An empirical comparison of published replication research in accounting, economics, finance, management, and marketing

The results of a large-scale content analysis of 18 leading business journals covering the 22-year time period 1970 to 1991 show published replication and extension research is uncommon in the business disciplines. For example, such research typically constitutes less than 10% of published empirical work in the accounting, economics, and finance areas, and 5% or less in the management and marketing fields. Further when such work is undertaken the results usually conflict with existing findings. This raises the prospect that empirical results in these areas may be of limited value for guiding the development of business theory and practice. Strategies for cultivating a replication research tradition to facilitate knowledge development in the business disciplines are suggested.