American Economic Association

The AEA was established in 1885 in Saratoga Springs, New York by younger progressive economists trained in the German historical school, including Richard T. Ely, Edwin Robert Anderson Seligman and Katharine Coman, the only woman co-founder; Since 1900, it has been under the control of academics. The Purposes of the Association are the following: 1) The encouragement of economic research, especially the historical and statistical study of the actual conditions of industrial life; 2) The issue of publications on economic subjects; 3) The encouragement of perfect freedom of economic discussion. The Association says that it takes no partisan attitude, nor does it commit its members to any position on practical economic questions. The Association publishes an academic journal in economics, namely, the American Economic Review. Once composed primarily of college and university economics teachers, the Association, headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, now attracts increasing members from business and professional groups. Today, the Association has about 23,000 members, and over half are academics. About 15% are employed in business and industry, and the remainder largely by federal, state, and local government or other not-for-profit organizations. The leadership of the AEA has been dominated by academics from six academic institutions: Harvard, MIT, Chicago, Columbia, Stanford, and Princeton.

The AEA, in conjunction with over 50 associations in related disciplines known as the Allied Social Science Associations, holds a three-day annual meeting in January to present papers on general economic subjects. The annual meeting features about 500 scholarly sessions. A placement service to assist employers and job applicants begins a day before the meetings. A continuing education program is held immediately after the annual meeting. Topics vary from year to year. The AEA publishes three economics journals: the American Economic Review, the Journal of Economic Literature, and the Journal of Economic Perspectives. In 2009, it began to publish four new area-specific journals, collectively American Economic Journal (AEJ), reporting on applied economics, economic policy, macroeconomics, and microeconomics. The AEA recognizes annually a Best Paper Award for papers published in each of the four areas. The AEA also publishes AEA Papers and Proceedings each May, featuring papers presented at the AEA meetings in January. Until 2017, these papers were published in the May issue of the American Economic Review. The AEA also produces EconLit, the AEA's electronic bibliography. It is a comprehensive index to peer-reviewed journal articles, books, book reviews, collective volume articles, working papers, and dissertations. Compiled and abstracted in a searchable format, EconLit indexes 125 years of economic literature worldwide. It follows the JEL classification codes of the Journal of Economic Literature. The AEA sponsors RFE: Resources for Economists on the Internet, an online source available to the general public without subscription. It catalogs and annotates 2,000+ internet sites under some 97 sections and subsections. RFE is currently updated on a monthly basis. The AEA resource, Job Openings for Economists (JOE) originated in October 1974, and lists job openings for economists. It is published electronically monthly (except January and July). Each year, the AEA recognizes the lifetime research contributions of four economists by electing them Distinguished Fellows. The Association also awards the John Bates Clark Medal for outstanding research accomplishments in economics annually to a scholar under the age of 40; it is often referred to as the "Baby Nobel," as many of its recipients go on to become Nobel Laureates.

As of 2025, the president of the association is Katharine Abraham. As of 2021, 18% of presidents have been alumni and 20% faculty of Harvard University. Past presidents of the association:

Distinguished Fellow honorees include: