Qian Yingyi: The Taste of Academic Research—Why Are We Publishing More and More Papers but Finding Them Less and Less Interesting

WealthCoffee · 2026-03-29T02:22:49+00:00

The article points out that economic research currently faces the problem of increasing paper quantity but dull content, revealing flaws in the academic evaluation system and a lack of research purpose. It emphasizes that academic research should focus on taste and innovation to better understand economic issues.

WealthCoffee

2026-03-29 02:22:49

Abstract generation in progress

A problem is emerging in economic research: there are more and more articles being published, but an increasing number of these articles are becoming less meaningful and are not helpful for our understanding of economic issues. This is different from the situation in the early years of the reform and opening-up. At that time, economists researching the Chinese economy, whether domestically or overseas, were focused on significant issues, and their articles were innovative, insightful, and could spark widespread interest and resonance, influencing policy as well. Now, the number of published papers has greatly increased compared to the past, and they are written more formally, but the articles lack significance, with some even being quite dull.

Where is the problem? The academic evaluation system is problematic. But this is just a symptom; fundamentally, it’s an issue with the purpose of academic research. I believe it can be categorized as a problem of taste in academic research.

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