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  4. Letter to AEA Members regarding proposed bylaw amendment

Letter to AEA Members regarding proposed bylaw amendment


To: AEA Members
From: Peter L. Rousseau, Secretary-Treasurer
Subject: Letter to AEA Members regarding proposed bylaw amendment


Thank you for participating in the 2020 AEA election. This letter provides rationale for the proposed bylaw amendment, submitted by the Executive Committee to the membership for ratification, to increase member dues starting in January 2022.

The last significant change in member dues occurred in 2012, when the default changed from receiving print copies of the three legacy journals (AER, JEL, and JEP) to electronic-only access to all AEA journals. Dues were reduced at that time from $70, $80, and $90 to $20, $30, and $40, depending on income. Dues increased in 2019 and 2020 by $2 per year as permitted by the current bylaws.

The 2012 dues change occurred at a time when the Association’s operations generated annual net operating gains from $200,000 to $1,000,000, and reflected the AEA leadership’s intent to subsidize the journals significantly through revenues other than member dues. Since then, the AEA has seen rising editorial and production costs for its eight journals due to increased manuscript submissions, issue sizes, and the launch of AER: Insights. The frequency of the AER also increased from five to twelve issues per year. These additional costs run up against the need for new initiatives and expansion of existing activities to fulfill the Association’s mission and improve the quality of professional life. These continuing improvements involve tireless efforts of the AEA leadership, including its many standing committees, along with the AEA staff, to provide programs and activities that address concerns about equity, diversity, harassment, and discrimination in the profession, but are by no means limited to these issues. I would like to draw your attention to some of these new developments below:

AEA Registry for Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) (https://www.aeaweb.org/journals/policies/rct-registry). RCTs are widely used in economics and other social sciences. As they become more numerous, having a central registry for ongoing and completed/withdrawn trials is increasingly important as a source of data for meta-analysis and a one-stop resource for learning about available survey instruments and data. Given that existing registries were not well suited to the need for social sciences, the Executive Committee decided to establish such a registry, and as of June 2020, the AEA Registry lists 3,692 studies with investigators from more than 150 countries.

Data and Code Availability Policy (https://www.aeaweb.org/journals/policies/data-code). In 2017, the AEA identified a need for the profession to curate research data and promote reproducible research. The AEA journals had already been early leaders in requiring the posting of data and code for published papers, and the resulting data collection has become a valuable resource for economic researchers. At the same time, the AEA believed the system could be improved. Practices surrounding reproducible research were advancing rapidly, and to remain at the forefront of the movement and thereby strengthen the transparency of economic research moving forward, the AEA committed to extending its leadership role. A Data Editor position was identified and for the last three years has been working with the AEA editors and others to form a comprehensive strategy for curating and archiving data and code. The policy is now in place and serves as an example to other journals and organizations within the profession.

AER: Insights (https://www.aeaweb.org/journals/aeri). The AEA Executive Committee voted in 2015 to establish a new publication for short and compact papers in economics, now known as AER: Insights. The style of articles in the journal differ from the other AEA journals in that the compact format allows authors to get to the main point (or points) quickly and in a manner readily accessible to the general reader. The journal launched in June 2019 with quarterly issues containing material from all fields of economics.

AEA Ombudsperson (https://www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/aea-ombudsperson). The Association’s leadership is determined to stand against harassment and discrimination in the profession. One step was to establish an ombudsperson to whom AEA members can safely report problems or concerns and seek advice on possible actions. The ombudsperson maintains any information received with the utmost confidentiality possible. Since the launch of the program in May 2019, the ombudsperson has received scores of inquiries, and remains ready and available to assist all members. In addition, the AEA established procedures for filing formal harassment and discrimination complaints. When a formal complaint is filed, the newly-formed AEA Ethics Committee considers the case and, following investigation if warranted, may impose sanctions on the offender. See https://www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/aea-policy-harassment-discrimination/procedures for details.

Increased Mentorship Opportunities (https://www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/committees/cswep/programs).The mentoring program organized by the AEA’s Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession (CSWEP) is among the Association’s most successful, and includes workshops for faculty from doctoral and nondoctoral-granting departments. Some workshops were traditionally held every other year but all are now held annually and on an increased scale to mentor more women in our profession than ever before.

New Committees (https://www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/committees). To address concerns about the professional climate, the AEA created four new committees:

  • Committee on Equity, Diversity, and Professional Conduct (CEDPC). This committee considers, implements, and oversees initiatives related to the AEA's Code of Professional Conduct, with a particular focus on the issues faced by women and minority groups in the profession. The committee was responsible for designing the 2018-19 climate survey, among other activities, and the report is available at https://www.aeaweb.org/resources/member-docs/report-on-professional-climate.
  • Committee on the Status of LGBTQ+ Individuals in the Economics Profession (CSQIEP). CSQIEP’s mission is to provide support for LGBTQ+ economists and economic research relevant to LGBTQ+ populations (https://www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/committees/aealgbtq).
  • Task Force on Best Practices for Professional Conduct in Economics. This task force works to develop and disseminate best practices for addressing issues of professional climate. The group has already provided the profession with best practices for building a more diverse, inclusive, and productive profession, and is encouraging all economics departments to embrace them (https://www.aeaweb.org/resources/best-practices).
  • Task Force on Outreach to High School and Undergraduate Students in Economics. This task force works to increase outreach to students at the high school and college levels, with the goal of attracting more women and individuals from underrepresented minorities into economics. The task force is now planning a pilot training program for economics teachers to be held in January 2021.

Addressing Issues of Diversity and Racial Inequality. The AEA has sponsored a pipeline program for many years, led by its Committee on the Status of Minority Groups in the Economics Profession (CSMGEP), which includes a mentoring program, summer training program, and the Summer Economics Fellows Program for economists from underrepresented minorities (https://www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/committees/csmgep/programs), and continues to expand these programs. The AEA recognizes that economists have only begun to understand racism and its impact on our profession and discipline, and is committed to further actions to address the disparities. These include establishing awards to recognize young economists, providing seed grants to assist institutions in developing meaningful bridge programs for potential Ph.D. students, and establishing departmental awards to recognize outstanding improvements in diversity and inclusiveness, among other activities.

EconTrack Job Information Board (https://www.aeaweb.org/econtrack). EconTrack was created as an alternative to websites that may provide inaccurate crowd-sourced job information, and provides job candidates with reliable information about the status of open positions over the job cycle in a professional setting. The service is hosted by the AEA and updated by the hiring organizations.

In addition to these new and expanded activities, the AEA has overhauled the website, including the introduction of non-technical summaries of journal content through the Research Highlights feature, developed the EconSpark networking space for members to interact about a variety of topics in the field (https://www.aeaweb.org/economics-discussion-forum), and cultivated a social media presence to reach more professionals in the field. The AEA leadership will not stop here as we extend outreach and continue to listen to our members. The reality, however, is that these programs require resources at a time when the landscape of academic publishing, the Association’s primary source of income, is shifting rapidly. The AEA’s annual expenses have grown from $10.2 million in 2012 to $12.8 million in 2019, and are projected to be $13.7 million in 2020. In contrast, operating revenues were $10.6 million in 2019. While the AEA’s long-term portfolio returns have subsidized some of the operating shortfalls, they cannot continue to cover them completely. Member dues, which contributed 6.1 percent of operating revenue in 2019, have been identified as a necessary additional source of funds, and must be increased to sustain the Association’s mission. The proposed dues structure is based on research of other associations and includes several levels based on annual income:

Student and Low-Income Country Members -- $25
Members with incomes below $70,000 -- $50
Members with incomes between $70,000 and $105,000 -- $75
Members with incomes between $105,000 and $200,000 -- $100
Members with incomes above $200,000 -- $150

Thank you for your support of the AEA. We realize that these are extraordinary times, and for this reason have set the start for the new dues structure, if ratified, to January 2022. The Association’s leadership hopes you will continue your support of the organization and the important initiatives described in this letter, along with others to come, by voting in favor of the proposed bylaw amendment.