Trends in the Publication of Empirical Economics

This paper documents recent trends in the publication of empirical articles in general-interest economics journals. Three measures of journal quality are estimated. The author finds substantial differences in publication rates of empirical articles among top tier and second-tier journals, and shows that the empirical percentages among general-interest journals has been converging of late. He offers potential explanations for the negative relationship between measured journal quality and empirical publication rates, as well as the recent convergence.