Writing a literature review

Conducting Economic Research on Sustainability

Prof. Ariel Ortiz-Bobea

 Outline

• The structure of the assignment

• Goals of literature review
• Conducting the literature review
• Other resources
 Structure of write up
• Introduction (1-2 pages)
• Literature review (2-3 pages)
• Conceptual framework (1-2 pages)
• Data (2-3 pages)
• Empirical approach, methods (1-2 pages)
• Results (2-3 pages for those writing a paper)
• Conclusion (1 page)
• TOTAL: 8-10 pages (proposal), 12-15 (paper)
Most economic studies do not
include a separate “lit review”
section. The text is generally
included within the introduction.
Some studies include a separate
“Background” section intended
to give more background to the
reader regarding a specialized
topic (e.g. details about a speci c
policy)
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Goals of a literature review
1. Critically analyze a body of research
• Discuss strengths and potential weaknesses,
relevant points of debate or disagreement
2. Show the contribution of your study relative to
previous work
• How does this study differs from previous ones?
Why is that important?
 Conducting the review

• STEP 1: quickly read many related studies

• STEP 2: nd order/theme should wish to highlight
• STEP 3: write topic sentences / bullet points
• STEP 4: write full paragraphs
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 Step 1: quickly read many
related studies
• Find one or more relevant articles (e.g. with
different types of key work combinations in Google
Scholar)
• Trace papers backwards (papers cited by this paper);
google scholar or reference list
• Trade papers forward (papers citing this paper)
 Step 1: quickly read many
related studies
• Stick mostly to economics journals (generally has “economic/
economics” in the title of the journal)
• Skim many papers: read title and abstract
• Then decide whether it merits reading more (intro)
• Only a few papers (maybe 3-5) will be VERY close to your
study. Spend more time on those.
• Take notes about speci c aspects you want to highlight in
literature (e.g. geographical coverage, type of dataset, methods
used, …) fi
 Step 2: nd order
• Hardest part when you have limited experience
• Look at your notes (ideally stored in a table)
• What themes seem to connect papers?
• Can you group papers?
• Is there an order within a particular group? (E.g. perhaps
papers are using better data over time? Do the conclusions
agree? Do they use similar methods?)
• Once you gure it out, then time to tell the story…
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 Step 2: nd order
•
•
From Paul Dudenhefer, Writing tutor at Duke University:

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 Step 3: bullet points
• Write one bullet point (topic sentence) or idea per
paragraph
• Write from general to speci c (like a funnel)
• End with 1-2 paragraphs where you emphasize relevance
of your study relative to others
• Structure should ow logically
• Logical connections or transitions between subsequent
paragraphs
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 Short example
“R&D needs to compensate climate
change impacts on US agriculture”
• Productivity (TFP) growing globally, • Lots of evidence CC affecting crop
but more in some countries yields

• Drivers of TFP growth, emphasize • More recent evidence showing CC

key role of R&D effects are more widespread

• Trends in R&D from public and • Lots of focus on private forms of

private sources adaptation from farmers

• Challenges with estimating returns • Less emphasis on the role of

of R&D on TFP growth research in a changing climate
 Step 4: full sentences
• Same advice as before
• Short sentences, short paragraphs (1 idea per paragraph)
• Active voice
• Precise language, eliminate repetition
• Make sure you include transitions between key paragraphs
• Typically 1-2 sentences for 1 study. Sometimes much more
if very relevant study to yours.
 Other resources

• Writing a literature review (Duke)

• Writing a literature review (Berkeley)