--- name: aej-microeconomics description: Use when targeting American Economic Journal: Microeconomics or deciding whether a microeconomic theory manuscript fits this venue. Encodes the journal's fit, framing, method-and-evidence bar, house style, official-submission re-check, and desk-reject heuristics. --- # American Economic Journal: Microeconomics (aej-microeconomics) ## Journal positioning AEJ: Microeconomics is the American Economic Association's field home for microeconomic theory one tier below AER's general-interest bar. It publishes micro theory, game theory, mechanism and market design, and theoretical IO — theoretical contributions with general results, established formally. The contribution can be field-specific rather than discipline-wide, but the theory must be correct, general, and economically interesting; this is the home for serious theory that is excellent but narrower than a top-5 or Econometrica swing. This skill is a **fit / venue-selection / re-framing** tool. It does not replace the journal's current official submission guidelines. Before submitting, re-check the live author instructions on the AEA site and the editorial-manager submission system. ## When to trigger - The author names AEJ: Micro as the target, or is stepping down from a top-5 / Econometrica theory submission. - A paper offers a micro-theory, game-theory, mechanism-design, or theoretical-IO contribution with general results. - A strong theory paper is excellent but narrower than AER's general-interest bar and needs the right theory home. - The author needs AEJ: Micro's desk-reject risks and a credible top-5 / theory-field alternative list. ## Scope & topic fit - Microeconomic theory: decision theory, contract theory, information economics, and applied micro theory with general models. - Game theory: equilibrium analysis, dynamic and repeated games, learning, and bargaining. - Mechanism and market design: auctions, matching, allocation, and incentive design with characterization results. - Theoretical industrial organization: oligopoly, pricing, platforms, and strategic firm behavior modeled formally. ## Method & evidence bar - The formal bar is the filter: results must be correct, general, and proved — not a worked example or a narrow special case dressed as a theorem. - Assumptions must be stated precisely and economically motivated; the model should illuminate a general economic force, not just generate one comparative static. - Characterizations, existence/uniqueness, and welfare or comparative-statics results should generalize and be economically interpretable. - Any computational or numerical illustration supports the theory; data are not required, but if present they must be handled to AEA availability and verification standards. ## Structure & house style - The introduction states the economic question, the model, the main theoretical result, and why it matters and is general, before the formal development. - State definitions, assumptions, and propositions/theorems cleanly in the main text; move long proofs and extensions to an appendix or online supplement. - AEJ uses an unstructured abstract and JEL codes; notation must be consistent and economical. - Where examples or figures are used, they should make the mechanism intuitive; the central result should be legible as a proposition. ## Official-submission checklist - Before giving submission-ready advice, read `../../resources/source-basis.md` and `../../resources/official-source-map.md`; start from the official source anchors for this journal family, then cite the current journal-specific page you checked. - Search the live site for "AEJ: Microeconomics submission guidelines" and (for any data/computation) the AEA "Data and Code Availability Policy," and follow the current versions. - Re-check the submission fee, LaTeX/formatting, abstract/JEL, anonymization, and proof-appendix conventions on the editorial-manager system. - Re-check the current supplementary-material policy and, if the paper uses data or simulations, the code/replication deposit and verification workflow. - If the live official instructions conflict with this skill, the official instructions win. ## Pre-submission self-check - [ ] One sentence stating the general theoretical result and the economic force it captures. - [ ] The contribution is stated as a general, proved result, not as an example or special case. - [ ] The introduction positions the paper against the recent theory frontier it advances. - [ ] All proofs are complete and correct; assumptions are minimal and economically motivated; results generalize. - [ ] Proofs, extensions, and any code/simulation material match the current official guide. ## Common desk-reject triggers - A "theorem" that is a narrow special case, a worked example, or a restatement of known results. - An interesting model with incomplete, incorrect, or hand-waved proofs. - A result with no general economic insight — one comparative static with no broader force. - A paper better suited to an empirical or general-interest venue but framed as pure theory. ## Re-routing decision - Top-tier general theory or a new fundamental result → `econometrica` (theorem with full proofs) or `journal-of-economic-theory`. - Game theory specifically → `games-and-economic-behavior`; frontier theory with strong novelty → `review-of-economic-studies`. - General-interest theory of broad importance → `american-economic-review`, `journal-of-political-economy`, or `quarterly-journal-of-economics`. - Theory disciplined by data / structural → `aej-macroeconomics` (macro) or `aej-applied-economics` (applied empirics). ## Output format ```text [Fit] High / Medium / Low (one-line reason) [Target] American Economic Journal: Microeconomics [Topic tags] <2–3 closest topics> [Method/evidence] [Top risk] [Official items to re-check] [Re-route suggestion] ```