New Econometric Society Journals

New Econometric Society Journals
QUANTITATIVE ECONOMICS and THEORETICAL ECONOMICS

Starting in 2010, the Econometric Society will publish two new journals, called Quantitative Economics and Theoretical Economics. These will be open access journals, meaning that electronic access will be free for both members and non-members of the Society. Each journal will have its own Editorial Board, with an Editor, several Co-Editors, and a set of Associate Editors. The rules for appointment of the members of the Editorial Board will be identical to those used for Econometrica. Governance of the new journals will, again, be identical to the governance of Econometrica.  

Despite these similarities, it is expected that each new journal will develop its own identity. While the new journals will have very high quality requirements, they may experiment more with publishing papers in new research areas. Nevertheless there will be scope for collaboration between the three journals, which will be discussed in a committee that includes the three Editors.

Each new journal will initially publish three issues per year. In addition to electronic publication, they will also be printed, with printing and postage costs covered by an extra charge to print subscribers of the new journals. Composition and editorial costs will be financed by a combination of submission fees, general Society funds, and a modest increase in general membership and subscription rates.

Quantitative Economics
http://www.qeconomics.org/

This journal – QE for short – will cover quantitative economics in a broad sense, including econometric theory, computational methods, and empirical applications based on structural or reduced-form estimation, computation or simulation. Applications will be welcome in all fields, such as e.g., finance, macroeconomics, labor economics, industrial organization, and development economics, as well as quantitative research on economic dynamics. The journal will emphasize empirical orientation.

The first Editor of QE will be Orazio Attanasio (University College London). Three Co-Editors have also agreed to serve for QE: Steven Durlauf, José Víctor Ríos Rull, and Elie Tamer.

Theoretical Economics
http://econtheory.org/

This journal – TE for short – will publish both pure and applied theoretical research in all fields of economics. In particular, the journal will publish theoretical research in microeconomics, macroeconomics, behavioral economics, industrial organization, finance, labor economics, public economics, political economy, urban economics, development economics, and growth. Published papers may contain empirical and experimental results, but need to have a substantial and innovative theoretical component.

There has been a formal agreement between the Econometric Society and the Society for Economic Theory, which currently publishes TE (see http://econtheory.org/ ), about the terms of adoption of the journal by the Econometric Society. The first Editor of TE will be Martin Osborne (University of Toronto), the current Managing Editor of the existing journal. The agreement includes a plan for the renewal of the initial Editor and Co-Editors of TE, which – like QE – will have three Co-Editors.  

Decision Process  

This decision to publish these two journals is the final result of a process that started three years ago and which has seen the input of many individuals. It was the unanimous view of the Executive Committee that the new journals would complement the Society’s efforts to broaden its impact and promote innovative research in theoretical and quantitative economics, in a manner consistent with Ragnar Frisch’s original vision of the Society.  

The proposal was approved by the Council, in its capacity as the highest decision making body of the Society, with 27 members voting in favor and none against. The Society’s Constitution states that “The Fellows represent the highest authority of the Society. The Council shall consult them on any vital question that affects the policy of the Society, obtaining their decision by mail vote.” In accordance with this provision, a ballot was sent to the Fellows. 277 active Fellows (66.4% of the total) cast their vote, of whom 240 (86.6%) were in favor of the proposal, 30 (10.8%) were against, and 7 (2.5%) abstained.  

Consequently, the proposal has been approved by both the Council and the Fellows. More detailed information about the new journals will be posted at this website.