---
name: ecj-tables-figures
description: Use when finalizing the main exhibits (tables and figures) of a The Economic Journal (EJ) manuscript so each one carries economic content, reads to a general audience, and is self-contained. Sets exhibit design and notes standards; it does not decide which results to report (see ecj-robustness).
---

# Tables & Figures (ecj-tables-figures)

## When to trigger

- Tables are overloaded with columns; the reader cannot find the economic point
- Figures are decorative rather than carrying the argument
- Notes are thin — a reader cannot reconstruct units, sample, or specification from the exhibit alone
- You are deciding what belongs in the main text vs. the online appendix, or working within the short-paper exhibit budget

## The EJ exhibit philosophy

An EJ table or figure should be **self-contained and legible to a generalist**: a referee or non-specialist skimming exhibits should grasp the result, the magnitude, and what it means without hunting through the text. EJ's broad-interest, exposition-first identity makes this acute — an exhibit only your subfield can parse undersells the paper. Every exhibit must also be regenerated by the master script in the **Zenodo** replication deposit, so the numbers in the paper and the numbers the code produces must match exactly when the **EJ Data Editor** verifies them before final acceptance (see `ecj-replication-package`). The headline result usually deserves a *figure* (an event-study plot, a model-fit plot, a counterfactual) because magnitudes and dynamics read faster than a coefficient.

For a **short paper** (AER:Insights-style), the exhibit budget is tight (5 exhibits; verified 2026-06-20): every exhibit must earn its place; demote the rest to the online appendix.

### Tables
- Report **economic magnitudes**, not just stars: effect relative to the mean, an elasticity, a standardized effect, or a monetary/welfare figure.
- One table = one idea. The main results table should fit on a page and be readable without the text.
- Columns build an argument (baseline → +controls → preferred → alternative design), not an undifferentiated grid.
- Standard errors in parentheses; state the clustering level in the note. Prefer reporting CIs or exact SEs over star-only inference.
- Self-contained note: sample, period, unit of observation, dependent-variable definition, specification, SE structure, and what each column adds.

### Figures
- Use a figure to carry the main result when dynamics/magnitudes matter (event studies, dose-response, model fit, counterfactual paths).
- Plot confidence bands, not just point estimates. Label axes with units and economic meaning.
- Grayscale-safe and legible in print; no 3-D effects, no unnecessary gridlines.
- Each figure's caption states what the reader should conclude economically.

### Main text vs. online appendix
- Main text: the identifying result, the mechanism evidence, the key magnitude, the headline counterfactual — typically a small number of exhibits.
- Online appendix: the full robustness battery, descriptive tables, secondary heterogeneity, and supporting derivations.

## Execution bridge (StatsPAI / Stata MCP)

Generate exhibits from the fitted result, not by retyping numbers. Full map:
[`execution-with-mcp`](../../../shared-resources/empirical-methods/execution-with-mcp.md). The Economic Journal is general-interest economics; the DiD/IV/RDD chain serves its broad applied lane.

- **Tables:** `etable` (multi-model) or `did_summary_to_latex` straight from the `result_id`.
- **Figures:** `plot_from_result` / `enhanced_event_study_plot` / `event_study_table` —
  axis units and the SE/clustering note baked in.
- **Every note** names the estimator + clustering and states the magnitude in interpretable units.

See a full fitted-result → exhibit chain in the [JF execution walkthrough](../../../Journal-of-Finance-Skills/resources/worked-examples/02-execution-walkthrough.md).
## Checklist

- [ ] Headline result expressed as an economic magnitude (relative to mean / elasticity / welfare), not stars alone
- [ ] Main results readable without the surrounding text, by a non-specialist
- [ ] Every table note states sample, period, unit, DV definition, spec, and clustering level
- [ ] Columns/panels build an argument rather than dumping specifications
- [ ] At least one figure carries the main result with confidence bands
- [ ] Figures legible in grayscale; axes labeled with units and meaning
- [ ] Exhibit count disciplined (short paper: within the 5-exhibit budget); heavy material in the online appendix
- [ ] Every exhibit number reproduces from the deposited code; in-text references match exactly

## Anti-patterns

- Star-only tables with no economic magnitude — a referee cannot tell if the effect matters
- Numbers in an exhibit that the deposited code does not reproduce — fatal at EJ Data Editor verification
- A 12-column main table that no one outside the subfield can parse
- Figures with no confidence bands, or with chartjunk / 3-D / rainbow palettes
- Notes too thin to reconstruct the specification
- Reporting R² and stars but never the units of the dependent variable
- Blowing the short-paper exhibit budget instead of using the online appendix

## Output format

```
【Main exhibits】tables: N, figures: N (short-paper budget respected? [y/n])
【Magnitude reported】mean-relative / elasticity / welfare / standardized
【Headline figure】what it shows + has CIs? [y/n]
【Notes complete】sample/period/unit/DV/spec/clustering present? [y/n]
【Reproduces from code】numbers match deposit? [y/n]
【Main vs. appendix split】...
【Next】ecj-writing-style
```