《经济理论写作导引》.pdfVIP

Journal of Economic Literature Vol. XXXVII (March 1999), pp. 157–183 Thomson: The Young Person’s Guide to Writing Economic Theory The Young Person’s Guide to Writing Economic Theory 1 WILLIAM THOMSON 1. Introduction plicity, clarity, unity—are universal, but when it comes to putting them into ERE ARE MY recommendations for practice, multiple choices are often Hwriting economic theory (and, to available, and these recommendations to some extent, giving seminar presenta- follow unavoidably reflect my personal tions). My intended audience is young tastes. Also, they are occasionally in- economists working on their disserta- compatible. This is where judgement tions or preparing their first papers for comes in. Exercise yours. I make much submission to a professional journal. use of the imperative mode, but I can Although I discuss general issues of well imagine that you will come down presentation, this essay is mainly con- differently on a number of the issues I cerned in its details with formal models. raise. What is important is for you to It does not cover the writing up of em- think about them. pirical work. However, since most pa- Good writing requires revising, revis- pers begin with the i