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The Demographic and Research Styles of Economics Writing

Author

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  • Hamermesh, Daniel S.

    (University of Texas at Austin)

Abstract

This study examines publications in three leading general economics journals from the 1960s through the 2020s, considering levels and trends in the demographics of authors, methodologies of the studies, and patterns of co-authorship. The average age of authors has increased nearly steadily; there has been a sharp increase in the fraction of female authors; the number of authors per paper has risen steadily; and there has been a pronounced shift to articles using newly generated data. All but the first of these trends have been most pronounced in the most recent decade. The study also examines the relationships among these trends.

Suggested Citation

  • Hamermesh, Daniel S., 2025. "The Demographic and Research Styles of Economics Writing," IZA Discussion Papers 17863, IZA Network @ LISER.
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17863
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Aboozar Hadavand & Daniel S. Hamermesh & Wesley W. Wilson, 2024. "Publishing Economics: How Slow? Why Slow? Is Slow Productive? How to Fix Slow?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 62(1), pages 269-293, March.
    2. Beatrice Cherrier, 2017. "Classifying Economics: A History of the JEL Codes," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 55(2), pages 545-579, June.
    3. Daniel S. Hamermesh, 2013. "Six Decades of Top Economics Publishing: Who and How?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 51(1), pages 162-172, March.
    4. Lea-Rachel Kosnik, 2022. "Who Are the More Dismal Economists? Gender and Language in Academic Economics Research," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 112, pages 592-596, May.
    5. Shelly Lundberg & Jenna Stearns, 2019. "Women in Economics: Stalled Progress," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 33(1), pages 3-22, Winter.
    6. Donna K. Ginther & Shulamit Kahn, 2021. "Women in Academic Economics: Have We Made Progress?," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 111, pages 138-142, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Brodeur, Abel & Bruns, Stephan B. & Herwartz, Helmut & Islam, Chris-Gabriel, 2026. "How did empirical economic research improve over the last decades: Recent trends and prospects," I4R Discussion Paper Series 315, The Institute for Replication (I4R).

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    JEL classification:

    • A14 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Sociology of Economics

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