Validation gaps in Economics

Representative open questions

Showing 30 of 57 — one per source paper, highest-quality first.

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

  The paper asserts that subjective event spaces solve problems better than objective event spaces but provides no concrete empirical demonstrations. The authors explicitly state 'The value of assuming subjective event spaces must be proved by examples' and ask 'What problems in pure or (especially) applied economics are more readily or satisfactorily solved by assuming many subjective event spaces rather than one objective event space?' without providing case studies that directly compare solutions under both frameworks.

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

  While the instrumental variable approach (AI search attention as an instrument for AI index) successfully mitigates endogeneity concerns, the exclusion restriction is validated only through a single placebo test using 'number of travel agencies per 10,000 people.' Testing the instrument's validity against additional placebo outcomes in the marine and environmental sectors (e.g., coastal tourism, fishing vessel registrations) would strengthen causal inference.

• What Determines the Demand for Online High-Cost Credit? Evidence from Loan Applications from Digital Credit Intermediaries (2026) · doi

  The dataset covers only a subset of lead generators in the UK market, raising representativeness concerns for market-wide conclusions about online high-cost credit demand. A study comparing applicant characteristics and behaviors across different lead generator platforms and their market coverage would establish external validity.

• Dynamical analysis of an OLG model with interacting epidemiological and environmental domains (2026) · doi

  The robustness analysis in Section 5 with subsidies and public debt uses parameter values (b=0.02, τex=0.018, τend=0.05τ) selected ad-hoc with respect to kt, but no systematic sensitivity analysis explores how variations in subsidy ratios and debt levels alter the bifurcation structure and stability regions identified in Figures 3-5.

• Multi-asset optimal trade execution with stochastic cross-effects: An Obizhaeva–Wang-type framework (2026) · doi

  Lemma 3.8 establishes a convergence result using truncated processes (H^N) that approximate the full operator H, but the rate of convergence and approximation error bounds are not explicitly quantified. A concrete analysis of how the truncation parameter N affects execution cost and optimal trading paths for realistic portfolio sizes is needed.

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

  The paper removes options with ex-dividend dates within the last week of expiry to mitigate early exercise effects in American options, but reports the empirical implications as 'very small' without detailed quantification. The specific magnitude of return distortion from early exercise risk in machine learning IV predictions requires explicit measurement.

• Using artificial intelligence in marketing (2026) · doi

  The paper identifies that AI-powered chatbots in anthropomorphic form produce heterogeneous market outcomes dependent on customer characteristics and context, yet no systematic framework exists to predict when humanized chatbot interactions will improve versus degrade customer service and organizational outcomes in specific marketing scenarios.

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

  The study measured AI adoption using a 21-item questionnaire adapted from TAM studies, but did not empirically validate whether the four constructs (AI Adoption, Customer Satisfaction, Fraud Detection, Challenges) demonstrate discriminant validity or whether the measurement scale reliably captures banking-specific AI adoption barriers beyond generic technology adoption frameworks.

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

  The study demonstrated SHAP-based explainability for XGBoost and Random Forest models in manufacturing job satisfaction prediction, but longitudinal validation across time-series employee satisfaction changes in reaction to specific organizational interventions has not been conducted. This temporal dimension is critical for validating whether the identified features (Transformational Leadership, Employee Empowerment) maintain consistent predictive importance as organizational changes occur.

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

  The paper identifies employee engagement as enhancing production-service integration but does not specify measurement instruments, engagement thresholds, or empirical evidence linking employee engagement levels to measurable improvements in coordination and innovation outcomes within integrated management systems.

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

  The study analyzes AI's impact on firm resilience using panel data from China's A-share listed marine firms (2012-2023), but does not examine whether these findings generalize to unlisted marine enterprises, state-owned marine corporations, or marine firms in non-Chinese contexts with different regulatory environments and technological adoption patterns. Validation across heterogeneous firm ownership structures and international marine markets is needed.

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

  The study identifies that corporate strategy likely operates indirectly through psychological mechanisms (job satisfaction, organizational commitment) but does not empirically test these mediation pathways. Future research should conduct multi-stage mediation analysis to quantify whether job satisfaction and organizational commitment fully or partially mediate the relationship between company strategy and Gen Z turnover intention in startup environments.

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

  The conceptual framework for AI-mitigating asymmetric information in Islamic bank profit-loss sharing financing has not been empirically validated with actual transaction datasets or borrower performance data from Islamic financial institutions. Empirical testing is required to confirm whether the proposed machine learning models, NLP-based financial statement analysis, and early warning system algorithms achieve the claimed accuracy rates in detecting adverse selection and moral hazard in real PLS contracts.

• Global Fast Fashion Industry: Present Opportunities and Future Challenges for Sustainability (2026) · doi

  Environmental justice frameworks are proposed to ensure equitable circular transitions in fast fashion, but the paper does not specify how to measure or validate whether specific circular economy strategies (recycling, rental, repair) actually prevent the reproduction of exclusion for marginalized garment workers or consumers in different geographic contexts.

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

  The regression model confirms that entrepreneurial skills and business mathematics jointly explain variation in quantitative decision-making (F=52.34, p=0.000), but the study does not examine which combinations of entrepreneurial skill dimensions (e.g., opportunity recognition, risk assessment, resource management) interact with specific business mathematics applications to produce optimal decision-making outcomes.

• Impact of Talent Management on Emotional Intelligence in Food Industry Companies in Hodeidah Governorate (2026) · doi

  The study was limited to food industry companies in Hodeidah Governorate; the generalizability of findings to other geographic regions in Yemen, other Arab countries, or non-Arab contexts with different organizational cultures, labor market conditions, and emotional intelligence norms remains untested and should be validated through cross-regional and cross-cultural comparative studies.

• Towards Environmental Sustainability: Evaluating the Role of Energy Consumption and Urbanization on Carbon Emission in Nigeria (1990-2023) (2026) · doi

  The CUSUM and CUSUM of Squares tests confirm model stability over 2017-2022, but this stability assessment period covers only 5-6 years. The robustness of the ARDL model should be re-tested on an extended dataset beyond 2023 and with rolling-window analysis to detect potential parameter instability during periods of rapid urbanization acceleration or energy policy transitions in Nigeria.

• A Prognosis of South Africa's Cultural and Creative Industries: A Perspective Analysis from within the Creative Economy (2026) · doi

  The analysis highlights weak correlations (0.0627 and 0.04862) between hospitality-creative sector collaboration themes in the LDA topic model, suggesting discussion segmentation; however, no framework or methodology is proposed to measure the actual effectiveness of cross-sector partnerships between hospitality, tourism, and creative industries on job creation and cultural asset monetization.

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

  The paper does not discuss potential overfitting risks, out-of-sample validation periods, or cross-validation methodologies used in backtesting the 72% accuracy claim.

• Combining demand classification and forecasting models in spare parts inventory management for the energy sector (2026) · doi

  Multiple error measures (MAE, MAPE, sMAPE, RMSE) do not provide conclusive information about model effectiveness, as some models stand out in one measure but not in all.

• Exploring the Impact of Socio-Economic Disparities on Crime Rates in Urban India (2026) · doi

  No discussion of validation of the Grey Relational Analysis (GRA) method's effectiveness compared to alternative analytical approaches for this particular context.

• Formulation & Evaluation of Herbal Fairness Cream Using Beetroot and Rose Flower (2026) · doi

  The irritancy test was limited to a small area and short observation period; comprehensive dermatological testing including patch tests, repeated insult patch tests (RIPT), and testing on diverse skin types would strengthen safety validation.

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

  The Diebold–Mariano test yields a p-value of 0.23, indicating that the differences in forecast performance between regularized and standard VAR models are not statistically significant, although economically meaningful.

• Of (AI) Machine and Human (Labour): An Integrated Nexus of Work Operating System Architecture for Orchestrating Human–AI Collaborations (2026) · doi

  No empirical validation or case study results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the NOW OS framework in real-world organizational settings.

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

  No empirical validation or comparative study is provided to substantiate the claim that AI is more accurate than traditional methods in predicting labor costs.

• Economic Costs of Non-Optimal Oil Palm Fresh Fruit Bunch Harvesting: A Review on Maturity-Driven Production and Quality Implications (2026) · doi

  Integration of quality management requirements into certification standards (ISPO, RSPO) is proposed as an incentive mechanism, but the paper does not assess whether current certification frameworks adequately capture maturity-based quality differentiation.

• Impact of artificial intelligence-driven digital twins and lean six sigma-assisted power system asset management on long-term investment planning (2026) · doi

  The study used Region 1 of the extended IEEE-118 bus system as a case study; validation across additional regions and real-world power grids is needed to generalize OptimTwin's effectiveness.

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

  While knowledge distillation and sparse attention mechanisms are mentioned as potential solutions for Green AI, there is no empirical validation or comparison of these approaches' effectiveness in reducing energy consumption for behavioral modeling.

• The impact of digital transformation on the construction supply chain (2026) · doi

  Further research can be implemented to verify the moderating role of DT stages in the linkages of SCI, ECD, and SSCP to help construction managers improve their sustainable SCM.

• Interaction of transport enterprises in the sector of road freight transportation (2026) · doi

  The paper proposes indicators for evaluating order compatibility and concentration but does not explicitly address how these indicators perform under varying market conditions, seasonal fluctuations, or different transportation network topologies.