Jelly beans and qualitative research

I do like Tim Harford's work and I especially like this.

Much research into corporate governance has been heavily influenced by finance researchers, juggling the many variables that might link corporate governance characteristics to corporate performance, without finding any convincing relationships.

But, since most corporate governance policy steadfastly ignores independent research findings, maybe this doesn't matter.

Encouragement for qualitative research approaches could make a difference. It's very challenging to do. Access to those involved in corporate governance can be difficult to secure and collecting data through interviewing is fraught with pitfalls. Funding applications may be judged by people with little experience of qualitative methods. Condensing a plethora of rich insights into a standard sized journal article is not easy. But this type of approach can usefully highlight the huge variety of practice and experience hidden behind the boardroom door and perhaps cause policy makers to think a little more deeply about the potential consequences of regulation.

The jelly bean researchers could have asked why people eat jelly beans in the first place...