Lecture 4: Writing a Literature Review

EC321

Li Zhao, SJTU

Fall, 2016

Outline

Lit Review - An Introduction

How to Write the Intro / Lit Review Section

ExamplesCai et al (Rand 2013): China's Land Market Auction.Jia (Ecta 2006): WalmartSong et al (AER 2011): Growing Like China

What is a Lit Review

I A good literature review is an account of previous researchthat is carefully constructed to tell a particular story.

I It is NOT a �laundry list� of everything written on a topic,where each source gets its summary sentence.

I Literature review is organized by themes related to yourresearch questions.

I It is a synthesis of literature.

I It includes your critical evaluation of literature.

Why Do a Lit Review

I For the author:I Get familiar with what has been done in literature.I Prevent you from reproducing what is already known.I Exposes gaps in literature and helps you position your

research.I Organize your though.

I For readers:I Help readers understand the topic more thoroughly.I Demonstrate that you understand the existing literature.I Provide readers some motivation for your work.

It is a Sales Job!

I A literature review is a story hinging on a however or analthough.

I You are selling value added by the present paper.I Here is what previous researchers have done on my

subject;I Here is something unsatisfactory or incomplete or

troubling about that research;I Here is how I am going to redress what is unsatisfactory

or incomplete or troubling about that research.

Outline

Lit Review - An Introduction

How to Write the Intro / Lit Review Section

ExamplesCai et al (Rand 2013): China's Land Market Auction.Jia (Ecta 2006): WalmartSong et al (AER 2011): Growing Like China

Common Structure

I BackgroundI Introduce your topic and indicates its importance.

I Raise the questionI Identify a gap, problem, controversy, etc., in the existing

research.

I What we doI We �ll the gap by .. e.g. proposing a model, conducting

an empirical analysis of ...

I What we do in detailsI We do this.... while paper XYZ does this...I Show how your study will advanced the current

knowledge.

I ContributionsI We adds to the literature on ....

Tips for Introduction

I It is a good idea to raise a question at beginning. Readersare curious.

I Tell people your research question immediately.

I Start with what you do in this paper, the majorcontribution. Do not start with a long literature review.

I Keep non-economics comments for your �rst paragraphs.

Tips for Literature Review

I Be generous in your citations.

I After reading an article that could �t into your literaturereview.

I Write one sentence summarizing the paper;I Write one sentence explaining how the article relates to

your paper.

I An usual way is to set your paper o� against a handful ofclosest current papers and give credits to other relatedpapers.

I Don't just review the literature, link it to yours.

I Quotations are rarely found in economics papers.

Tips for Writing

I Begin paragraphs with a sentence that puts in explicitcontext what follows.

I Keep it structured, and make it easy for readers to skim.

I Sentences should be kept as short as possible with oneclear message.

I Favor the present tense.I For instance: Anderson (1976) �nds that...

I Avoid adjectives and verbs that are overly dramatic.

I Avoid of course, clearly, and obviously.

Outline

Lit Review - An Introduction

How to Write the Intro / Lit Review Section

ExamplesCai et al (Rand 2013): China's Land Market Auction.Jia (Ecta 2006): WalmartSong et al (AER 2011): Growing Like China

Example 1

Cai, H., Henderson, J. V., & Zhang, Q. (2013). China's landmarket auctions: evidence of corruption?. The Rand journal ofeconomics, 44(3), 488-521.

Main Idea

I Two types of auction format are adopted in China's landmarket auction.

I Ascending auction, and �two stage auction�.

I They �nd a strange phenomenon:I Economic theory suggests popular land should be sold by

ascending auction.I But the authors �nd opposite evidence.

I The authors write a model and conduct some empiricalanalysis showing corruption might be the reason.

I Because two stage auction is more easily to bemanipulated, so popular lands are more likely to be soldby two stage auction.

How Will You Write in Lit Review?

I Relevant literature to search and review:I China's land market sale.I Auction theory about these two types of auctions.I Evidence of corruption.

I What's the contribution of this paper?I Modifying previous models to explain puzzling

phenomenon.

What Do the Authors Write?I Background of China's land market auction.

I A few citations supporting the background.

I Raise the question.I �The raw data on auctions suggest something is amiss,

based on auction type�.I We �nd evidence such that . . . The theory by XYZ says,

but . . . .

I What we do.I We develop a model that is consistent with the data.

I What we do in details.I We explain the mechanism...

I Contributions to exiting literatureI This paper improves our understanding of an important

public policy issue in China.I Contribute to the corruption literature, ABCD; the

auction literature, EFGH.

Example 2

Jia, P. (2008). What happens when Wal-Mart comes to town:An empirical analysis of the discount retailing industry.Econometrica, 76(6), 1263-1316.

Main Idea

I This paper develops an empirical model to assess theimpact of entry of chain stores (e.g. Walmart) on localretails.

I It incorporates the scale economies that arise fromoperating multiple stores in nearby regions.

Section 1

I BackgroundI The landscape of the U.S. retail industry has changed

considerably over the past few decades as the result oftwo closely related trends.

I What I doI My �rst goal is to ... My second objective is ...

I What I do in detailsI The model has two features .... I adopt the...

Section 1 (Continued)

I ContributionsI This paper complements a recent study by Holmes

(2005) which...I This paper contributes to the entry literature initiated by

. . .I This paper is also related to a large literature on spatial

competition in retail markets.I There is a very active literature on estimate

discrete-choice method ...I This paper's algorithm is an application of the lattice

theory ...I Finally this paper is part of growing literature on

Walmart...

Example 3

Song, Z., Storesletten, K., & Zilibotti, F. (2011). Growing likeChina. The American Economic Review, 101(1), 196-233.

Main Idea

I China's economic transition is di�erent from the rest ofthe world.

I The author construct a grow model consistent withChina's growth pattern.

I They quantitatively show the impact of each factors.

Section 1

I Background.I Over the last 30 years, China has undergone a spectacular

economic transformation involving not only ... but ...

I Raise a questionI The combination of high growth and high return to

capital, on the one hand, and a growing foreign surplus,on the other hand, is puzzling.

I X theory says..., but... ; Y theory predicts ... but ....

Section 1 (Continued)

I What we doI We argue .... We belong to recent literature arguing...

(see ABCD...); Most of the existing literatureemphasizes..., our paper argues that ...

I What we do in detailsI We construct a model in which .... The mechanism we

show is supported by paper EFGH...

I Contributions to the literatureI Our theory is related to the contribution of I...J...K....

but they don't consider....I Paper L documents the evidence....our theory can

provide a rationale to this observation.

Summary

I A literature review is an organized, synthesized, andcritical overview of existing literature.

I The most important gold is to sell your paper!

I A check list for the intro / lit review section:I [ ] Justify the importance.I [ ] Tell people your research question immediately.I [ ] Summarize your results right up front.I [ ] Spell out the de�ciencies in previous work.I [ ]Explain what you are doing that's better.

Assignment

I Due by 11:00 p.m., Saturday, October 8th, 2016.

I Send electronic version to: sjtu_ec321@sina.com.

I Double space, 5+ pages, font size 12.

I It should precisely identify your research topic, and why itis an interesting and/or important research question.

I It should contain a review on academic papers that isrelevant to your chosen topic, and should explain howyour work adds to and/or di�ers from the existingliterature.