Biased Trade Narratives and Its Influence on Development Studies: A Multi-level Mixed-Method Approach

Abstract

Recent evidence from citation analysis (Mitra et al., World Dev 135:105076, 2020) suggests that research published in top economic journals is becoming more influential in the development discourse. In this article, we argue that this trend has nontrivial implications for the development discourse on trade in general. Based on an analysis of more than 400 papers published in high-impact economic journals between 1997 and 2017, we highlight three core trade narratives that stand for different biases apparent in the elite economic discourse on trade: “trade championing”, “Ignorance in a world full of nails” and “microfounding trade benefits”. Further insights derived from citation analysis of five development studies journals and a case-study-oriented approach that focusses on the reception of this particular trade debate in World Development suggests that these biased trade narratives are effectively transmitted into development research.