Journal of Economic Perspectives—Volume 26, Number 2—Spring 2012—Pages 3–18

The Journal of Economic Perspectives at 100 (Issues)

David Autor

hhenen I waswas a graduategraduate student,student, I discovereddiscovered thatthat thethe Journal of Economic Perspectives embodiedembodied muchmuch ofof whatwhat I lovelove aboutabout thethe fi eldeld ofof :economics: W tthehe clarityclarity thatthat piercespierces rhetoricrhetoric toto seekseek thethe corecore ofof a question;question; thethe rigorrigor ttoo iidentifydentify tthehe ccausalausal rrelationships,elationships, tradeoffs,tradeoffs, andand indeterminanciesindeterminancies inherentinherent inin a pproblem;roblem; tthehe sself-assuranceelf-assurance toto applyapply tthehe ddisciplinaryisciplinary ttoolkitoolkit ttoo pproblemsroblems bbothoth ssacredacred aandnd pprofane;rofane; aandnd tthehe fforceorce ooff llogicogic ttoo rreacheach cconclusionsonclusions tthathat mmightight bbee uunexpected,nexpected, ccontroversial,ontroversial, oror refreshinglyrefreshingly bland.bland. WWhilehile tthehe fi re-hosere-hose ofof theory,theory, method,method, andand datadata tthathat drencheddrenched meme dailydaily inin graduategraduate classesclasses waswas variouslyvariously exhilaratingexhilarating andand dispir-dispir- iiting,ting, thethe JEP ssymposiaymposia thatthat I readread inin mymy sparespare timetime nurturednurtured mymy enthusiasmenthusiasm forfor eeconomics,conomics, reassuringreassuring meme thatthat ifif I couldcould survivesurvive thethe delugedeluge ofof graduategraduate study,study, I’dI’d lloveove oonene ddayay bbeingeing oonn tthehe ootherther eendnd ooff tthehe fi re-hose.re-hose. IItt nevernever occurredoccurred toto meme inin thosethose yearsyears thatthat oneone dayday I wouldwould editedit thethe journal.journal. WWhilehile doingdoing soso isis a privilegeprivilege andand a pleasure,pleasure, I equallyequally confessconfess thatthat it’sit’s nono smallsmall wweighteight toto bebe thethe custodialcustodial parentparent ofof oneone ofof ourour profession’sprofession’s mmostost bbelovedeloved ooffspring.ffspring. NNoo lessless intimidatingintimidating isis thethe tasktask ofof stipulatingstipulating whatwhat thisthis upstartupstart youthyouth hashas accom-accom- pplishedlished inin itsits fi rrstst 2255 yyearsears aandnd 100100 issuesissues inin print.print. LikeLike anyany empiricist,empiricist, I recognizerecognize tthathat thethe counterfactualcounterfactual worldworld thatthat wouldwould existexist withoutwithout thethe JEP iiss unknowable,unknowable, butbut mmyy sstrongtrong hhunchunch iiss tthathat oourur pprofessionrofession wouldwould bebe worseworse offoff inin thatthat counterfactualcounterfactual wworld.orld. InIn thisthis essay,essay, I reflrefl ectect onon thethe journal’sjournal’s accomplishmentsaccomplishments andand articulatearticulate somesome ooff mmyy oownwn ggoalsoals fforor tthehe JEP ggoingoing fforward.orward.

■ David Autor is Professor of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Faculty Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research, both in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He has been Editor of the JJournalournal ooff EEconomicconomic PPerspectiveserspectives since January 2009. His e-mail address is 〈[email protected]〉. http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/jep.26.2.3. doi=10.1257/jep.26.2.3 4 Journal of Economic Perspectives

Measuring Some Effects

IInn hishis 19871987 “Report“Report ofof thethe Editor,”Editor,” publishedpublished inin thethe AER Papers and Proceed- ings ssomeome mmonthsonths ppriorrior ttoo tthehe fi rstrst iissuessue ooff tthehe jjournal,ournal, JJosephoseph SStiglitztiglitz wwrote,rote, ““WeWe hhaveave chosenchosen thethe nnameame Economic Perspectives ttoo ccaptureapture tthehe jjournal’sournal’s ttwinwin mmissionsissions ooff pprovidingroviding pperspectiveerspective oonn ccurrenturrent eeconomicconomic rresearch,esearch, aandnd eexplainingxplaining hhowow eeconomicsconomics pprovidesrovides pperspectiveerspective oonn qquestionsuestions ooff ggeneraleneral iinterest.”nterest.” TThishis sstatementtatement ppresagedresaged ttwowo rrolesoles tthathat tthehe JEP hhasas ccomeome ttoo sserve.erve. OOnene rroleole iiss ttoo ssupplyupply a vvitalital intra- ddisciplinaryisciplinary cconduitonduit fforor eelevatinglevating iideasdeas ffromrom tthehe ddepthsepths ooff ssub-disciplinaryub-disciplinary ttrenches,renches, oopeningpening ttopicsopics rripeipe fforor eeconomicconomic aanalysis,nalysis, sstagingtaging ddebateebate oonn fi nndingsdings aandnd mmethods,ethods, aandnd cchannelinghanneling tthehe ZZeitgeisteitgeist ooff oourur pprolifirolifi c bbutut ssometimesometimes mmethodologicallyethodologically aabstrusebstruse ddiscipline.iscipline. TThehe ootherther iiss ttoo pproviderovide ppolicymakers,olicymakers, eeducators,ducators, sstudents,tudents, aandnd ppractiracti ttionersioners wwithith a trovetrove ofof well-reasoned,well-reasoned, well-written,well-written, andand well-chosenwell-chosen analyticalanalytical eessaysssays tthathat ffocusocus tthehe llensens ooff eeconomicconomic rreasoningeasoning oonn ttopicsopics aacrosscross tthehe ssocialocial ssciences.ciences. HHowow wwellell hhasas JEP ssucceededucceeded inin thesethese goals?goals? ForFor academicacademic journals,journals, citationscitations aarere alwaysalways oneone plausibleplausible startingstarting point,point, andand althoughalthough JEP iiss notnot a conventionalconventional jjournal,ournal, I’llI’ll beginbegin therethere asas well.well. OfOf course,course, citationcitation countscounts havehave numerousnumerous limita-limita- ttionsions asas a mmeasureeasure ooff iimpact:mpact: ccountsounts vvaryary bbyy fi eldeld size;size; badbad paperspapers maymay bebe citedcited aass counterexamples;counterexamples; andand paperspapers areare oftenoften dutifullydutifully citedcited withoutwithout beingbeing read.read. InIn tthehe ccasease ooff JEP, oonene ccouldould aalsolso notenote thatthat researchersresearchers mightmight useuse a JEP essayessay asas a sstartingtarting pointpoint toto learninglearning moremore aboutabout a topictopic butbut thenthen notnot feelfeel obligedobliged toto citecite thethe jjournalournal asas a primaryprimary sourcesource ofof scholarship.scholarship. Moreover,Moreover, academicacademic citationscitations largelylargely failfail ttoo capturecapture thethe effecteffect ofof JEP oonn policymakers,policymakers, undergraduates,undergraduates, andand otherother interestedinterested rreaders.eaders. I waswas a regularregular readerreader ofof JEP fforor yearsyears beforebefore I startedstarted citingciting it,it, andand I moremore ooftenften readread thethe articlesarticles becausebecause I waswas intriguedintrigued byby thethe topictopic oror thethe authorauthor ratherrather tthanhan becausebecause I waswas trackingtracking a citedcited reference.reference. DDespiteespite tthesehese ccautions,autions, ccitationsitations ttellell a rreasonablyeasonably eencouragingncouraging ttaleale ooff JEP’’ss iimpact.mpact. F igureigure 1 drawsdraws onon Thompson-ReutersThompson- WebWeb ofof ScienceScience toto tracktrack averageaverage aannualnnual citationscitations perper articlearticle perper yearyear forfor JEP aarticlesrticles publishedpublished fromfrom thethe journal’sjournal’s iinceptionnception tthroughhrough 22007007 iinn PPanelanel AA.. FForor ccomparison,omparison, PPanelanel B ssummarizesummarizes aaverageverage aannualnnual citationcitation ratesrates forfor articlesarticles publishedpublished inin thethe American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, aandnd Quarterly Journal of Economics dduringuring tthehe ssameame yyears.ears.1 AAss tthehe fi ggureure sshows,hows, wwhilehile JEP iiss nnotot aass hhighlyighly ccitedited aass tthesehese tthreehree ttopop jjournals,ournals, iit’st’s nnotot farfar off.off. Indeed,Indeed, JEP aarticlesrticles publishedpublished betweenbetween 20032003 andand 20072007 havehave receivedreceived

1 Citation counts are from the Thompson-Reuters Web of Knowledge: Social Sciences Citation database for years 1988–2010. Included items from the four journals in Figure 1 are limited to articles. Letters, editorial matter, proceedings papers, and reviews are fi ltered out by Web of Knowledge. In addition, the JEP features “Classroom Games” and “Recommendations for Further Reading” are also excluded from the analysis. In Panel A of the fi gure, articles from the fi rst two JEP issues, Summer and Fall 1987, are averaged in with articles published during 1988 through 1992. I exclude Econometrica and Review of Economic Studies because these journals are even less-applied relative to JEP than the comparison set. David Autor 5

Figure 1 Average Annual Citations by Year since Publication (Social Science Citations Index Citations)

A: Journal of Economic Perspectives

8

7

6

5

4

3

2 Cites per article year

1

0 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 Years since publication

Published 1988–92 Published 1993–97 Published 1998–02 Published 2003–07

B: American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, and Quarterly Journal of Economics

8

7

6

5

4

3

Cites per article year 2

1

0 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 Years since publication

Published 1988–92 Published 1993–97 Published 1998–02 Published 2003–07 6 Journal of Economic Perspectives

sslightlylightly more citationscitations pperer aarticlerticle tthanhan aarticlesrticles ppublishedublished iinn tthehe ssameame yyearsears iinn AER, JPE, andand Q JE.2 OOnene contrastcontrast alsoalso emergesemerges thatthat rreflefl ectsects thethe distinctdistinct orientationorientation ofof JEP vvis-à-visis-à-vis ootherther journals:journals: JEP aarticlesrticles appearappear toto havehave a shortershorter half-life.half-life. WhileWhile JEP citationscitations aappearppear toto peakpeak approximatelyapproximately sevenseven yearsyears followingfollowing publication,publication, FigureFigure 1 suggestssuggests tthathat tthehe ccomparisonomparison ssetet ooff tthreehree jjournalsournals sseesees llittleittle rreductioneduction iinn ccitationsitations eevenven iinn tthehe ““outout years.”years.” ThisThis contrastcontrast strikesstrikes meme asas a healthyhealthy intellectualintellectual divisiondivision ofof labor.labor. JEP’’ss pprimaryrimary ggoaloal iiss ttoo iilluminatelluminate thethe researchresearch frontierfrontier ratherrather thanthan toto pushpush itit outwardoutward ((thoughthough itit sometimessometimes succeedssucceeds onon thethe formerformer withoutwithout reallyreally trying),trying), andand hencehence wewe mmightight eexpectxpect JEP aarticlesrticles ttoo hhaveave ttheirheir bbiggestiggest iimpactmpact iinn ttheirheir fi rstrst fi veve toto sevenseven yearsyears aafterfter ppublication.ublication. WWhichhich aarticlesrticles hhaveave ccontributedontributed tthehe mmostost ttoo tthehe JEP’’ss hhighigh citationcitation rate?rate? TTableable 1 pprovidesrovides a llistist ooff tthehe ttopop 4400 mmost-citedost-cited JEP articles.articles. SinceSince citationscitations taketake ttimeime toto accumulate,accumulate, tthishis llistist nnaturallyaturally ffavorsavors aarticlesrticles ppublishedublished ssomeome yyearsears aago.go.3 TToo supplement,supplement, TableTable 2 providesprovides a listlist ofof “young“young upstarts”upstarts” publishedpublished inin thethe mostmost rrecentecent tenten JEP vvolumes,olumes, excludingexcluding articlesarticles publishedpublished inin 20112011 andand thosethose includedincluded iinn TableTable 1.1. I’llI’ll returnreturn toto thisthis listlist below.below. TToo gglimpselimpse JEP’’ss eeffectffect beyondbeyond thethe worldworld ofof scholarlyscholarly journals,journals, wewe mustmust resortresort ttoo ootherther mmeasures.easures. SSinceince eeconomicconomic eeducationducation isis ccentralentral toto JEP’’ss mmission,ission, TTableable 3 pprovidesrovides anan estimateestimate ofof thethe numbernumber ofof citationscitations toto JEP aarticlesrticles onon classclass syllabisyllabi atat tthehe toptop 110000 rresearchesearch universitiesuniversities basedbased uponupon GoogleGoogle searchessearches ofof theirtheir websites.websites.4 NNotably,otably, 9494 ofof thethe toptop 100100 researchresearch universitiesuniversities useuse JEP iinn tthehe cclassroom.lassroom. AAndnd tthishis iiss probablyprobably a substantialsubstantial undercount:undercount: 2626 ofof thethe schoolsschools hadhad fi veve oror fewerfewer JEP aarticlesrticles oonn ttheirheir ssyllabiyllabi ((includingincluding sixsix wwithith nnoneone aatt aall),ll), wwhichhich wwee sstronglytrongly ssuspectuspect ssaysays mmoreore aaboutbout thethe syllabisyllabi thatthat aren’taren’t freelyfreely availableavailable onlineonline thanthan itit doesdoes aboutabout JEP uusage.sage. NNevertheless,evertheless, wewe fi ndnd anan averageaverage ofof 4343 referencesreferences perper schoolschool (including(including thethe zeros)zeros) ttoo JEP aarticlesrticles onon coursecourse syllabisyllabi atat thesethese institutionsinstitutions and,and, happily,happily, nono obviousobvious (to(to mymy eeye)ye) rrelationshipelationship bbetweenetween tthehe mmethodologicalethodological oorientationrientation ooff tthehe eeconomicsconomics ddepart-epart- mmentent aandnd iitsts iintensityntensity ooff JEP uusage.sage.5

2 The rising citation rate for all journals likely refl ects in large part the growth of the fi eld of economics. 3 To wit, only one article in Table 1 was published after 2001. One might think that regression adjusting citations for time since publication would identify additional newly published articles that are likely to accumulate high citation counts over time. But this strategy offers no improvement over a simple citation count. While outlier articles receive an order of magnitude more cites than the average paper, the distance of these outliers from the regression lines bears little relationship to their publication date. For example, the correlation between citations and publication year in the Top 40 list in Table 1 is 0.016. 4 Top 100 Research Universities as ranked by U.S. News and World Report in 2010. Counts are based on a Google search of these universities’ websites using the terms “Journal of Economic Perspectives” and “syllabus.” 5 We also tried to search the online syllabi of the top 100 U.S. liberal arts colleges. This search produced a total of 452 citations to JEP articles. But here the Internet accessibility issue appears much more severe— only half of these searches produced any hits. Some subsequent hand-checking confi rmed, however, that many of these syllabi are gated or nonsearchable through standard means. For example, our search of Barnard College’s website found no JEP mentions. But a minute of poking around the public but nonsearchable section of Barnard’s course content site, immediately yielded two JEP articles in the reading list of a Spring 2012 class, “ECON X2010.001 The Economics of Gender.” The Journal of Economic Perspectives at 100 (Issues) 7

Table 1 Top 40 Most Cited JEP Articles of All Time

Volume, issue Rank Title Authors Year number Citations

1 Toward a New Conception of the Porter, Michael E.; 1995 9(4) 657 Environment‐Competitiveness Relationship van der Linde, Claas 2 Anomalies: The , Loss Kahneman, Daniel; 1991 5(1) 572 Aversion, and Status Quo Knetsch, Jack L.; Thaler, Richard H. 3 Contingent Valuation: Is Some Number Diamond, Peter A.; 1994 8(4) 524 Better than No Number? Hausman, Jerry A. 4 Fairness and Retaliation: The Economics of Fehr, Ernst; Gächter, 2000 14(3) 490 Reciprocity Simon 5 Systems and Network Effects Katz, Michael L.; 1994 8(2) 448 Shapiro, Carl 6 Institutions North, Douglass C. 1991 5(1) 395 7 Quantile Regression Koenker, Roger; 2001 15(4) 375 Hallock, Kevin F. 8 The Boundaries of Multinational Enterprises Markusen, James R. 1995 9(2) 375 and the Theory of International Trade 9 Inside the Black Box: The Credit Channel Bernanke, Ben S.; 1995 9(4) 365 of Transmission Gertler, Mark 10 The Origins of Endogenous Growth Romer, Paul M. 1994 8(1) 365 11 Beyond Computation: Information Brynjolfsson, Erik; 2000 14(4) 350 Technology, Organizational Transformation Hitt, Lorin M. and Business Performance 12 and Labor Market Rigidities: Nickell, Stephen 1997 11(3) 344 Europe versus North America 13 Choice under Uncertainty: Problems Solved Machina, Mark J. 1987 1(1) 338 and Unsolved 14 Valuing the Environment through Hanemann, W. 1994 8(4) 332 Contingent Valuation Michael 15 Anomalies: Ultimatums, Dictators, and Camerer, Colin; 1995 9(2) 316 Manners Thaler, Richard H. 16 Collective Action and the Evolution of Social Ostrom, Elinor 2000 14(3) 313 Norms 17 Healthy Bodies and Thick Wallets: The Dual Smith, James P. 1999 13(2) 311 Relation between Health and Economic Status 18 The Market for Corporate Control: The Jarrell, Gregg A.; 1988 2(1) 295 Empirical Evidence since 1980 Brickley, James A.; Netter, Jeffry M. 19 New Evidence and Perspectives on Mergers Andrade, Gregor; 2001 15(2) 290 Mitchell, Mark; Stafford, Erik 20 Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: Scotchmer, Suzanne 1991 5(1) 280 Cumulative Research and the Patent Law 21 Organizations and Markets Simon, Herbert A. 1991 5(2) 278 22 Learning from the Behavior of Others: Bikhchandani, 1998 12(3) 273 Conformity, Fads, and Informational Sushil; Hirshleifer, Cascades David; and Welch, Ivo 8 Journal of Economic Perspectives

Table 1—continued

Volume, issue Rank Title Authors Year number Citations

=23 Social Norms and Economic Theory Elster, Jon 1989 3(4) 272 =23 Integration of Trade and Disintegration of Feenstra, Robert C. 1998 12(4) 272 Production in the Global Economy =23 Does Studying Economics Inhibit Frank, Robert H.; 1993 7(2) 272 Cooperation? Gilovich, Thomas; Regan, Dennis T. =23 Whom or What Does the Representative Kirman, Alan P. 1992 6(2) 272 Individual Represent? =27 Takeovers: Their Causes and Consequences Jensen, Michael C. 1988 2(1) 268 =27 Political Regimes and Przeworski, Adam; 1993 7(3) 268 Limongi, Fernando 29 Medical Care Costs: How Much Welfare Newhouse, Joseph P. 1992 6(3) 265 Loss? 30 and Hysteresis Dixit, Avinash 1992 6(1) 259 31 The Resurgence of Growth in the Late Oliner, Stephen D.; 2000 14(4) 257 1990s: Is Information Technology the Sichel, Daniel E. Story? 32 Why Have Americans Become More Obsese? Cutler, David M; 2003 17(3) 250 Glaeser, Edward L.; Shapiro, Jesse M. 33 Auctions and Bidding: A Primer Milgrom, Paul 1989 3(3) 242 34 The Contingent Valuation Debate: Why Portney, Paul R. 1994 8(4) 239 Economists Should Care 35 Explaining Bargaining Impasse: The Role of Babcock, Linda; 1997 11(1) 231 Self-Serving Loewenstein, George 36 Endogenous Innovation in the Theory of Grossman, Gene M.; 1994 8(1) 225 Growth Helpman, Elhanan 37 Tightening Environmental Standards: The Palmer, Karen; 1995 9(4) 222 Benefi t-Cost or the No-Cost Paradigm Oates, Wallace E.; Portney, Paul R. 38 Instrumental Variables and the Search for Angrist, Joshua D.; 2001 15(4) 221 Identifi cation: From Supply and Demand to Krueger, Alan B. Natural Experiments 39 Divergence, Big Time Pritchett, Lant 1997 11(3) 209 =40 Anomalies: Cooperation Dawes, Robyn M.; 1988 2(3) 206 Thaler, Richard H. =40 Bargaining and Distribution in Marriage Lundberg, Shelly; 1996 10(4) 206 Pollak, Robert A.

WWhilehile tthesehese mmetricsetrics aarere intriguing,intriguing, theythey missmiss twotwo importantimportant silentsilent readershipsreaderships ooff JEP. TheThe fi rstrst isis thethe setset ofof policymakers,policymakers, practitioners,practitioners, andand economiceconomic reportersreporters wwhoho cconsultonsult JEP ttoo iinformnform ttheirheir tthinking,hinking, eevenven wwhenhen JEP iiss nnotot referencedreferenced explic-explic- iitlytly inin theirtheir laterlater commentscomments oror articles.articles. A secondsecond audienceaudience isis thethe setset ofof readersreaders whowho rregardegard thethe JEP aass kindkind ofof economist’seconomist’s New Yorker — bbedside,edside, beach,beach, andand bathroombathroom rreadingeading forfor thethe socialsocial scientist.scientist. ManyMany suchsuch readersreaders willwill rarelyrarely havehave occasionoccasion toto citecite David Autor 9

Table 2 Some Highly Cited JEP Articles Published since 2002

Volume, issue Title Authors Year number Citations

What Do Laboratory Experiments Measuring Levitt, Steven D.; List, 2007 21(2) 174 Reveal about the Real World? John A. Executive Compensation as an Agency Problem Bebchuk, Lucian Arye; 2003 17(3) 170 Fried, Jesse M. Developments in the Measurement of Subjective Kahneman, Daniel; 2006 20(1) 165 Well-Being Krueger, Alan B. The Debate Taylor, Alan M.; Taylor, 2004 18(4) 164 Mark P. What Really Matters in Auction Design? Klemperer, Paul 2002 16(1) 157 Prediction Markets Wolfers, Justin; 2004 18(2) 149 Zitzewitz, Eric The Impact of Social Structure on Economic Granovetter, Mark 2005 19(1) 147 Outcomes Identity and the Economics of Organizations Akerlof, George A.; 2005 19(1) 120 Kranton, Rachel E. Does Culture Affect Economic Outcomes? Guiso, Luigi; Sapienza, 2006 20(2) 120 Paola; Zingales, Luigi Deciphering the Liquidity and Credit Crunch Brunnermeier, 2009 23(1) 111 2007–2008 Markus K. Income, Health, and Well-Being around the Deaton, Angus 2008 22(2) 46 World: Evidence from the Gallup World Poll The Credibility Revolution in Empirical Angrist, Joshua D.; 2010 24(2) 17 Economics: How Better Research Design is Pischke, Jörn-Steffen Taking the Con out of

tthehe JEP aarticlesrticles they’vethey’ve readread becausebecause thethe topicstopics areare outsideoutside theirtheir usualusual spheresspheres ooff rresearch.esearch. ButBut wewe suspectsuspect thatthat thesethese articlesarticles areare oftenoften citedcited verballyverbally inin collegialcollegial cconversations,onversations, inin classroomclassroom lectures,lectures, atat dinnerdinner tabletable discussions,discussions, andand inin politicalpolitical ddebate.ebate. SuchSuch verbalverbal citationscitations areare oneone ofof thethe corecore missionsmissions ofof JEP, eveneven ifif wewe cannotcannot eenumeratenumerate tthem.hem.

Contributions

Opening New Topics WWhilehile JEP iiss notnot intendedintended asas a frontierfrontier researchresearch journal,journal, itit isis hardhard toto escapeescape tthehe impressionimpression thatthat itit hhasas nneverthelessevertheless shapedshaped thethe frontier—not,frontier—not, however,however, byby thethe uusualsual methodmethod ofof unleashingunleashing a trovetrove ofof regressionregression outputoutput oror anan exquisiteexquisite newnew proof.proof. RRather,ather, itit hashas movedmoved thethe frontierfrontier byby capturingcapturing thethe scarcestscarcest ofof allall academicacademic resources:resources: aattention.ttention. PerhapsPerhaps thethe bestbest exampleexample ooff tthishis pphenomenonhenomenon iiss tthehe ““Anomalies”Anomalies” ffeature,eature, 10 Journal of Economic Perspectives

Table 3 JEP Citations on Class Syllabi at Top 100 Research Universities

All top 100

University Citations

Mean cites 43.3 Median cites 22.5

Twenty-fi ve highest citation counts University Citations

Harvard 456 NYU 241 MIT 222 UC Berkeley 191 U Wisconsin–Madison 158 Princeton 153 American U 149 Stanford 143 U Michigan–Ann Arbor 129 U Maryland–College Park 121 UC San Diego 119 Columbia 114 U Colorado–Boulder 111 Duke 104 U Penn 99 Boston College 89 U Chicago 73 U Minnesota 70 U Texas–Austin 70 U Washington 66 Penn State–U Park 62 UCLA 52 U Southern California 46 Yale 46

wwrittenritten byby RichardRichard ThalerThaler andand a hosthost ofof noteworthynoteworthy coauthors,coauthors, whichwhich drewdrew attentionattention ttoo puzzlingpuzzling regularitiesregularities inin individualindividual oror marketmarket behaviorbehavior thatthat seemedseemed toto defydefy readyready nneoclassicaleoclassical eexplanation.xplanation. TThehe 1199 aarticlesrticles iinn tthishis sseries,eries, mmostost ppublishedublished bbetweenetween 11987987 aandnd 1995,1995, seemedseemed mmildlyildly hhereticaleretical atat tthehe ttime,ime, pperhapserhaps ddesignedesigned ttoo ggoadoad hhardenedardened aadherentsdherents ooff tthehe mmodel.odel. ThreeThree (“The(“The EndowmentEndowment EffectEffect . . .,”.,” “Ulti-“Ulti- mmatumsatums . . ..,”,” aandnd ““Cooperation”)Cooperation”) aarere aamongmong tthehe JEP’’ss 4040 most-citedmost-cited ofof allall time,time, andand sseveneven areare aatt oorr aabovebove tthehe 9900tthh ppercentileercentile ofof JEP ccitations.itations.6 IItt hhasas longlong beenbeen mymy hunchhunch

6 JEP has published 1,104 articles since 1987, 19 of which were “Anomalies” articles. The Journal of Economic Perspectives at 100 (Issues) 11

tthathat bbyy mmakingaking iitt ddiffiiffi cultcult forfor mainstreammainstream economistseconomists toto ignoreignore thethe predictablepredictable irra-irra- ttionalitiesionalities inin humanhuman behavior,behavior, thethe “Anomalies”“Anomalies” featurefeature catalyzedcatalyzed thethe nascentnascent fi eldeld ofof bbehavioralehavioral economics.economics. InIn writingwriting forfor thisthis article,article, I discovereddiscovered thatthat I’mI’m notnot alonealone inin tthishis view.view. InIn theirtheir chapterchapter onon “Behavioral“”Economics” inin thethe Handbook of Philosophy of Science, AAngnerngner andand LoewensteinLoewenstein (forthcoming)(forthcoming) write,write, “.“. . . throughthrough hishis ‘Anoma-‘Anoma- llies’ies’ columnscolumns publishedpublished inin thethe widelywidely distributeddistributed Journal of Economic Perspectives aandnd collectedcollected inin The Winner’s Curse (1992),(1992), ThalerThaler helpedhelped accelerateaccelerate thethe awarenessawareness aandnd aacceptancecceptance ooff bbehavioralehavioral eeconomicsconomics aamongmong mmainstreamainstream eeconomists.”conomists.” IIndeed,ndeed, thethe listlist ofof highlyhighly citedcited articlesarticles inin TableTable 1 hintshints thatthat JEP hhasas sservederved aass a ssortort ofof testtest kitchenkitchen forfor thethe expansionexpansion ofof ourour disciplinediscipline intointo topicstopics thatthat traditionallytraditionally llayay withinwithin thethe domainsdomains ofof psychology,psychology, sociology,sociology, politicalpolitical science,science, andand anthropology.anthropology. SSomeome examplesexamples fromfrom TableTable 1 include:include: cooperationcooperation (“Fairness(“Fairness andand Retaliation”Retaliation” andand ““DoesDoes SStudyingtudying EEconomicsconomics IInhibitnhibit CCooperation?”);ooperation?”); ssocialocial nnormsorms ((“Collective“Collective AActionction aandnd thethe EEvolutionvolution ofof SocialSocial Norms”Norms” andand ““SocialSocial NormsNorms aandnd EEconomicconomic TTheory”);heory”); ggrouproup behaviorbehavior (“Learning(“Learning fromfrom thethe BehaviorBehavior ofof Others”);Others”); institutionsinstitutions (“Institu-(“Institu- ttions”ions” andand “Political“Political RegimesRegimes aandnd EEconomicconomic GGrowth”);rowth”); andand bbargainingargaining behaviorbehavior ((“Explaining“Explaining BargainingBargaining Impasse:Impasse: TheThe RRoleole ooff SSelf-Servingelf-Serving BBiases”iases” aandnd ““BargainingBargaining aandnd DDistributionistribution iinn MMarriage”).arriage”). WWouldould tthehe eeconomicsconomics pprofessionrofession hhaveave mmovedoved iinn tthesehese ddirectionsirections aabsentbsent tthehe JEP ttestest kkitchen?itchen? SSurely,urely, tthehe aanswernswer iiss ““yes.”yes.” BButut tthehe mmovementovement mmightight nnotot hhaveave bbeeneen aass bbroadroad aacrosscross tthehe pprofession,rofession, aandnd pperhapserhaps wwouldould nnotot hhaveave iincludedncluded tthehe ssameame eenergynergy oorr uupwellingpwelling ooff ttalent.alent. IInn mmyy oobservation,bservation, iitt ttakesakes aatt mmostost a hhandfulandful ooff uunconventional,nconventional, ppassionateassionate rresearchersesearchers ttoo iignitegnite a rresearchesearch aarearea aandnd iinn tthathat wwayay ttoo bbendend tthehe ddirec-irec- ttionion ooff a fi eeldld aandnd ffocusocus tthehe aattentionttention ooff tthehe pprofessionrofession oonn tthehe pproblemsroblems ttheyhey bbringring ttoo tthehe ffore.ore. TThesehese uupstartspstarts aarere ooftenften bbornorn ooff tthehe mmarriagearriage bbetweenetween rrawaw ttalentalent aandnd iintellectualntellectual mmissionission cconsummatedonsummated dduringuring PPh.D.h.D. ttraining,raining, wwhenhen tthehe cchancehance iinflnfl uenceuence ooff aadvisors,dvisors, ppeers,eers, sscholarscholars llivingiving aandnd ddead,ead, ppersonalersonal ddrive,rive, aandnd wwhateverhatever ccurrentsurrents aarere iinn tthehe aairir aactct ttogetherogether ttoo ppushush yyoungoung sscholarscholars ttowardsowards ttheirheir llife’sife’s wwork.ork. I ssuspectuspect tthathat JEP hhasas pplayedlayed tthehe iintellectualntellectual mmatchmakeratchmaker fforor mmanyany iintellectualntellectual uupstartspstarts iinn tthehe llastast 2255 yyears—indeed,ears—indeed, I ssawaw tthishis aamongmong mmyy ppeerseers wwhilehile iinn ggraduateraduate sschool.chool. BByy cchannelinghanneling ppromisingromising bbutut uunfinfi nishednished iideasdeas ttoo yyoungoung sscholarscholars wwhenhen ttheyhey wwereere lleasteast ccommittedommitted ttoo aann iideologydeology aandnd hhungriestungriest fforor aann aagenda,genda, iitt iiss mmyy sstrongtrong hhunchunch tthathat JEP hhasas iincreasedncreased tthehe ppaceace ooff iintellectualntellectual ffermenterment iinn oourur pprofession.rofession.

Room for Debate JEP hhasas ooftenften sstagedtaged bbattlesattles bbetweenetween ttraditionalraditional aandnd rrevisionistevisionist eeconomicconomic vview-iew- ppoints,oints, andand it’sit’s ffarar ffromrom cclearlear tthathat tthehe rrevisionistsevisionists hhaveave aalwayslways pprevailed.revailed. FForor eexample,xample, tthreehree ooff JEP’’ss 4400 mmostost hhighlyighly citedcited articlesarticles stemstem fromfrom a singlesingle 19941994 symposiumsymposium onon tthehe valuevalue ofof contingentcontingent valuationvaluation asas a tooltool forfor pricingpricing environmentalenvironmental amenities.amenities. TThehe mostmost ccitedited ooff thesethese articlesarticles (“Contingent(“Contingent Valuation—IsValuation—Is SomeSome NumberNumber BetterBetter tthanhan NNoo NNumber?”umber?” byby DiamondDiamond andand Hausman)Hausman) savagedsavaged thethe contingentcontingent valuationvaluation mmethodology.ethodology. SSimilarly,imilarly, inin JEP’’ss mostmost citedcited paperpaper ofof thethe pastpast fi veve years,years, “What“What DDoo LaboratoryLaboratory ExperimentsExperiments MeasuringMeasuring SocialSocial PreferencesPreferences RevealReveal aboutabout thethe RealReal WWorld?”orld?” LevittLevitt andand ListList castcast a skepticalskeptical eyeeye onon thethe inflinfl uentialuential bodybody ofof laboratorylaboratory 12 Journal of Economic Perspectives

eexperimentsxperiments tthathat fi ndnd thatthat inin anonymous,anonymous, one-timeone-time interactions,interactions, economiceconomic actorsactors hhaveave a sstrongtrong ppreferencereference fforor aaltruism,ltruism, ffairness,airness, rreciprocity,eciprocity, aandnd iinequitynequity aaversion.version. IIndeed,ndeed, whatwhat manymany ofof thesethese examplesexamples suggestsuggest isis thatthat a certaincertain amountamount ofof ccontroversyontroversy isis pproductive,roductive, probablyprobably becausebecause controversycontroversy focusesfocuses attention.attention. TheThe mmost-citedost-cited JEP aarticlerticle ofof allall time,time, “Toward“Toward a NewNew ConceptionConception ofof thethe Environment-Environment- CCompetitivenessompetitiveness Relationship”Relationship” byby PorterPorter andand vanvan derder LLinde,inde, oofferedffered tthehe ccontroversialontroversial tthesishesis thatthat environmentalenvironmental regulationsregulations cancan “pay“pay forfor themselves”themselves” byby stimulatingstimulating iinnovationnnovation thatthat generatesgenerates economiceconomic growth.growth. ThisThis thesisthesis clearlyclearly invitesinvites a correctivecorrective ssermonermon ffromrom tthehe “no“no freefree lunch”lunch” altar,altar, andand I suspectsuspect thatthat a signifisignifi cantcant minorityminority ooff tthehe ccitesites ttoo tthishis aarticlerticle ooriginateriginate fromfrom iitsts ccriticsritics rratherather tthanhan iitsts aadmirers.dmirers. NNever-ever- ttheless,heless, anan articlearticle inin thethe American Economic Review bbyy AAcemoglu,cemoglu, Aghion,Aghion, Bursztyn,Bursztyn, aandnd HHemousemous ((2012)2012) mmakesakes a ppositiveositive casecase forfor innovation-inducinginnovation-inducing environmentalenvironmental rregulation,egulation, bbuildinguilding ffromrom tthehe ddirectedirected ttechnicalechnical cchangehange lliterature—aiterature—a lliteratureiterature tthathat tthehe PPorterorter aandnd vvanan dderer LLindeinde aarticlerticle ppredatesredates bbyy somesome yyears.ears.7

PPublicublic SSchoolchool TThehe eexamplesxamples aabovebove pprimarilyrimarily eencompassncompass iintradisciplinaryntradisciplinary ddebates—instancesebates—instances iinn wwhichhich thethe professionprofession reflrefl ectsects onon itself.itself. FindingFinding thesethese areare amongamong JEP’’ss mmostost ccitedited ppapersapers suggestssuggests thatthat thethe fi rstrst rolerole thatthat StiglitzStiglitz articulatedarticulated forfor JEP——“providing“providing pperspectiveerspective oonn ccurrenturrent eeconomicconomic rresearch”—isesearch”—is vvital.ital. JEP hhasas alsoalso soughtsought toto fulfifulfi llll wwhathat StiglitzStiglitz identifiidentifi eded asas itsits otherother mission,mission, “explaining“explaining howhow economicseconomics providesprovides pperspectiveerspective onon questionsquestions ofof generalgeneral .”interest.” JEP pprovidesrovides a venuevenue wherewhere econo-econo- mmistsists ccanan eexplainxplain ccurrenturrent eeventsvents aandnd tthehe wworldorld ttoo oonene aanother.nother. FForor eexample,xample, aass hhealthealth aandnd hhealthcareealthcare fi nancenance aascendedscended tthehe ppublicublic aagendagenda ooverver tthehe llastast ttwowo ddecades,ecades, JEP hhasas hhelpedelped bbringring tthehe pprofessionrofession uupp ttoo sspeed.peed. SSomeome wwidelyidely ccitedited aarticlesrticles iincludenclude ““HealthyHealthy BBodiesodies aandnd TThickhick WWallets”allets” bbyy SSmith,mith, ““MedicalMedical CCareare CCosts—Howosts—How MMuchuch WWelfareelfare LLoss?”oss?” bbyy NNewhouse,ewhouse, ““WhyWhy HHaveave AAmericansmericans BBecomeecome MMoreore OObese?”bese?” bbyy CCutler,utler, GGlaeser,laeser, aandnd SShapiro,hapiro, aandnd a mmoreore rrecentecent ppaperaper tthathat iiss rrapidlyapidly ggatheringathering ccitations:itations: ““Income,Income, HHealth,ealth, aandnd WWell-Beingell-Being aaroundround tthehe WWorld”orld” bbyy DDeaton.eaton. DDuringuring thethe rrecentecent fi nancialnancial crisis,crisis, then-Editorthen-Editor AndreiAndrei ShleiferShleifer anticipatedanticipated rrapidlyapidly risingrising demanddemand forfor professionalprofessional educationeducation onon thethe fi nancialnancial architecturearchitecture ofof mmodernodern eeconomies.conomies. IInn rresponse,esponse, JEP ccommissionedommissioned threethree ssymposiaymposia ((1515 aarticlesrticles iinn total)total) thatthat offeredoffered a three-partthree-part curriculum:curriculum: “Early“Early StagesStages ofof thethe CreditCredit Crunch”Crunch” ((WinterWinter 22009);009); ““FinancialFinancial Plumbing”Plumbing” (Winter(Winter 22010);010); aandnd ““FinancialFinancial RegulationRegulation aafterfter thethe CCrisis”risis” (Winter(Winter 22011).011).8 TThesehese essaysessays surelysurely helpedhelped manymany facultyfaculty members,members, sstudents,tudents, andand real-worldreal-world practitionerspractitioners getget upup toto speedspeed onon thesethese issues,issues, andand somesome ooff themthem maymay havehave a moremore lastinglasting impactimpact onon thethe literatureliterature asas well.well. ForFor example,example, BBrunnermeier’srunnermeier’s 22009009 aarticlerticle “Deciphering“Deciphering thethe LiquidityLiquidity andand CreditCredit CrunchCrunch 2007–2007– 22008”008” hhasas aalreadylready aaccruedccrued moremore tthanhan 110000 ppublishedublished ccitations.itations.

7 For a rigorous discussion of the Porter and van der Linde hypothesis in a model of directed technical change, see Acemoglu (2010). 8 In fact, the fi rst of these symposia was in the works well before the crisis came to a head in September 2008. David Autor 13

PPerhapserhaps surprisingly,surprisingly, ssomeome ooff JEP’’ss mmost-citedost-cited paperspapers residereside inin a subjectsubject areaarea wwherehere oneone mightmight expectexpect thethe almost-no-equationsalmost-no-equations formatformat ofof thethe JEP ttoo bebe ccrip-rip- ppling:ling: eeconometricconometric mmethodology.ethodology. TThehe ppapersapers ““QuantileQuantile RRegression”egression” bbyy KKoenkeroenker aandnd HHallock,allock, ““InstrumentalInstrumental VVariablesariables aandnd tthehe SSearchearch fforor IIdentifidentifi cation”cation” byby AngristAngrist aandnd Krueger,Krueger, andand thethe veryvery recentrecent (2010)(2010) paper,paper, “The“The CredibilityCredibility RevolutionRevolution inin EEmpiricalmpirical Economics”Economics” byby AngristAngrist andand PischkePischke demonstratedemonstrate otherwise.otherwise. WhileWhile wewe wwouldould bebe somewhatsomewhat takentaken abackaback (perhaps(perhaps eveneven horrifihorrifi ed)ed) toto thinkthink thatthat practitio-practitio- nnersers areare gettinggetting theirtheir econometricseconometrics trainingtraining fromfrom JEP, wewe inferinfer thatthat atat a minimum,minimum, sstudentstudents viewview thethe journaljournal asas somethingsomething ofof a user’suser’s guideguide toto currentcurrent practice,practice, andand eevenven practitionerspractitioners areare interestedinterested inin comparingcomparing theirtheir intuitionintuition aboutabout econometriceconometric pproceduresrocedures wwithith a JEP--stylestyle eexplanation.xplanation. WWhyhy wwouldould ssomeoneomeone tturnurn ttoo JEP fforor gguidanceuidance oonn a ttechnicalechnical ssubjectubject llikeike eecono-cono- mmetrics?etrics? TheThe reasonreason isis preciselyprecisely thatthat JEP privilegesprivileges lucidlucid explanationexplanation andand goodgood wwritingriting ooverver ttechnicalechnical eexegesis.xegesis. DDoneone rright,ight, a JEP aarticlerticle doesdoes nnotot ssacrifiacrifi cece scientifiscientifi c rrigorigor iinn thethe serviceservice ofof accessibility;accessibility; itit simplysimply usesuses logiclogic andand clearclear languagelanguage inin thethe pplacelace ofof formalismformalism toto makemake iitsts ppoints.oints. ThisThis formatformat willwill notnot suffisuffi cece forfor everyevery topictopic iinn economics.economics. ButBut duedue inin nono smallsmall partpart toto thethe singularsingular editorialeditorial craftcraft ofof ManagingManaging EEditorditor TimothyTimothy TTaylor,aylor, wwhoho hhasas sservederved tthehe jjournalournal ssinceince itsits inception,inception, thethe JEP hhasas rregularlyegularly amazedamazed itsits readersreaders (myself(myself amongamong them)them) withwith thethe technicaltechnical depthdepth itit cancan rreacheach wwithith ssomeome wwell-wroughtell-wrought pprose,rose, a ffewew ttables,ables, aandnd ssomeome aartfulrtful fi gures.gures.

Where Next?

IInn aassumingssuming tthehe eeditorshipditorship ofof thethe JEP, I facedfaced anan intimidatingintimidating question:question: givengiven tthehe journal’sjournal’s uniqueunique nicheniche inin ourour professionprofession andand itsits stellarstellar tracktrack recordrecord inin fi llinglling it,it, wwasas ttherehere aanythingnything I ccouldould ddoo ootherther tthanhan ccarryarry oonn tthehe jjournal’sournal’s ttraditionsraditions andand hopehope nnotot ttoo ttarnisharnish iitsts reputation?reputation? ThreeThree yearsyears intointo mymy editorship,editorship, I’veI’ve concludedconcluded thatthat I won’twon’t knowknow thethe answeranswer toto thisthis questionquestion forfor somesome yearsyears afterafter mymy editorshipeditorship endsends iinn 2014.2014. Clearly,Clearly, thethe vitalityvitality ofof thethe JEP ddependsepends onon thethe originalityoriginality ofof thethe articlesarticles itit aattractsttracts andand thethe qualityquality ofof theirtheir exposition.exposition. WhetherWhether thethe articlesarticles we’rewe’re publishingpublishing nnowow aarere pprescientrescient ccontributionsontributions oorr mmerelyerely fl ashesashes inin thethe panpan isis notnot somethingsomething I amam eequippedquipped toto judgejudge inin realreal time.time. HumbledHumbled byby thisthis dosedose ofof realism,realism, I’veI’ve refocusedrefocused ssomeome ooff mmyy eenergynergy ffromrom tthehe ssublimeublime ttoo tthehe mmundaneundane bbyy ttakingaking a ffewew cconcreteoncrete sstepsteps ttoo iimprovemprove tthehe jjournalournal iinn aareasreas wwherehere pprogressrogress iiss eeasierasier ttoo jjudge.udge.

Originality of Contributions AAss JJosephoseph SStiglitztiglitz nnotesotes iinn hhisis ccompanionompanion eessay,ssay, tthehe JEP ffacesaces tthehe oongoingngoing cchal-hal- llengeenge ofof maintainingmaintaining qualityquality whilewhile maximizingmaximizing thethe diversitydiversity ofof viewpoints.viewpoints. WhenWhen ssuccessful,uccessful, thisthis mmodelodel yyieldsields aarticlesrticles tthathat aarere uuniformlyniformly ggoodood aandnd cconsistentlyonsistently eeclectic.clectic. BButut it’sit’s easyeasy toto veerveer tootoo farfar towardstowards eithereither safesafe choices—conventionalchoices—conventional ideas,ideas, wellwell eexposited—orxposited—or towardtoward heterodoxyheterodoxy forfor itsits ownown sake,sake, meaningmeaning unconventionalunconventional viewsviews tthathat aarere nnotot widelywidely subscribedsubscribed forfor goodgood reason.reason. OneOne wayway toto continuallycontinually minemine freshfresh iintellectualntellectual veinsveins isis toto fi llll thethe journal’sjournal’s editorialeditorial teamteam withwith interesting,interesting, opinionatedopinionated 14 Journal of Economic Perspectives

ppeopleeople whowho aarere nnotot aallowedllowed toto staystay ttoooo llong.ong. TThehe mmodalodal mmemberember ooff oourur eeditorialditorial tteameam sserveserves tthreehree yyears,ears, aandnd nnoneone sserveserves mmoreore tthanhan ssix.ix.9 IInn aaddition,ddition, aalthoughlthough mmostost JEP aarticlesrticles areare solicitedsolicited byby thethe editorialeditorial team,team, I vviewiew iitt aass eessentialssential tthathat tthehe JEP iiss oopenpen ttoo pproposalsroposals ffromrom tthosehose wwhoho ddon’ton’t hhaveave a ppersonalersonal ppipelineipeline toto a mmemberember ooff tthehe eeditorialditorial ggroup.roup. TThehe JEP hhasas aalwayslways lookedlooked atat proposalsproposals ssentent ttoo oourur ooffiffi ces,ces, butbut withoutwithout publiclypublicly enunciatingenunciating thethe process.process. SpecifiSpecifi c guidelinesguidelines fforor pproposalsroposals ttoo JEP aarere nownow postedposted atat thethe journal’sjournal’s website,website, withwith thethe overalloverall goalsgoals ooff mminimizinginimizing aauthors’uthors’ sunksunk costscosts andand maximizingmaximizing transparency.transparency. WeWe aasksk authorsauthors ssendingending uunsolicitednsolicited workwork ttoo ssubmitubmit sshorthort 22–3–3 ppageage pproposalsroposals rratherather tthanhan ccompletedompleted mmanuscripts.anuscripts. FForor pproposalsroposals tthathat aappearppear ppromising,romising, tthehe eeditorsditors pproviderovide ffeedbackeedback oonn tthehe ssubstance,ubstance, focus,focus, andand stylestyle ofof thethe proposedproposed article.article. ForFor thosethose proposalsproposals thatthat dodo nnotot cclearlear tthishis bbar,ar, wwee aatt lleasteast oofferffer a qquickuick tturnaround.urnaround. AApproximatelypproximately 2200 ppercentercent ooff tthehe aarticlesrticles currentlycurrently inin ourour publicationpublication pipelinepipeline beganbegan lifelife asas unsolicitedunsolicited over-the-over-the- ttransomransom pproposals.roposals.

Empirical Papers TThehe JEP iiss cclearlylearly nnotot iintendedntended aass aann ooutletutlet fforor ooriginal,riginal, ffrontierrontier eempiricalmpirical ccontributions—that’sontributions—that’s wwhathat rrefereedefereed jjournalsournals aarere ffor—butor—but wwee nneverthelessevertheless ddoo oocca-cca- ssionallyionally ppublishublish ooriginalriginal eempiricalmpirical wworkork tthathat sseemseems ttoo fi t ourour bbroaderroader iintellectualntellectual mmission.ission. TToo cclarifylarify fforor oourselvesurselves aandnd oourur rreaderseaders wwhathat iitt mmeanseans fforor aann eempiricalmpirical ppaperaper ttoo ““fifi t,”t,” wwee aagaingain aadopteddopted ssomeome sspecifipecifi c rrulesules ooff tthumbhumb fforor jjudgingudging eempiricalmpirical ppapers,apers, rrulesules tthathat aarere aavailablevailable aatt tthehe jjournal’sournal’s wwebsite.ebsite. FForor a pprimarilyrimarily empiricalempirical ppaperaper ttoo wworkork wwellell iinn JEP, thethe paper’spaper’s mainmain topictopic andand qquestionuestion mustmust notnot alreadyalready havehave foundfound fertilefertile soilsoil inin refereedrefereed journals.journals. InIn addition,addition, iiff tthehe hhallmarkallmark ooff a wweakeak fi eldeld journaljournal ppaperaper iiss tthehe jjuxtapositionuxtaposition ooff sstrongtrong cclaimslaims wwithith weakweak evidence,evidence, a JEP ppaperaper presentingpresenting nnewew eempiricalmpirical fi nndingsdings willwill combinecombine sstrongtrong eevidencevidence wwithith wweakeak cclaims.laims. ““StrongStrong eevidence”vidence” iinn a JEP ppaperaper willwill referrefer toto fi nndingsdings thatthat areare almostalmost immediatelyimmediately apparentapparent fromfrom a scatterscatter plotplot oror a tabletable ofof mmeans.eans. AlthoughAlthough JEP ppapersapers occasionallyoccasionally includeinclude regressions,regressions, thethe mainmain empiricalempirical iinferencesnferences shouldshould notnot bebe dependentdependent onon functionalfunctional formsforms oror choiceschoices ofof controlcontrol vari-vari- aables.bles. Indeed,Indeed, newnew empiricalempirical fi ndingsndings thatthat areare notnot almostalmost immediatelyimmediately self-evidentself-evident iinn tabulartabular oror graphicgraphic formform probablyprobably belongbelong inin a conventionalconventional refereedrefereed journaljournal rratherather thanthan inin JEP. “Weak“Weak claims”claims” iinn aann eempiricalmpirical JEP ppaperaper meansmeans thatthat whilewhile thethe eempiricalmpirical fi ndingsndings sshouldhould bbee rrobustobust aandnd tthoughthought pprovoking,rovoking, tthehe ddiscussioniscussion sshouldhould ffocusocus onon tthehe rrangeange ooff ppossibleossible iinterpretations.nterpretations.

Open Access IInn 22010,010, tthehe EExecutivexecutive CCommitteeommittee ooff tthehe AAmericanmerican EEconomicconomic AAssociationssociation ddecidedecided ttoo mmakeake aallll JEP aarticlesrticles ppubliclyublicly aaccessibleccessible atat nono chargecharge viavia thethe AAssociation’sssociation’s wwebsite.ebsite. BackBack issuesissues fromfrom 19941994 upup throughthrough thethe presentpresent areare onlineonline now;now; soon,soon, thethe fi rrstst sseveneven vvolumesolumes wwillill bbee aavailable,vailable, ttoo.oo.

9 Tim Taylor excepted of course! The Journal of Economic Perspectives at 100 (Issues) 15

TThehe AAEAEA hhasas aalsolso aalteredltered iitsts jjournalournal ddistributionistribution ppracticesractices ssoo tthathat nnoo mmemberember rreceiveseceives a ppaperaper ccopyopy ooff aanyny jjournalournal wwithoutithout rrequestingequesting iitt aandnd ppayingaying fforor iit.t. TThishis pprac-rac- tticeice mmakesakes ssenseense fforor mmostost jjournals:ournals: tthehe rreadershipeadership ooff mmostost AAEAEA jjournalsournals iiss iinelasticnelastic bbecause,ecause, iinn a nnutshell,utshell, ppracticingracticing eeconomistsconomists nneedeed ttoo kknownow wwhathat iinn ttheirheir fi eeldld iiss ppublishedublished iinn tthehe American Economic Review aandnd tthehe ffourour American Economic Journals. HHowever,owever, tthehe JEP mmayay bbee ddifferent.ifferent. AfterAfter all,all, itit isis thethe journaljournal wherewhere practicingpracticing eeconomistsconomists readread aboutabout topicstopics thatthat aren’taren’t inin theirtheir areaarea ofof specialization.specialization. JEP’’ss outsizedoutsized mmindshareindshare probablyprobably reliesrelies inin partpart onon thethe factfact thatthat intellectuallyintellectually curiouscurious peoplepeople justjust ccan’tan’t hhelpelp bbutut rreadead tthehe aarticlesrticles onceonce thethe journaljournal isis sittingsitting onon theirtheir desk,desk, nightstand,nightstand, oorr kkitchenitchen ttable.able. IInn thethe hopeshopes ofof maintainingmaintaining thethe happenstancehappenstance contactcontact betweenbetween thethe journaljournal aandnd iitsts rreaders,eaders, wewe areare investinginvesting inin severalseveral additionaladditional methodsmethods ofof distribution.distribution. InIn 22012,012, JEP wwillill alsoalso becomebecome availableavailable inin e-readere-reader formatformat (for(for example,example, forfor KindleKindle oror NNook)ook) asas wellwell asas issue-lengthissue-length PDFPDF fi les.les. TheseThese formatsformats willwill bebe downloadabledownloadable fromfrom tthehe JEP wwebsite.ebsite. ThoseThose whowho preferprefer thatthat theirtheir electronicelectronic contentcontent bebe automaticallyautomatically ddeliveredelivered toto ttheirheir ddevicesevices wwillill bbee aableble ttoo ssubscribeubscribe ttoo tthehe JEP vviaia AAmazonmazon aandnd BBarnesarnes & NobleNoble atat nominalnominal annualannual cost.cost. AmazonAmazon andand BarnesBarnes & NobleNoble dodo notnot currentlycurrently allowallow fforor nno-costo-cost subscriptionssubscriptions toto copyrightedcopyrighted material,material, butbut thethe AEAAEA isis currentlycurrently negoti-negoti- aatingting toto setset thethe JEP’’ss onlineonline subscriptionsubscription priceprice toto asas closeclose toto freefree asas thesethese vendorsvendors wwillill aallow.llow. FFinally,inally, wewe willwill soonsoon experimentexperiment withwith sendingsending postcardpostcard mailingsmailings ofof JEP’’ss tablestables ooff ccontentsontents toto AAEAEA mmembersembers ttoo sseeee wwhetherhether tthishis iincreasesncreases JEP ddownloadsownloads rrelativeelative ttoo tthehe rregularegular AAEAEA ttable-of-contentsable-of-contents ee-mail-mail ““blast.”blast.”

Conclusion

IInn reflrefl ectingecting onon wwhathat JEP hhasas accomplishedaccomplished iinn iitsts fi rstrst 2525 years,years, I sseeee ffourour ddistinctistinct ccontributionsontributions tthathat tthehe jjournalournal hhasas mmadeade ttoo ourour discipline:discipline: bringingbringing rresearchesearch ttopicsopics iintonto tthehe mmainstreamainstream bbeforeefore ttheyhey ffoundound ppurchaseurchase iinn rrefereedefereed jjournals;ournals; iinforming,nforming, ddisciplining,isciplining, aandnd sshapinghaping ddebateebate oonn ppublicublic iissues;ssues; hhostingosting aandnd ppromotingromoting iintradisciplinaryntradisciplinary ccommunication;ommunication; aandnd eexposingxposing ggenerationsenerations ooff uundergraduates,ndergraduates, ggraduateraduate sstudents,tudents, aandnd ffacultyaculty mmembersembers ttoo tthehe ppower,ower, uutility,tility, aandnd bbeautyeauty ofof well-expositedwell-exposited eeconomicconomic iinsight.nsight. I hhopeope tthathat I hhaveave pprovidedrovided aann iinklingnkling ooff JEP’’ss ssuccessuccess oonn eeachach ccount.ount. A fi nnalal qquestionuestion I hhaveave aaskedsked mmyselfyself iinn tthehe llastast ffewew yyearsears iiss hhowow tthehe eexperi-xperi- eencence ooff eeditingditing JEP hhasas shapedshaped mymy ownown scholarship.scholarship. TheThe answeranswer bringsbrings meme backback ttoo a themetheme ofof thisthis essay:essay: thethe scarcityscarcity ofof attention.attention. AlthoughAlthough academicsacademics areare oftenoften ddepictedepicted asas leadingleading liveslives ofof sobersober meditationmeditation akinakin toto Rodin’sRodin’s The Thinker, mymy eexperiencexperience ofof academiaacademia isis anythinganything butbut contemplative.contemplative. TheThe raterate ofof productionproduction ooff scholarshipscholarship isis frenetic.frenetic. TheThe numbernumber ofof articlesarticles I fl agag eacheach dayday thatthat I “should”“should” rreadead vastlyvastly exceedsexceeds mymy availableavailable wakingwaking hours.hours. I strugglestruggle toto bothboth staystay atopatop ofof mymy ttinyiny cornercorner ofof scholarshipscholarship andand alsoalso toto notnot loselose sightsight ofof thethe vastvast landscapelandscape ofof intel-intel- llectualectual activityactivity inin whichwhich it’sit’s situated.situated. ThisThis afflaffl ictioniction isis notnot uncommon.uncommon. A New York 16 Journal of Economic Perspectives

Times blogblog reported,reported, basedbased onon analysisanalysis ofof thethe NationalNational HealthHealth InterviewInterview Survey,Survey, tthathat economistseconomists areare thethe fi fthfth mostmost sleep-deprivedsleep-deprived ofof U.S.U.S. occupations,occupations, onlyonly beatenbeaten ooutut byby (in(in order)order) homehome healthhealth aides,aides, lawyers,lawyers, policepolice offioffi ccers,ers, andand physiciansphysicians andand pparamedicsaramedics (Rampell(Rampell 2012).2012).1100 EEditingditing tthehe Journal of Economic Perspectives hashas helpedhelped mmee ttoo fi ndnd ssomeome ppeaceeace wwithith mmyy iincurablencurable ttimeime sshortagehortage iinn aatt lleasteast ttwowo wways.ays. FFirst,irst, ddeveloping,eveloping, eediting,diting, aandnd rreadingeading JEP ssymposiaymposia ffurnishesurnishes mmee wwithith tthehe eenforcednforced lluxuryuxury ooff bbearingearing ddownown oonn a nnewew ttopic,opic, aabsorbingbsorbing ssomeome ooff iitsts ddistilledistilled wwisdom,isdom, aandnd ddevelopingeveloping a ssenseense ooff iitsts kkeyey oopenpen qques-ues- ttions.ions. AAss JEP eeditor—andditor—and uunlikenlike aann eeditorditor ooff a ttopop rrefereedefereed jjournal—Iournal—I kknownow tthathat I ccan’tan’t ppushush tthehe ffrontierrontier ooff a lliteratureiterature bbyy sshepherdinghepherding ppath-breakingath-breaking iideasdeas iintonto ppublicublic vview.iew. HHowever,owever, tthehe JEP eeditorsditors ccanan oofferffer oourur aauthorsuthors dduringuring oourur ccommentingommenting pprocessrocess tthehe bbenefienefi t ooff tthehe wwide-eyedide-eyed iignorancegnorance ooff a ssetet ooff ssmart,mart, uunschoolednschooled ooutsiders—ulti-utsiders—ulti- mmatelyately rrepresentingepresenting oourur bbroadroad iintendedntended aaudienceudience ooff ggeneralisteneralist eeconomistconomist rreaders.eaders. PPreciselyrecisely bbecauseecause tthehe JEP eeditorialditorial teamteam isis not eexpertxpert oonn mmostost ooff tthehe vvastast ssetet ooff ttopicsopics iinn wwhichhich wwee ppublish,ublish, wwee ffocusocus iinsteadnstead oonn aaskingsking iilluminatinglluminating qquestions,uestions, ssuchuch aass ““WhyWhy wwouldould yyouou aassumessume tthat?”hat?” oorr ““YouYou ccallall tthathat eevidence?”vidence?” oorr ““WhatWhat ddoo yyouou ssayay ttoo tthehe tthreehree oobviousbvious oobjectionsbjections eeveryoneveryone mmakesakes ttoo tthathat cclaim?”laim?” TThishis aactivityctivity iiss mmuchuch mmoreore iintel-ntel- llectuallyectually nnutritiousutritious tthanhan sskimmingkimming a sstacktack ooff aabstractsbstracts oorr sstrugglingtruggling wwithith a ccoupleouple ooff ssmallmall iideasdeas ddressedressed uupp wwithith a llotot ooff iintimidatingntimidating mmath.ath. EEditingditing JEP hhasas aalsolso providedprovided meme withwith a broaderbroader perspectiveperspective onon thethe life-cyclelife-cycle ooff research.research. EconomicEconomic researchresearch oftenoften beginsbegins withwith a bigbig interestinginteresting question,question, whichwhich aalsolso ttendsends ttoo bbee ssprawlingprawling andand unmanageable.unmanageable. SoSo thethe researcherresearcher breaksbreaks downdown thethe qquestionuestion intointo chunks,chunks, ccarefullyarefully examiningexamining assumptionsassumptions aandnd iinterpretationsnterpretations alongalong tthehe wway,ay, ddivingiving ddeeplyeeply iintonto tthehe aanalysis.nalysis. PPapersapers iinn tthehe rrefereedefereed lliteratureiterature resultresult ffromrom ssuchuch deepdeep dives.dives. ButBut asas thesethese paperspapers areare discusseddiscussed andand digested,digested, theirtheir lessonslessons areare bbroughtrought backback upup fromfrom thethe deepdeep wherewhere theythey cancan bebe moremore broadlybroadly appreciated.appreciated. ThisThis pprocessrocess isis aass iindispensiblendispensible forfor scholarsscholars asas itit isis fforor eendnd uusers.sers. AAcademicscademics mastermaster aandnd uultimatelyltimately digestdigest frontierfrontier scholarshipscholarship byby distillingdistilling itsits insightsinsights downdown toto a ffewew bbigig ffacts,acts, ssimpleimple mmodels,odels, aandnd rreliableeliable ppredictiveredictive rrelationships.elationships. Indeed,Indeed, I havehave sometimessometimes wwatchedatched mymy sscholarshipcholarship ccondensedondensed intointo ssingleingle ssentencesentences andand mmemes—andemes—and I ccan’tan’t hhonestlyonestly ssayay tthathat tthesehese ddistillationsistillations ddoo mmyy wworkork ggrossross iinjustice.njustice. SSeeingeeing tthishis pprocessrocess cculminateulminate aatt JEP——deepdeep ddiversivers rresurfacing—hasesurfacing—has eemphasizedmphasized ttoo mmee tthathat tthehe llife-cycleife-cycle ooff sscholarshipcholarship sshouldhould nnot,ot, aandnd ddoesoes nnot,ot, eendnd wwithith tthehe ddeepeep ddiveive ooff ttechnicalechnical rresearch.esearch. CContinuingontinuing thethe processprocess toto ddrawraw rrobustobust iinsights—andnsights—and toto ddelineateelineate thethe bboundariesoundaries ooverver wwhichhich tthosehose iinsightsnsights aapply—ispply—is oonene ooff tthehe bburdens,urdens, oorr pprivileges,rivileges, ofof bringingbringing anan areaarea ofof researchresearch toto maturity.maturity. ForFor 2525 years,years, JEP hhasas oofferedffered a uuniquenique outletoutlet forfor scholarsscholars whowho wantwant toto dodo justjust that.that. JudgingJudging fromfrom thethe widewide read-read- eershiprship thatthat thethe journaljournal hashas attractedattracted andand thethe ongoingongoing enthusiasmenthusiasm ofof scholarsscholars forfor ppublishingublishing inin itsits pages,pages, I concludeconclude thatthat bothboth producersproducers ofof primaryprimary research,research, andand thethe mmanyany laylay andand professionalprofessional readersreaders whowho wishwish toto understandunderstand itsits contours,contours, recognizerecognize tthehe vvaluealue ooff tthishis eendeavor.ndeavor.

10 Not by coincidence, the analysis was funded by the mattress company Sleepy’s. David Autor 17

References

Acemoglu, Daron. 2010. “When Does Labor of Economics, vol. 13, edited by Uskali Mäki. Encourage Innovation.” Journal of Political Amsterdam: Elsevier. Economy 118(6): 1037–78. Rampell, Catherine. 2012. “America’s 10 Most Acemoglu, Daron, , Leonardo Sleep-Deprived Jobs.” New York Times, February 22. Bursztyn, and David Hemous. 2012. “The Environ- http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/22 ment and Directed Technical Change.” American /americas-10-most-sleep-deprived-jobs/. Economic Review 102(1): 131–66. Stiglitz, Joseph. 1987. “Report of the Editor: Angner, Erik, and . Forth- Journal of Economic Perspectives.” American Economic coming. “Behavioral Economics.” In Philosophy Review 77(4): 388–89. 18 Journal of Economic Perspectives