ier-topic-selection
Installation
SKILL.md
Topic Selection (ier-topic-selection)
When to trigger
- You have a result but are unsure it is general-interest — would a macro theorist and an applied micro reader both see why it matters?
- The question feels like a field-journal question (a single applied estimate, a narrow extension) and you want to know if it clears IER's broad-rigor bar
- The contribution is a model with a clean result, and you want to confirm theory is welcome here (it is — IER tilts theory/structural)
- The team is choosing between IER, Econometrica/QE, a top-5, and a field journal and needs the boundary drawn
What IER actually rewards
IER was founded in 1960 to be a forum for modern quantitative economics, and its center of gravity is rigor and generality over topical novelty. The papers that fit are the ones where the contribution is a method, a model, or a tight model-to-evidence link that travels beyond the immediate application. Sort your question against these archetypes before going further:
| Archetype | What makes it an IER paper | What gets it desk-rejected here |
|---|---|---|
| Pure / applied theory | A new result with a clean proof and load-bearing assumptions made explicit; comparative statics that teach something general | A model that only re-derives a known result, or a toy with no general lesson |
| Structural / quantitative macro | A model disciplined by data whose mechanism and counterfactual are the point | A calibration with an undefended elasticity driving the headline number |
| Econometric theory / method | A new estimator/test with asymptotics AND finite-sample evidence, beating a clear incumbent | A method searching for a problem, or a marginal tweak with no practical gain |
| Applied micro (causal) | A credible design whose answer speaks to a general mechanism, not one institution | A clean DID whose interest is purely local/policy and not generalizable |