Literature Review Assistant

Purpose

This skill helps economists conduct literature reviews by structuring searches, summarizing papers, and synthesizing findings. It provides templates for organizing literature and identifying research gaps.

When to Use

Starting a literature review for a new project

Finding related work for a paper's introduction

Synthesizing existing evidence on a topic

Identifying gaps in the literature

Instructions

Step 1: Define the Research Domain

Ask the user:

What is your specific research question?

What's the scope? (Narrow field survey vs. cross-disciplinary review)

What databases do you have access to? (JSTOR, EconLit, Google Scholar, NBER)

What time period is relevant?

Are there seminal papers to start from?

Step 2: Structure the Search

Help define search terms:

Primary terms

Core concepts (e.g., "minimum wage", "employment")

Methodological filters

(RCT, IV, difference-in-differences)

Outcome terms

What effects are measured

Geographic/temporal scope

If relevant Step 3: Organize and Synthesize Create a structured summary for each paper: Citation Research question Data and methods Key findings Limitations How it relates to user's project Step 4: Identify Patterns and Gaps What do papers agree on? Where are disagreements? What questions remain unanswered? What methods haven't been applied? Example Output: Literature Summary Template

Literature Review: [TOPIC]

Search Strategy ** Databases: ** EconLit, NBER, Google Scholar, SSRN ** Date range: ** 2010-2024 ** Search terms: ** - ("minimum wage" OR "wage floor") AND (employment OR jobs) - ("minimum wage") AND ("difference-in-differences" OR "DiD") ** Inclusion criteria: ** - Peer-reviewed or NBER working papers - Focused on [specific outcome] - Uses causal identification strategy

Seminal Papers

Card and Krueger (1994) ** Citation: ** Card, D., & Krueger, A. B. (1994). Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. * American Economic Review * , 84(4), 772-793. ** Research Question: ** What is the effect of minimum wage increases on employment? ** Data & Method: ** - DiD comparing NJ (treatment) to PA (control) - Survey of fast-food restaurants before/after NJ minimum wage increase ** Key Findings: ** - No negative employment effect found - Employment slightly increased in NJ relative to PA ** Contribution: ** Challenged conventional view; pioneered quasi-experimental methods in labor economics ** Limitations: ** - Single state, short time horizon - Potential survey response bias

Cengiz et al. (2019) ** Citation: ** Cengiz, D., Dube, A., Lindner, A., & Zipperer, B. (2019). The Effect of Minimum Wages on Low-Wage Jobs. * Quarterly Journal of Economics * , 134(3), 1405-1454. ** Research Question: ** Do minimum wage increases destroy jobs or compress the wage distribution? ** Data & Method: ** - Bunching estimator using 138 minimum wage events - Examine employment distribution around minimum wage ** Key Findings: ** - Jobs below the new minimum wage disappear - But replaced by jobs just above the minimum - No significant overall employment loss ** Contribution: ** Novel bunching methodology; large-scale evidence

Synthesis: What We Know | Finding | Evidence Quality | Consensus Level | |

|

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| | Small minimum wage increases have minimal employment effects | Strong (multiple RCTs/quasi-experiments) | High | | Effects may be heterogeneous by region | Medium | Growing | | Large increases (e.g., $15) less studied | Limited | Low |

Research Gaps 1. ** Mechanism: ** How do firms absorb higher labor costs? (Prices, profits, productivity?) 2. ** Long-run effects: ** Most studies focus on 1-2 years 3. ** Geographic heterogeneity: ** Do effects differ in low vs. high cost-of-living areas? 4. ** Spillovers: ** Effects on workers earning above minimum wage

Connection to Your Project Your study of [SPECIFIC QUESTION] can contribute by: - [How your work fills a gap] - [What new data/method you bring] Paper Summary Template

[Author(s)] ([Year]) ** Title: ** [Full title] ** Published in: ** [Journal/Working Paper Series] ** Research Question: ** [One sentence] ** Data: ** - Source: [Dataset name] - Period: [Years] - Sample: [N observations, unit of analysis] ** Identification Strategy: ** [Method in one sentence] ** Main Findings: ** 1. [Key result 1 with magnitude] 2. [Key result 2] 3. [Robustness/heterogeneity] ** Limitations: ** - [Main concern 1] - [Main concern 2] ** Relevance to your project: ** [One sentence on how it connects] ** Key quote: ** "[Most important direct quote]" (p. XX) Search Strategy Tips Google Scholar Operators "exact phrase" - Exact matching author:surname - Papers by specific author source:journal - Papers in specific journal -exclude - Exclude terms [year]..[year] - Date range Finding Seminal Papers Check citations in recent survey papers Look for papers with 1000+ citations Check JEL codes in EconLit Review "related articles" in Google Scholar Building Citation Networks Start with 2-3 seminal papers Check what recent papers cite them (forward citations) Check their references (backward citations) Identify clusters of related work Best Practices Use reference managers (Zotero, Mendeley, BibDesk) Create annotated bibliographies as you read Track search queries for reproducibility Update regularly before submission Balance breadth and depth - cover field but focus on closest work Common Pitfalls ❌ Only citing papers that support your argument ❌ Not engaging with contradictory findings ❌ Confusing correlation with causation when summarizing ❌ Citing papers you haven't actually read ❌ Missing important recent papers References EconLit - Authoritative economics database NBER Working Papers - Latest research IDEAS/RePEc - Free economics papers Connected Papers - Visual citation networks Changelog v1.0.0 Initial release with templates and search strategies