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Writing Tips For Economics Research Papers

WritingTipsForEconomicsResearchPap ers PlamenNikolov,HarvardUniversity June10,20131 GeneralTipsab outWritingStyleWhenIreadyourtermpap ers,Ilo okforyourabilitytomotivateyourquestionus ingeconomiclogic,yourabilitytocritically analyzethepastliterature, ,itisimp ortantthatyourtermpap erdemonstratesthatyouaremoreknowledgeabl e,analytic,andsophisticatedab outtheeconomicsofhealthordevelopmentecon omicsthanwewouldexp ect,say,aclevereditorialwriterforTheNewY orkTimestob ,citeliterature,explaineconomictrade-o s,andgenerallyapproachtheissuefromananal yticp ersp ,astudentistemptedtostrayintoopinion-pag e,journalisticwritinginhisorhertermpap o deconomicswritingisoneofthegoalsofthedep artmentalwritingrequirementandisavaluabl elessonforp ungrammatical, unclear, , outb eing snappy ifyouareb ,youwill ndsomenotesab outthe economicsstyle edbymostofthepap epickedupeasilyandisusefultolearnifyouwa nttob ointsofstylemayseemarbitrary,butfollowth emanyway.

Writing Tips For Economics Research Papers Plamen Nikolov, Harvard University y June 10, 2013 1 General Tips about Writing Style When I read your term papers, I look for your ability to motivate your question using economic

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1 WritingTipsForEconomicsResearchPap ers PlamenNikolov,HarvardUniversity June10,20131 GeneralTipsab outWritingStyleWhenIreadyourtermpap ers,Ilo okforyourabilitytomotivateyourquestionus ingeconomiclogic,yourabilitytocritically analyzethepastliterature, ,itisimp ortantthatyourtermpap erdemonstratesthatyouaremoreknowledgeabl e,analytic,andsophisticatedab outtheeconomicsofhealthordevelopmentecon omicsthanwewouldexp ect,say,aclevereditorialwriterforTheNewY orkTimestob ,citeliterature,explaineconomictrade-o s,andgenerallyapproachtheissuefromananal yticp ersp ,astudentistemptedtostrayintoopinion-pag e,journalisticwritinginhisorhertermpap o deconomicswritingisoneofthegoalsofthedep artmentalwritingrequirementandisavaluabl elessonforp ungrammatical, unclear, , outb eing snappy ifyouareb ,youwill ndsomenotesab outthe economicsstyle edbymostofthepap epickedupeasilyandisusefultolearnifyouwa nttob ointsofstylemayseemarbitrary,butfollowth emanyway.

2 : Feldstein(1976) or Inthispap er, Citearticlesandb o oksasab ove,not: , Inadditiontomyownthoughtsonhowtowriteexc ellenteconomicsresearchpap ers,IhavealsousedmaterialsfromJohnCo chrane(UniversityofChicagoGraduateScho olofBusiness),ClaudiaGoldin(HarvardEcono micsDepartment),CarolineHoxby(StanfordUn iversityDeparmentofEconomics),LawrenceKa tz(HarvardEconomicsDepartment),GregManki w(HarvardEconomicsDepartment),Rob ertNeugeb oren(Harvard)andHumb ertoBarreto(WabashCollege)topro ducethishandout. NationalBureauofEconomicResearch,1050 MassachusettsAvenue,ThirdFlo Favortheactivetense. Use I whenyoumean I anduse we whenyoumean we. Forinstance,youmightuse we totalkab outsomethingthateveryonecouldb eexp ectedtoappreciate: Weexp ectthathighlyselectivecollegesenrollfews tudentswhohadlowgradesinsecondaryscho ol. Use I totalkab outwhatyoudid: Youarecorrectifyouhavenoticedthateconomi stsoftenavoidusinganyp o dthing,however.

3 , theresultsshatterourexp ectations isto omuch. , , :forinstance,thatis, einitalicsorunderlined: Feldsteinetal(1976).. Itmayseemb oringtokeepusingphraseslike , Theestimatedco e , or isnotstatisticallysigni cantlydi erentfromzero. Results section,readersaretryingtokeeptrackofthi ngs,sotheywilltoleratealessthanscintilla tingdeliveryintheinterestofclarity. Keepnon-economicscommentsforyour ,ifyourresultshaveinterestingp oliticalimplications,youcanmotivatethemi ntheintro o dyofthepap er,however,unlesstheyareactuallypartofth emo del. Ifindoubtab outwhethertoincludesomenon-economicscont ent, omuch,ratherthanto olittle,p oliticalandso cialcommentary. est. Rep etitionisb eat:rep etitionisb ,cut,andthencutagain. Thepassivevoiceisavoidedbygo o dwriters. Positivestatementsaremorep ersuasivethannormativestatements. Useadverbssparingly. 'treadregularlyinanewspap erissusp ect. Nevermakeupyourownacronyms.

4 ,inmostcases,changeo inorderto to to o whetherornot to whether o isequalto to equals Avoid ofcourse, clearly, and obviously. Clearly,ifsomethingisobvious,thatfactwil l,ofcourse,b eobvioustothereader.#Theword very isveryoftenveryunnecessary. ,ortothingsthathavecomeb eforeorwillcomelater,canb edistracting. Putdetailsanddigressionsinfo Tomeremortals,agraphicmetaphor,acomp ellinganecdote,orastrikingfactisworthath ousandarticlesinEconometrica. Keepyourwritingp ectstheirlives. Rememb ertwobasicrulesofeconomicusage: Longrun (withoutahyphen)isanoun. Long-run (withahyphen) short(-)run. and Saving (withoutaterminals)isa ow. Savings (withaterminals)isasto ck. BuyacopyofStrunkandWhite' ,WilliamZinsser' againandagainandagain. eingyourcollegero ommatewhoma ,orifhedid,heusedthewrongtextb o ok. 't, er(keepmuchofthissectioninmindforlaterwh enyouhaveactualresultsfromyouranalysis)F igureouttheonecentralandnovelcontributio nofyourpap ,thismustb 'twrite IanalyzeddataontheHIVepidemicandfoundman yinterestingresults.

5 ,Oster(2009)startsherabstractwith: Iestimateb ehavioralresp onseusinganewinstrumentalvariablesstrate gy, ndlowresp onseonaverage,consistentwithexistinglite rature,butlargerresp onsesforthosewhofacelowernon-HIVmortalit yandforthosewhoarericher. ,b ecauseyouwillstarttorealizehowmuchyou' ,though,you'reinamuchb etterp ositiontofo custhepap eronthatonecontribution, erentvariablede nitions,di erentinstrumentsets, ,itsstructurecanb eorganizedlikeanewspap erin triangular or newspap er style,notin joke or novel ersstartwiththemostimp ortantpart,then o djokeoramysterynovelhasalongwinduptothe 'twritepap erslikethat 'tstickaroundto ersgetthiswrong,andmanyreadersneverreall y ndoutwhatthecontributionofthepap erisuntilthelastpage, o dpap erisnotatravelogueofyoursearchpro esn'tcarehowyoucameto esn'tcareab ductionSectionThe fo ot-in-the-do or partsofyourwrittenworkistheabstract(thes ummaryofthepap er,whichyouwillwriteattheveryendonceyouh aveactualresults)andintro !

6 Theintro ductionshouldstartwithwhatyoudointhispap er,thema onasyoumentionthat,mentionsomethingunexp ectedab outit!Thereaderwillb emuchmoremotivatedtoreadtherestofthepap etterthingstodothanreadyourpap 'tjuststateyourconclusion: Myresultsshowthatthep ecking-ordertheoryisrejected. Givethefactb ehindthatresult. Inaregressionofxony,controllingforz,thec o e cientisq. The , Financialeconomistshavelongwonderedifmar ketsaree cient. Donotstartwith The nanceliteraturehaslongb eeninterestedinx. Yourpap ermustb einterestingonitsown,andnotjustb ecauselotsofotherp eoplewastedspaceonthesub ortanttheissueistopublicp clearingyourthroat. It' (2009)startswith Forthisreason,sexualb ehaviorchangeisama jorfo cusofHIVpreventione ortsandunderstandingchangesinb ehaviorisimp ortantforb othpredictingthefuturepathoftheepidemica ndfordevelopingp rstpresentnewestimatesofb ehavioralresp onsetoHIV, ehavioralresp onseacrossindividualsareconsistentwithut ility-maximizingchoicesinthefaceofHIV.

7 Twopagesisago o dupp erlimitfortheintro duction.(giventhe15-20pagepap errange) ductionSectionIntro duction/ erlimitisapageortwo(atmost!) (statingthehyp othesistob etesteddirectlyisago o dwaytodothis) outthisquestion(Isitanunproventheoretica lresult?Animp ortantp olicyquestion?Whyshouldwecarefromanecono micp ersp ective?). , ,therehasb eenadebateintheliteratureab outthisquestion,justbrie ydescrib ,youmaywanttop o dideaistosurpriseorpuzzlethereader'sintu ition(muchlikethepurp oseofthe EconomicNaturalist assignment)inthissectionsothatheorshewou ldb ecurioustoreadtherestofthepap duction, del,evaluatingaprogramorachangeinp olicy,andwhatdatayouareusing(butonlyinap reviewfashion!).2 TheBo okMadetoStickhassomesp eci yhowyour ndingsdi erfrompreviousworkandwhattheimplications ofthese (whichis ne!)b eupfrontab outthisandverybrie ,yourreadersaremostinterestedinjust 'tstartwonderingifit'sb , 'sgoingtob ehardenoughtoexplainyourpap erinsimpleterms;go o dluckexplainingeveryoneelse'sto 'veexplainedyourcontribution, sop eoplecanskipitwhoaren' er,itwillb everyhardforp eopletounderstandhowyourpap erisdi erentfromothers'giventhattheydon'tunders tandyourpap eryet,andmostofthemhavenotreadtheotherpa p ointoftheliteraturereviewshouldb etosetyourpap ero againstthe4or5closestcurrentpap ers,andtogiveprop ercredittop eoplewhodeservepriorityforthingsthatmigh totherwiseseemnewinyourpap endingonyourassignment,preparingaliterat urereviewmightentailanexhaustivelibrarys earchorreferencingasinglepap ,eitheronindexcardsorin lesonyourcomputer,ontheb o egintolo ointofthearticle,andhowdo esitrelatetoyourtopic?

8 Dootherauthorso erasimilarp osition?Anopp osingone?Asyouthinkthroughthesequestions , rstissimplytodemonstrateyourfamiliarityw ithscholarlyworkonyourtopic toprovideasurveyofwhatyouhaveread,tracet hedevelopmentofimp er, ,thetermsyouwillemployandtheapproachyouw illtakeshouldb ede ,youcan ndsanctionforyourownapproachandinvokethe authorityofthosewhohavewrittenonthetopic b ,thesetwofunctionswillpullinopp ositedirections:the rsttowardincludingasmanysourcesasp ossible, ,moreresearchisb etterthanless,andasummaryisalwaysselecti ve,insofarasonlysomethingscanb ectyourowninterestsand,hop efully, ,MartinFeldsteinb eginshisarticle So cialSecurity,InducedRetirementandAg-greg ateCapitalAccumulation (1974)withadiscussionofthedevelopmentofe conomists' eld:EversinceHarro d's(1948)discussionof humpsavings, economistshaverecognizedtheimp or-tanceofsavingduringworkingyearsforcon sumptionduringretirement( ). Hump-savings referstotheshap eofanindividual'ssavingscurveovertime:lo wattheb eginning,higherinthemiddle, delisusedthroughoutthepap erofauthorswhohaveobservedthisregularity inempiricaldataonp ersonalsavingspatternsascon rmationofthemo esontoarguethatwhilethe hump-savings mo delworkswelltoexplainmostoftheobservedda ta,thee ectofcertaingovernmentp oliciesonindividualsavingshasneverb ,hep osesthequestion:Whatisthee ectofso cialsecurityonindividuals'lifetimesaving s?

9 ,Feldsteinpresentshiscurrentresearchasan ecessarydevelopmentoutofwellestablishedr esearchprogram,thenextquestiontoaskonali nestemmingfromimp ortantancestorstocontemp ,whichshowsthat so cialsecuritydepressesp ersonalsavingsby30 50p ercent (MartinFeldstein,1974).Don'ttitleyourlit eraturereviewsection literaturereview ! eris DoTraditionalInstitutionsConstrainFemale Entrepreneur-ship? youmightwanttocallyourliteraturereview GendernormsinIndia .Inotherwords,tellyourreaderswhatisinthe section, ,AMo (b othofwhichshouldb ebrief ). rstsectionshoulddiscusspreviousresearcht hatisdirectlyrelevanttoyourpap er(noteverysinglepap erwrittenonthetopic).Thereviewneednotonl yb etopical,butcanincluderesearchthatemploy sthesamemetho dsyouareusing,analyzesasimilarmo del,usesthesamedataset, ,youshouldb eabletorelateyourworkmostlytopreviouseco nomicspap ers!Ifyouareworkingonaninterdisciplinary topic(suchashealth),itis netociteacoupleofpap ersfromanotherdiscipline( )thatexaminearelatedquestion,butmostlyyo urworkwillb ejudgedbasedonitsrelationtopreviousecono micspap ersandhowitimprovesourunderstandingofeco nomicb ,b esurethatyourliteraturereviewconsistsofp ap erentfromwhathasb eendoneb efore:Isitnewdata?

10 Anewmo del?Anewidenti cationstrategy?Areyouansweringaquestionm orebroadly/sp eci cally?Sp ecif-icallycomparinghowyouareimprovingon apreviouspap outissuesofexternalvalidity:Areyour ndingsrelevantforap opulation/institutionalenvironmentthatis di erentfrompreviouswork,andcouldthisb ethereasonyour ndingsdi er?5 DataSectionThissectionshouldb :3 Ago o The rstshouldsimplydescrib ethenameandsourceofthedatayouareusingand thep erio ewhetheryouhaveapanel,crosssectionortime series, ,missingobservations,surveyresp onse,smallnumb erofobservations, ( ;nomeninterviewed,onlyp eopleattendingscho olinterviewed,etc.).Youmaywanttohighligh ttheimp ortantlimitations( cationorrobustnesschecklater)intheb o dyofthepap erandputtherestinafo outwhattheidealdatasetwouldb eforthehyp othesisyouwanttotestandcompareyourdatato it. Donotforgettoprovidethesourcesofyourdata andtohelpthereaderbymakingatablethato neeachvariablecarefullyand,ifnecessary,p eredinclude:max,min,average, olhere, er,yourgoalshouldb eclarity!


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