Methodology gaps in Economics

Representative open questions

Showing 30 of 160 — one per source paper, highest-quality first.

• Of ticks and tigers: Subjective event spaces in complexity economics (2026) · doi

  The paper proposes that monopoly power in expertise (using forensic science as an example) suppresses discovery of subjective event space diversity through self-reinforcing framework convergence, but does not specify quantitative metrics or empirical protocols for measuring when expertise monopoly has created inappropriate framework convergence versus legitimate scientific consensus in specific fields.

• 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.

• Artificial intelligence, capability transformation, and marine green development: empirical evidence from Coastal China (2026) · doi

  The heterogeneity analysis reveals threshold effects associated with embedding AI into different industrial structures, but the paper does not quantify the critical industrial structure thresholds at which AI's green benefits transition from insignificant to significant effects. Future work should employ threshold regression or breakpoint analysis to identify the precise secondary industry output share breakpoints that determine AI effectiveness in marine green development.

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

  The study's classification of the Democratic Party (PD) within the centre-right category based on observed policy behaviour during the Renzi era requires longitudinal ideological tracking across multiple temporal periods to validate whether policy-behaviour-based classifications consistently outperform party self-identification methods in predicting circular economy adoption across different Italian provincial administrations.

• Ethics of AI-based supply chain optimization: a better balance between efficiency and fairness (2026) · doi

  The paper identifies a 5-10% demographic disparity in AI-driven healthcare supply chain logistics resource allocation but does not specify which fairness-sensitive learning methods should be applied to address this bias, nor does it detail the specific bias correction mechanisms needed for different types of resource allocation models in supply chain optimization.

• A critical review of the production pathways and storage limitations and economic feasibility of green hydrogen fuel (2026) · doi

  Oxygen-tolerant hydrogenases for biological hydrogen production pathways have not been developed to close the existing 80% yield gap in current algal-based green hydrogen systems. Research is needed to engineer hydrogenase variants that can operate efficiently in the presence of oxygen to improve the practical viability of biological hydrogen generation.

• Predicting option prices from their price history via machine learning (2026) · doi

  The paper uses a joint model specification across all underlying stocks rather than optimizing separate LSTM architectures for each individual stock. The impact of stock-specific model customization on IV forecasting accuracy and subsequent option trading strategy profitability remains unexplored.

• From Hype to Hesitation: A Longitudinal Analysis of User Sentiments towards AI‑Enabled Fintech Lending Platforms (2026) · doi

  The paper employs sentiment analysis using VADER and BERT on user reviews from AI-enabled fintech lending platforms, but does not address temporal dynamics of sentiment shifts across different user cohorts (new vs. long-term borrowers). Future work should investigate how sentiment trajectories differ between user segments over time using longitudinal sentiment classification models on stratified subsets of the platform user base.

• Using artificial intelligence in marketing (2026) · doi

  AI content generation in marketing exhibits systematic errors at ~12% rates and produces schematic, repetitive outputs that fail to capture nuanced and subtle messaging; research is needed to develop AI models capable of contextual understanding that accounts for dependencies between situational elements, contextual flexibility, and multiple perspectives in marketing communications.

• SSABE-TSCM: drift-aware and interpretable financial sentiment analysis for low-resource Bangla via adaptive semi-supervised and temporal contrastive modeling (2026) · doi

  TSCM year prototypes cannot fully disambiguate phrases whose polarity has genuinely flipped between 2021 and 2023 (e.g., 'digital taka' shifting from opportunity to risk signal). The current temporal contrastive modeling approach requires enhancement with a lightweight contrastive head to separate polarity-flipping phrases across the 2018–2023 timeline.

• Mathematical Modelling of the Ukrainian IT Industry Potential Assessment in the Context of Global Challenges (2026) · doi

  The paper proposes transformation of qualitative sociocultural factors into influence coefficients through regression analysis or principal component analysis (PCA), but does not specify which transformation method was actually applied to the nine qualitative indicators (IT Education, Digital Literacy, Women in IT, Freelance Attitude, Events, English Proficiency, Youth Emigration, Trust in Government, Innovation Acceptance) in Table 12, nor validates the comparative effectiveness of these alternative approaches.

• Economic analysis based on the dual constraint assumption of resources and needs from the perspective of ecological civilization (2026) · doi

  The mechanism for determining the 'runnable interval' boundaries for disposable income is theoretically outlined but lacks specification of measurable criteria, quantitative thresholds, or operational procedures. The paper does not specify how to calculate or calibrate the interval ABA'D'CD relative to ecological carrying capacity, productive force levels, or specific natural resource constraints in different economic contexts.

• A Study on the Impact of UPI and Digital Payment system on the Spending Behaviour of college students (2026) · doi

  The study identifies that digital payments encourage frequent and impulsive spending among college students, but does not quantify the magnitude of this effect or establish causal mechanisms linking UPI transaction frequency to increased spending behavior across different student demographic segments.

• Impact on Adoption of Artificial Intelligence(AI) in the Banking Industry. (2026) · doi

  The paper identifies fraud detection as a key AI application area and mentions machine learning improvement of fraud detection models as a suggestion, but provides no empirical comparison of AI-based fraud detection performance metrics (false positive rates, detection accuracy, processing speed) against traditional rule-based banking fraud detection systems.

• 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.

• Workforce Analytics for Manufacturing: Predicting Employee Job Satisfaction via Explainable Machine Learning and SHAP (2026) · doi

  While Deep Learning models through Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) were proposed as a solution for handling complex data patterns in large manufacturing datasets, the paper provides no baseline comparison or empirical evidence of performance improvement over the current XGBoost ensemble approach. Specific architecture designs, dataset size thresholds, and performance metrics for ANN application to job satisfaction prediction remain unspecified.

• VERGİ RİSKLƏRİ VƏ VERGİLƏRİN OPTİMALLAŞDIRILMASININ MÜASİR İQTİSADİ ŞƏRAİTDƏ ROLU (2026) · doi

  The paper identifies digital tax crimes and tax evasion as increasingly complex phenomena with difficult-to-detect traces, but does not specify methodologies for detecting digital tax fraud patterns or provide empirical datasets of digitalized tax evasion cases that could be used for validation of detection algorithms.

• 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.

• A Study on Integrating Production and Service Management Strategies for Achieving Competitive Advantage in Modern Organizations (2026) · doi

  The paper discusses cross-functional skills training for production and service integration but does not specify measurable competency frameworks or assessment methodologies for evaluating employee proficiency in both technical and people skills across integrated production-service functions.

• 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.

• Recruiter's Perception of Artificial Intelligence Based Tools in Recruitment at Virtusa, Chennai (2026) · doi

  The study identifies algorithmic bias encoding in machine learning systems used for AI-based recruitment but does not specify which bias mitigation strategies have been implemented or tested at Virtusa. Concrete comparative analysis of specific bias detection and mitigation techniques (e.g., fairness metrics, debiasing algorithms) applied to the organization's AI recruitment tools is lacking.

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

  The mechanism analysis demonstrates that AI reduces Management Expense Ratio (MER) and increases Asset Turnover Ratio (ATO) and Overseas Sales Ratio (OSR), but the paper does not examine potential interaction effects between these three pathways or their relative contribution weights to overall firm resilience. Future studies should decompose the resilience improvement into quantified proportions attributable to transaction cost reduction versus operational efficiency gains versus geographic diversification in marine firms.

• 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.

• Factors Affecting Customer Satisfaction Towards Lоgistics Service Quality in Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Vietnam (2026) · doi

  Reliability was rejected as a significant predictor of customer satisfaction (p > 0.05) despite theoretical expectations from SERVQUAL models. The study does not explore whether this finding reflects measurement issues with the Ry variables (Ry1-Ry5), weak survey responses from the 250-sample dataset, or genuine insignificance of reliability in Vietnamese logistics operations.

• The Influence of Gen Z Characteristics and Company Strategy on Turnover Intention (2026) · doi

  Corporate strategy showed no partial significance (p=0.075) on turnover intention despite theoretical expectations, yet demonstrated simultaneous significance with Gen Z characteristics. Research should investigate which specific dimensions of corporate strategy (HR management, flexible work policies, organizational adaptation) are actually perceived and valued by Gen Z employees in startup contexts, using qualitative methods to determine implementation-perception gaps.

• Organizational Justice, Cultural Intelligence and Workforce Inclusion in Digitally Transformed Multinationals: A Systematic Integrated Review of Expatriate and Hybrid Workers in Emerging Economies (2026) · doi

  Current digital inclusion research relies heavily on snapshot assessments rather than longitudinal measurement; longitudinal studies tracking how digital inclusion changes as employees acquire technology skills and organizations advance through digital maturity stages are needed to understand temporal dynamics of the organizational justice-cultural intelligence-inclusion relationship.

• Attitude Toward AI Use, Extent of AI Tool Utilization, and Administrative Efficiency among School Heads in SAMARICA District (2026) · doi

  The mediation analysis confirms AI utilization fully mediates the attitude-efficiency relationship, but the study does not investigate what specific barriers prevent positive attitudes from translating into consistent AI use, nor does it examine the sustainability of utilization over time in school administrative contexts.

• WHAT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE CAN DO TO MITIGATE ASYMMETRIC INFORMATION IN ISLAMIC BANK: A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK REVEALED (2026) · doi

  The paper does not specify how NLP sentiment analysis on financial statements should be calibrated to detect borrower financial distress in Islamic banking contexts, nor does it define threshold parameters for what constitutes positive, negative, or neutral tone that would trigger bank intervention. Implementation requires concrete guidelines on sentiment classification metrics and risk alert thresholds specific to Islamic financial reporting standards.

• HYBRID FORECASTING FOR THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX USING SARIMAX, SARIMAX-MACHINE LEARNING AND SARIMAX-DEEP LEARNING MODELS: THE CASE OF CÔTE D’IVOIRE (2026) · doi

  The bagging procedure was fixed at B=30 bootstrap replications based on stability considerations, but no systematic investigation was conducted to determine if this parameter is optimal for the specific SARIMAX residuals or if alternative ensemble sizes would improve forecast performance for multi-horizon CPI predictions.