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American Economic Association

 
Business Dictionary: American Economics Association (AEA)
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Organization of economists, mostly those who are academicians.

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The American Economic Association, or AEA, is a learned society in the field of economics. It publishes one of the most prestigious academic journals in economics: the American Economic Review. [1][2] The AEA was established in 1885 by religious and social reformer Richard T. Ely and others who had been trained in Germany under Gustav Schmoller and other members of the "younger" German Historical School. The purposes of the Association are: 1) The encouragement of economic research, especially the historical and statistical study of the actual conditions of industrial life; 2) The issue of publications on economic subjects; 3) The encouragement of perfect freedom of economic discussion. The Association as such will take no partisan attitude, nor will it commit its members to any position on practical economic questions. Its current president is Angus Deaton of Princeton University.[3]

Contents

Activities

For many years, the AEA has published three economics journals: the American Economic Review, the Journal of Economic Literature, and the Journal of Economic Perspectives. As of 2009, it has begun to publish four new field-specific journals, collectively called the American Economic Journal (AEJ). The four fields covered by AEJ will be applied economics, macroeconomics, economic policy, and microeconomics.

The AEA also publishes EconLit, a database of economics articles from many different sources.

Every year, the Association holds a meeting at which members present papers. It is also an important event in the economics job market, because universities looking to hire new faculty members will often interview candidates at that time.

The AEA awards the John Bates Clark Medal, given biennially to the economist under 40 who has made the most significant contribution to the field. The most recent winner (2009) is Emmanuel Saez.

Past, Present, and Future Presidents

Distinguished Fellows

Ideological Bias

An economist at the University of Connecticut analysed the 2004 campaign contributions of AEA members, committee members, officers, editors, referees, authors, and acknowledgees to test AEA's claim of non-partisanship. He finds that contributions heavily favor the Democratic party, and strikingly increasingly so among leadership positions. He argues that such bias contradicts AEA's claim of non-partisanship, that it harms the economics profession by favoring certain opinions over others, and that it cripples the spirit of discussion that AEA seeks to promote and may lead to intellectual complacency.[4]

Critics argue investigation of AEA economists' campaign contributions is inappropriate. They favor investigation of research, rather than the researcher whose views and ideologies are irrelevant to the data published.

Proponents of such investigations argue that a disclosure of ideological sensibilities will enhance authentic discourse. Readers are better able to interpret the text and watch for bias. Nobel laureate Gunnar Myrdal is among the supporters of ideological self-disclosure in economic discourse.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ Andrew J. Oswald, 2007. "An Examination of the Reliability of Prestigious Scholarly Journals: Evidence and Implications for Decision-Makers," Economica, vol. 74(293), pages 21-31.
  2. ^ Cynthia Clark Northrup, "American Economic Association," The American economy: a historical encyclopedia, Volume 2, ABC-CLIO, 2004, ISBN 1576078663, pages 9-10.
  3. ^ "AEA Officers". http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AEA/officers.htm. Retrieved 2007-05-17. 
  4. ^ McEachern, William A. "AEA Ideology: Campaign Contributions of American Economic Association Members, Committee Members, Officers, Editors, Referees, Authors, and Acknowledgees" (Jan 2006).[1]
  5. ^ Klein, Daniel B. "Sense and Sensibilities: Myrdal's Plea for Self-Disclosure and Some Disclosures on AEA Members" (Jan 2006).[2]

External links


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