactive or moderating effects between electoral preferences and specific socio-economic conditions—for example, whether left-wing environmental commitment varies in strength across provinces with different labour market vulnerabilities.

• A garden of forking paths: an ecosystem-based fisheries management case study of Florida red tides (2026) · doi

  The paper acknowledges that defining success metrics for a red tide Fishery Ecosystem Initiative requires broad stakeholder engagement, but provides no concrete framework for operationalizing what specific ecological, economic, and social indicators should constitute success or how to measure tradeoffs between these triple bottom line sectors in the context of harmful algal bloom management.

• International Journal of Intelligent Data and Machine Learning (2026) · doi

  The paper demonstrates probability adjustment for over-sampled datasets in automotive marketing campaigns, but does not investigate how adjusted probabilities perform when population proportions shift over time due to economic cycles or seasonal demand fluctuations. The framework lacks guidance on re-calibration frequency and thresholds for when probability adjustments must be updated in dynamic market conditions.

• DÖVLƏT BORCU, ONUN İQTİSADİ MAHİYYƏTİ VƏ NÖVLƏRİ (2026) · doi

  While the paper identifies fiscal discipline, state sector efficiency, and tax policy adjustment as institutional conditions imposed by creditors, it does not specify which combination and sequencing of these conditions produces optimal macroeconomic stability outcomes in the context of domestic versus external borrowing.

• ŞİRKƏTİN MALİYYƏ SABİTLİYİNİN MÜƏYYƏN EDİLMƏSİNDƏ ƏSAS İNDİKATORLAR SİSTEMİ (2026) · doi

  Stress-testing and scenario-based modeling methodologies for financial stability assessment are mentioned as important but lack operational specifications for Azerbaijani corporate applications. The paper does not define which macroeconomic variables (exchange rates, interest rates, commodity prices) should drive scenarios, what shock magnitudes should be tested, or how to link these to company-specific financial ratios and leverage indicators.

• An Empirical Study of Price Action, Return, Volatility and Risk in MCX vs International Exchange: A Comparative Analysis of Gold, Silver, Oil, Gas and Copper (2026) · doi

  Silver (MCX-COMEX) showed no cointegration unlike other commodities, but the paper does not investigate the specific domestic factors (import duties, liquidity differences, local supply-demand conditions) that cause this divergence. A quantitative decomposition of these domestic factors' individual contributions to silver's pricing deviation would clarify the mechanisms behind silver's non-integration with international markets.

• How artificial intelligence improves the resilience of marine firms: insights from China’s A-share market (2026) · doi

  The mechanism analysis confirms that AI increases Overseas Sales Ratio (OSR) through mitigation of cross-border information asymmetries, but does not empirically measure the magnitude of this information asymmetry reduction or identify which specific digital network capabilities (real-time market data access, automated trade documentation, cross-border logistics optimization) drive international market expansion in marine firms.

• Mastering feed efficiency for a sustainable operation in poultry industry (2026) · doi

  Comprehensive life cycle assessments of poultry feed efficiency improvements lack sufficient biological resolution to account for differences driven by nutrition, genetics, and management practices. Integrated modeling approaches combining feed efficiency data, LCA, economic analyses, and welfare outcomes to quantify system-level trade-offs and synergies among productivity, environmental sustainability, and animal welfare remain undeveloped.

• FINANCIAL LITERACY AMONG WOMEN EDUCATORS IN HIGHER EDUCATION: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE, AND BEHAVIOUR (2026) · doi

  Joint financial decision-making was found to predict high financial literacy (OR=0.384, p=0.038), but the study provides no qualitative data on what specific decision domains (investment, debt, retirement planning) benefit from collaboration or the mechanisms through which collaborative approaches facilitate financial learning among women educators.

• ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE OPERATIONAL ACTIVITIES OF ENTERPRISES AS A FACTOR FOR INCREASING THEIR COMPETITIVENESS IN REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL MARKETS (2026) · doi

  The paper identifies that Kyivstar's profit decreased by USD 12,000 in 2024 despite revenue growth and AI implementation, but does not investigate the specific causal mechanisms linking increased operating expenses, investment in digital tools, and reduced profitability, nor does it quantify the return-on-investment (ROI) threshold for AI technology adoption in operational activities.

• Farm2Home - Digital Marketplace for Agricultural Products (2026) · doi

  Payment gateway integration has not been implemented in the current Farm2Home system; future work requires evaluation of specific payment processing solutions (e.g., Stripe, Razorpay, PayPal) and their integration with the Spring Boot backend to enable secure online transactions.

• An Optimized Data Partitioning Framework for Benchmarking Ensemble and Linear Regression Models in Used-Vehicle Price Prediction (2026) · doi

  The evaluation of ensemble and linear regression models focuses exclusively on RMSE and R² metrics; robustness to distribution shifts, interpretability, and uncertainty quantification were not examined in the vehicle price prediction task. These aspects require investigation to understand model stability under changing market conditions and to support practical deployment in dealer and financial institution workflows.

• Entrepreneurial Skills and Quantitative Decision - Making: The Role of Business Mathematics in Emerging Enterprises of Assam (2026) · doi

  The study measures business mathematics with comparatively lower mean values than entrepreneurial skills and decision-making, but does not establish benchmarks or specify which quantitative competencies (statistical analysis, financial modeling, forecasting techniques) emerging Assam enterprises should develop to close the identified gap.

• „Bayern ist die Vorstufe zum Paradies“. Affektives Place-Making als populistische Mobilisierungsstrategie in den Aschermittwochsreden der CSU-Parteivorsitzenden (2026) · doi

  The paper analyzes affective place-making at the discursive level but does not examine the material/infrastructural dimensions through which this rhetoric might be operationalized (e.g., regional economic policies, education initiatives, urban development projects marketed as 'CSU-governance of Bavaria'). A multimodal analysis integrating spatial policy analysis with discourse analysis would clarify the relationship between populist place-rhetoric and actual territorial governance.

• Barriers to Artificial Intelligence-Driven Supply Chain Integration: An Interpretive Structural Modeling-Cross-Impact Matrix Multiplication Applied to Classification (ISM-MICMAC)-Based Analytics Modeling Approach (2026) · doi

  The paper's ISM-MICMAC analysis identifies data quality as a dependent barrier affecting AI integration in supply chains, but does not investigate which specific data characteristics (e.g., incompleteness rates, temporal granularity, cross-system interoperability) create the most critical bottlenecks or how to measure data readiness thresholds for supply chain systems.

• AGRI CONNECT: A Digital Platform for Direct Trade Between Farmers and Restaurants (2026) · doi

  The AGRI CONNECT platform lacks specification of payment gateway integration and transaction security mechanisms. The paper does not detail how payment processing between farmers and restaurants is handled, what encryption protocols secure financial data, or how dispute resolution is managed when payment failures occur in the direct trade workflow.

• The legislative legacy of WTO accession: a retrospective analysis of Jordan’s industrial transformation (2000–2025) (2026) · doi

  The paper documents Syrian refugee influx creating new labor dynamics in special economic zones with emerging policy debates about formal labor market integration, but does not specify what empirical mechanisms or datasets would quantify the labor market substitution or complementarity effects between refugee workers and Jordanian nationals in QIZ manufacturing.

• Graph-theoretic Modeling of Smart Money Flows: Fibonacci Nodes, Wave Patterns, and Liquidity Networks (2026) · doi

  The framework's sensitivity to parameter choices (e.g., Fibonacci ratio thresholds, graph construction parameters, wave detection sensitivity) is not systematically analyzed.

• Micro Housing in India as a sustainable response to urban housing shortages (2026) · doi

  The study lacks empirical data on cultural acceptance and social sustainability of micro housing in the Indian context, relying primarily on international case studies from Japan and the US.

• Empirical and Machine Learning Forecasting for Offline Retail: Nonlinear Weather Effects and Heterogeneity (2026) · doi

  The assumption that 50 percent of cotton imports are from developed countries and 50 percent from developing countries is a simplification that may not reflect actual trade patterns.

• Optimization of Rice Production: A Case Study of Rabba in Mokwa Local Government Area of Nigeria (2026) · doi

  The sensitivity analysis only examined price changes for one rice variety; comprehensive sensitivity analysis for all variables and constraints is absent.

• Regularized Vector Autoregressive Model for the Assessment of Macroeconomic Variables Associated with Inflation in Nigeria (2026) · doi

  Ridge VAR produces excessive shrinkage, attributing over 99% of inflation variance to own shocks, which is an unrealistic decomposition compared to LASSO and Elastic Net approaches.

• A Multifactorial Analysis and Predictive Modeling Approach for Labor Cost Estimation in Civil Construction Projects (2026) · doi

  The paper lacks specific discussion of how AI and predictive analytics handle labor cost fluctuations in regions with volatile markets or policy changes, beyond general assertions.

• Impact of Goods and Services Tax (GST) on Pricing Strategies of Local Retail Businesses in India (2026) · doi

  A lack of technical skills and limited understanding of GST procedures influenced pricing decisions during the early implementation phase, but the paper does not quantify or deeply examine how these skill gaps affected pricing outcomes.

• Pemanfaatan Artificial Intelligence Untuk Meningkatkan Produktivitas UMKM Desa Gedangan Sidoarjo (2026) · doi

  The study was limited to one village (Desa Gedangan Sidoarjo) and does not address generalizability across different regions or types of UMKM sectors.

• Artificial Intelligence for Modeling Investor Behavior and Market Sentiment Dynamics (2026) · doi

  The paper does not address how to measure or minimize the 'carbon footprint per trade' of AI-driven behavioral models, beyond mentioning it as an emerging metric of institutional accountability.

• Career Pathways for Social Sciences in the 21st Century (2026) · doi

  Diversity and inclusion initiatives are proposed to address underrepresentation, particularly of women and racial/ethnic minorities, but the paper lacks detailed mechanisms for measuring the effectiveness of mentorship programs, scholarship funds, and pipeline programs.

• O USO DA INTELIGÊNCIA ARTIFICIAL NO MARKETING SOCIAL PARA O COMBATE À HESITAÇÃO VACINAL INFANTIL: UM ESTUDO DE CASO EM PARAÍSO DO TOCANTINS – TO (2026) · doi

  Current communication strategies in Paraíso do Tocantins are predominantly based on traditional models; their efficacy is limited in the face of contemporary digital complexity characterized by rapid misinformation dissemination and audience fragmentation.

• Striking a balance: the crucial role of climate risk disclosure in correcting overvaluation and undervaluation in stock markets (2026) · doi

  Chronic climate risk lacks unified quantitative standards, resulting in more general disclosures that may lead investors to overlook these risks and fail to effectively mitigate stock mispricing.