Academic papers in economics aim to answer a question using economic analysis. These papers can take many different forms but most fall into 2 broad categories (theoretical or empirical), or are a mix of both:

• Theoretical papers develop or discuss an economic model on the basis of reasonable assumptions, and aim to prove a particular outcome using that model. This type of writing can be undertaken when data are scarce or unreliable.
• Empirical papers test an economic model with data that have been collected through observations of economic behaviour, either in the real world or under experimental conditions.

Economics papers follow somewhat different structures, depending on whether they are empirical or theoretical papers. Most economics research papers contain:

• an introduction stating the aim of the paper and how it contributes to the discipline of economics
• a literature review with a discussion of previous relevant research
• sections detailing the model and its application to different scenarios (using a range of variables); or the data used, methods of analysis, and calculations and observations based on them
• a conclusion highlighting the implications of the research
• reference lists.

The key points should be mentioned as targets up front, and underscored at the conclusion.

Economics papers can be written in the first person and the present tense, where appropriate. Systematic referencing is always needed to underscore the reliability of the discussion.

See Journal articles for more information on developing such publications.