The quality and diversity of research by leading PhD candidates is astounding. Following the general trend in the profession, students tend to focus enormous efforts on a single paper – known as their Job Market Paper, or JMP for short. World-class guidance by their advisors – teamed with years of work by the authors (ambitious and talented students) – routinely produces papers that merit publication in the profession’s best journal. Unfortunately, it takes years before this work appears in journals or the major discussion paper series (NBER, CEPR, etc.).
To get these papers the exposure they deserve, Vox has set up a new feature called ‘JMP Vox’ (see http://www.voxeu.org/jmp). These JMP Vox columns – all of which are commissioned directly by Vox Editors – are somewhat shorter than standard Vox columns.
In making this research more accessible, Vox also hopes to allow established economists to get a taste of what the youngest members of the profession are up to (without having to screen the hundreds of job market papers posted on the internet).
The posting started just before the holiday break. More columns are posted weekly.