Introduction

Abstract By making gathering large samples of data (Big Data) almost trivial, the Information Revolution has changed fundamentally how many scientists now conduct empirical research. The explosion in the variety and volume of information that is Big Data has in many cases altered both the questions asked and how those questions are answered. In this special issue devoted to Big Data, we have collected five papers from the social sciences, particularly economics, but business as well. The main goal of the issue is to introduce economists to the different ways that Big Data can and have been used in business and economic research, in the hope that this will spur additional innovative research in those fields.