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Rocking the Boat to Change the Debate: Identifying and Testing Conventional Wisdom

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  • Thomas Reardon

Abstract

This paper presents a method for and experiences with pioneering new research directions that challenge “conventional wisdom” and change policy and research debates. The method consists of four steps: (1) identify the conventional wisdom (CW); (2) ignore the CW and go to the field without pre‐conceived notions, and look long and hard at reality—with interviews and surveys broad enough to allow oneself to make discoveries that contradict the CW; (3) then identify the contradictions between the CW and the field discoveries and pinpoint the implications for policy and research debates; (4) develop and mainstream a new research theme along a research “product cycle.” The paper summarizes my and collaborators’ application of the method with illustrations from four waves of market economics field research in Africa, Asia, and Latin America since the 1980s: (a) rural nonfarm employment; (b) processed food consumption; (c) the “hidden middle” (rapid diffusion of small and medium enterprises in the midstream of value chains); and (d) the “supermarket revolution”. The paper ends with a discussion of the benefits of this approach to policy and research debates and the researcher's own career, as well as considerations of risks, timing, and approach for application of the method. JEL Classification: D12, J20, O12, O18, Q12, Q18

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Reardon, 2025. "Rocking the Boat to Change the Debate: Identifying and Testing Conventional Wisdom," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 56(3), pages 543-553, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:agecon:v:56:y:2025:i:3:p:543-553
    DOI: 10.1111/agec.70014
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rocco Macchiavello & Thomas Reardon & Timothy J. Richards, 2022. "Empirical Industrial Organization Economics to Analyze Developing Country Food Value Chains," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 14(1), pages 193-220, October.
    2. Reardon, Thomas & Awokuse, Titus & Belton, Ben & Liverpool-Tasie, Lenis Saweda O. & Minten, Bart & Nguyen, Genevieve & Qanti, Sara & Swinnen, Johan & Vos, Rob & Zilberman, David, 2024. "Emerging outsource agricultural services enable farmer adaptation in agrifood value chains: A product cycle perspective," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    3. Barrett, Christopher B., 1997. "Food marketing liberalization and trader entry: Evidence from Madagascar," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 763-777, May.
    4. Haggblade, Steven & Hazell, Peter & Reardon, Thomas, 2010. "The Rural Non-farm Economy: Prospects for Growth and Poverty Reduction," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 1429-1441, October.
    5. Delgado, Christopher L. & Miller, Cornelia P. J., 1985. "Changing food patterns in West Africa : Implications for policy research," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 63-74, February.
    6. Rao, Elizaphan J.O. & Qaim, Matin, 2011. "Supermarkets, Farm Household Income, and Poverty: Insights from Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 784-796, May.
    7. Michael Dolislager & Thomas Reardon & Aslihan Arslan & Louise Fox & Saweda Liverpool-Tasie & Christine Sauer & David L. Tschirley, 2021. "Youth and Adult Agrifood System Employment in Developing Regions: Rural (Peri-urban to Hinterland) vs. Urban," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(4), pages 571-593, April.
    8. Christine M. Moser & Christopher B. Barrett, 2006. "The complex dynamics of smallholder technology adoption: the case of SRI in Madagascar," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 35(3), pages 373-388, November.
    9. repec:bla:devpol:v:21:y:2003:i::p:333-355 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. repec:bla:devpol:v:22:y:2004:i::p:515-523 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Barrett, C. B. & Reardon, T. & Webb, P., 2001. "Nonfarm income diversification and household livelihood strategies in rural Africa: concepts, dynamics, and policy implications," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 315-331, August.
    12. Jean Kinsey, 1983. "Working Wives and the Marginal Propensity to Consume Food Away from Home," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 65(1), pages 10-19.
    13. Thomas Reardon, 2015. "The hidden middle: the quiet revolution in the midstream of agrifood value chains in developing countries," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 31(1), pages 45-63.
    14. Michael Dolislager & Lenis Saweda O. Liverpool‐Tasie & Nicole M. Mason & Thomas Reardon & David Tschirley, 2022. "Consumption of healthy and unhealthy foods by the African poor: Evidence from Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 53(6), pages 870-894, November.
    15. Kelly, Valerie & Reardon, Thomas & Diagana, Bocar & Abdoulaye Fall, Amadou, 1995. "Impacts of devaluation on Senegalese households: policy implications," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 299-313, August.
    16. nan, 2007. "Transforming the rural nonfarm economy: Opportunities and threats in the developing world," IFPRI books, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), number 978-0-8018-8664-5 edited by Haggblade, Steven; Hazell, Peter B. R.; Reardon, Thomas Anthony, enero-mar.
    17. Minten, Bart & Reardon, Thomas & Singh, K.M. & Sutradhar, Rajib, 2012. "The New and Changing Roles of Cold Storages in the Potato Supply Chain in Bihar," MPRA Paper 61109, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 14 Sep 2014.
    18. Thomas Reardon & Julio A. Berdegué, 2002. "The Rapid Rise of Supermarkets in Latin America: Challenges and Opportunities for Development," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 20(4), pages 371-388, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Matin Qaim & Martin C. Parlasca, 2025. "Agricultural Economics and the Transformation Toward Sustainable Agri‐Food Systems," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 56(3), pages 327-335, May.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • J20 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - General
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • Q12 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Micro Analysis of Farm Firms, Farm Households, and Farm Input Markets
    • Q18 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy; Animal Welfare Policy

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