The American Economic Review May 1988 [antikvár]

Editors' Introduction This volume contains the Papers and Proceedings of the one-hundredth annual meeting of the American Economic Association. The Proceedings record the business activities of the Association in 1987; the annual membership meeting; the March and December meetings of the Association's officers and committees. The Papers constitute the greater part of the volume. They comprise eighty-four contributions that fill roughly the same number of pages as two regular issues of the American Economic Review. We would like to take this opportunity to answer a number of commonly asked questions about the Papers. Who chooses the authors? About a year in advance, the Association's President-elect, acting as program chairman, decides on the topics for which sessions will be organized. This is done after consultation and comment, both volunteered and solicited, from a wide range of individuals. (A Call for Papers was published annually in the Notes section of the AER, and now appears in the Fall issue of the Journal of Economic Perspectives.) The President-elect invites persons to organize these sessions. Each session organizer in turn invites several persons (usually two or three) to give papers on the theme of the session, and asks others to give conunents on the papers. The program chairman decides at the time of organization which sessions are to be included in this volume. Space Umita-tions restrict the number of printed sessions. This year we are printing 29 sessions, although a total of 142 sessions were sponsored, either solely by the American Economic Association or jointly with other alUed societies. Are discussants' comments published? There has been no standard practice with regard to the publication of comments and discussions in the past. This year the Presi-dent-elect decided to pubUsh one set of com- ments for one panel session. For the other sessions, names and afflUations of commentators are printed at the start of each session, permitting readers especially interested in particular comments to write to the commentator for a copy of the discussion. What standards must the papers meet? The guidelines under which papers are pubUshed in the Papers and Proceedings difTer considerably from those governing regular issues of the Review. First, the length of papers is strictly controlled. Except in unusual circumstances they must be no more than twelve typescript pages in three-paper sessions, and eighteen typescript pages in two-paper sessions. Second, papers are not subjected to a formal refereeing process. However, a paper can be rejected if, after reading it, we conclude that it is utterly without merit. This year we are pleased to report that no paper has been rejected on this ground. Third, their content and range of subject matter reflect the wishes of the President-elect to investigate and expose the current state of economic research and thinking. In most cases they are therefore exploratory and discursive, rather than formal presentations of original research. In order to produce this volume by May, very rigid deadlines must be met and there is no time for communication with every author about editing changes made in order to improve content and style, and to satisfy space restrictions. Every efTort is made to notify an author prior to the deadUne if the paper is too long, or does not satisfy other specifications. This year, most authors cooperated very nicely. We thank them for making our lives easier. Harvey S. Rosen Wilma St. John