Literacy Practices in Economic Writingthe Discourse

Community of Economics
Jiayi Zhao*

UCSB

February 18March 20, 2020

Abstract

This essay explores common literacy practices used in the academicdiscourse community of

economics. Providing extensive examples, it analyzes the use of quantitative evidence, including

models, statistical analysis, figures and tables, with the goal of describing and predicting

economic behaviors, and other conventions in writing styles, paper structures, and citation styles

to communicate clearly and efficiently.

1. Introduction

Every Thursday during my microeconomics class sections, we do experiments that imitate real

markets, such as the labor market, to grasp important economic concepts, in this case, the effects

of minimum wage law on individuals. Then we will be assigned homework to compare our

experimental results to predictions we make using economic theories. These experiments serve

the purpose of teaching students to use observed data to test hypotheses derived from economic

theories, an important step when economists develop new models. Economics is the study of

how individuals make choices, and economists rely on models to answer questions. The goal is

Economics. It observes peer-reviewed journals and analyzes economists’ preferred approaches to

provide evidence and distinguishing textual features in their writing. By providing illustrative

examples and reproducing those conventions, this study has shown how economists use literacy

practices to engage with other community members of Economics meaningfully.

2. Introduction

Because we live in a world of scarcity, which means we have limited resources to fulfill our

unlimited wants, we must make decisions—Economics is the study of the decisions people make

to achieve their goals, given their scarce resources (Hubbard et al., 2013). Economics is broadly

divided into two areas: microeconomics and macroeconomics. Microeconomics is the study of

how individuals make choices, such as how consumers react to changes in prices and how firms

decide what prices to charge; macroeconomics is the study of the economy as a whole, involving

topics such as inflation, unemployment, and economic growth.

————————————
* I would like to thank my economics class TA Hazem Alshaikhmubarak who enhances my general understanding
of common literacy practice in economics, and my Writing 2 instructor Joshua Smith for his invaluable thesis
guidance and support.
to simplify actual situations to allow economists to analyze and predict outcomes. By making

economic ideas explicit, individuals, firms, or the government can use them to make decisions.

Therefore, appropriate literacy practices in economics are using quantitative evidence, including

models, statistical analysis, figures and tables, and economists share conventions in writing

styles, paper structures, and citation styles to achieve effective communication.

3. General Writing Style and Organization

A desirable economic style of writing is clear and concise, presenting the authors’ arguments

clearly and accurately. A common practice is writing short and simple sentences in the active

voice. Grammatically, economists favor the present tense. For instance, in discussing literature

reviews and results, they write “Eichengreen (2001) finds …,” “We use data from …,” and “Our
results suggest … (Furceri et al., 2017).” I also find that economists do not avoid using first-

person pronouns of “I” or “we” as a rule. Some writers use third-person pronouns exclusively by

saying “this study examines … ” and “it shows …,” but many economists write “I explore … ”

or “we have shown … ” when needed.

To further achieve clarity, economic papers share a common structure. The writers first present

the basic information of papers on the first page, including the titles, authors’ names with their

institutions, dates of publication, and abstracts. Then the body of the papers mainly contains four

parts: introduction, methods and data analysis, discussion of results, and conclusion, with each

being clearly titled. Although economic research questions vary widely in topics, they share

the same purpose of explaining social phenomena, predicting future outcomes, and drawing

useful implications so that consumers, firms, and government policymakers can use them to

make decisions. For example, economists play an important role in formulating public policies in

areas such as education, environment, and health care. By helping make decisions, economics

has contributed to improving the overall well-being of society.

With these shared goals and values, the discourse community of Economics has formed

particular conventions for reading, thinking, writing, and engaging with each other in a

meaningful way, which are called literacy practices (Swales, 1990). In this essay, I will be

analyzing economists’ use of quantitative evidence through models, statistics and figures, clear

and concise writing, coherent structures, and citation styles, while examining how these practices

are used to attain the discipline’s goals.

The rest of the essay is structured as follows. Section 2 analyzes three ways economists

use evidence, which are models, statistical analysis, and tables and figures. Section 3, 4, and 5
discuss three textual features respectively: writing styles, paper structures, and citation styles.

Section 6 uses a quantitative approach to provide evidence to this essay. Section 7 concludes.

4. Use of Evidence

a. Models

Economic research is characterized by the use of models. Models are simplified versions of

reality, by which economists present economic relationships visually and mathematically.

Economists start by formulating a hypothesis and then collect statistics to test it. Once the

hypothesis is confirmed by statistical analysis, economists will accept and use that model to offer

explanations or make predictions. A fundamental example of models in Economics is the model

of supply and demand, which explains how prices in markets are determined by the interactions

between sellers and buyers. Put in a narrative form, this theory states:

As price goes up, quantity demanded decreases, while quantity supplied increases;

likewise, as price goes down, quantity demanded increases, while quantity supplied decreases.

The equilibrium market price is where quantity demanded equals quantity supplied.

To make the economic relationship more explicit, economists visually present this model.

Economists first draw two curves representative of buyers (i.e. demand curve) and sellers (i.e.

supply curve), with price and quantity on the two axises (see Figure 1). The equilibrium market

price is, therefore, the y value where the two curves intersect, denoted by P* on the graph.
 1
Differences in sections or subsections depend on

approaches to research questions and authors’ choices. For example, a paper using theoretical

analysis may not include the data section as a paper using an empirical strategy does. Another

case is that Baqaee and Farhi (2019) have an Illustrative Example section in their paper, in which

they provide two specific examples to help illustrate the effects of their analyzed economic

variables. Overall, the convention of having a coherent organization allows the readers to follow

the paper’s logic more easily without being distracted by unexpected information, and thereby

ensures efficient communication within the academic community.

5. Use of Evidence

a. Models

Economic analysis is characterized by the use of models, simplified representations of real-world

situations. As mentioned earlier, economists rely on models to analyze economic issues, because

models allow them to formally represent economic relationships using mathematical and

graphical tools. For example, the model of supply and demand measures the effects of the

interactions between sellers and buyers on the prices of products in markets.

To develop models, economists use various statistical techniques, this process known as

econometrics. Describing econometric methods involves a lot of statistical jargon, such as

multivariate regression, Difference in Differences (D-in-D), Generalized Method of Moments

(GMM), etc. The writers assume their readers know the basics of these methods, so they do not

1 This essay will reproduce the convention of having titled sections, but will not reproduce the contents themselves.
detail what they are or how they work. Instead, they are clear about what assumptions they use,

what limitations their models exist, and how the modeling methods apply to the specific contexts

of their research questions.

In analyzing models, economists present multiple complex mathematical equations.

Figure 1 shows an example of how economists use mathematical language in their papers (Wu,

2017). The author defines key variables, states her assumption, and describes the step she takes

before giving each equation; she also places equations on

Figure 1. Model of Supply and Demand

Economists can also do more accurate calculations by presenting the model using

mathematical equations:

Let Qd denote quantity demanded, and Qs denote quantity supplied:

Qd = a – bP

Qs = c + dP

The equilibrium market price is where:

Qd = Qs

This simple example demonstrates how the use of models allows economists to analyze

real-world economic issues. In practice, economists need to develop more complex models.

Figure 2 shows a part of the mathematical analysis by Wu (2017). In her research paper, she

estimates the frequencies of gender-related words in a post on a job market forum. Her language

focuses on variables, notations and assumptions; the likelihood of observations is quantified in

precise numbers. She also puts equations in the center of separate lines, making the paper

easierclean

and easy to read.

 Figure 12. Example of Mathematical Equations in Economic PapersAnalysis (Wu, 2017)

In addition to numerical representations, economists also use flow diagrams to graphically

represent conceptual models. Figure 2 shows another example of Figure 3 shows a different

approach to presenting models through flow diagrams (Knight, 2018). In Knight’s paper, she

developsKnight builds a model to evaluate the effects of public spending options on gender

equality in employment. She identifies multiple channels, using arrows in solid lines to show

stronger associations and dashed lines to show weaker ones. The purpose of presenting modeling

procedures mathematically is to provide economists the bases for their further quantitative

analysis, while ensuring the papers’ replicabilityuses this flow diagram to demonstrate multiple

routes public spending on infrastructure can influence employment. She also adopts a practice of

drawing

solid and dashed lines to suggest the strength of correlations.

Figure 2. Example3. Examples of Flow Diagram (Knight, 2018)

b. Statistical Analysis
 c. After building models

To test a hypothesis, economists use economicapply data to test their hypotheses. They will first

describe the sources and limitations of the data, and then present the data with the help of tables

and figures. Take Knight’s model of employmentmodel, and see if the model explains the data

well. If not, they will need to revise the model. Take Knight again as the example: after building

her model, she applies it to the data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the result as

shown in

Figure 3.

4
Figure 3. Example of Tables in Economic Papers (Knight, 2018)

Economists accept and use an economic model if the statistical analysis confirms its

hypothesis. By applying her model of employment in the context of the U.S. economy, Knight

provides empirical evidence to her hypothesis that public spendings have substantial effects on

gendered labor markets.

The practice of testing hypotheses also allows economists to build on each other’s work,

as Knight in her paper suggests two areas for future work by providing more empirical support

for: one is applying this model in other country’s contexts or revisingto provide more empirical

support, the other one is to revise the model to

capture more unique relations.

 d. Tables and Figures

As mentioned above, economists use tables and figures to help organize their quantitative details.
Scholars read quickly, so the goal is to allow a skimming reader to understand the information
conveyed without having to read through the texts. We could refer to Figure 3 again to see
Figure 4. Example of Table (Knight, 2018)

e. Tables and Figures

Because statistical analyses and result reports involve many quantitative details, economists

employ visual aids of tables and figures to facilitate their communication of findings. We can

refer to Figure 4 again, which presents a typical table in Economics papers. It clearly organizes a

lot of numbers, which otherwise become messy and confusing. Notice that Knight’s table

contains a brief but informative title, clearly labeled column headings with units of measurement,

and notes describing the sources of data, which exemplifies a typical table in economic papers.

Although we do not see the actual paper, we can understand the facts presented as the table

explains itself sufficiently. Scholars read quickly, so the goal is to allow a skimming reader to

understand the information conveyed without having to read through the texts. Tables in

economic papers also appear in a layout that has no vertical line, and uses horizontal lines only

when separating column headings. This conforms to, again, the literacy practice of writing

concisely by removing things that are unnecessary to understanding the information presented.

Economists also use figures to give useful statistical summaries of their results. Figures

take many forms, such as bar graphs, histograms, scatterplots, etc. (see Figure 4). The goal of
using visual aids is to5). Good figures make the hypotheses about relationships explicit and

concrete, so that readers can discern the patterns immediately. Similarly, economists present

figures with informative titles and clearly labeled axes to ensure efficient communication.

Figure 45. Examples of Figures in Economic PapersFigure (Wu, 2017)

6. CitationWriting Styles

Economists cite articles or books in two ways. One is to use a signal phrase, which gives the

author’s name and places the year of the publication in the parenthesis rightwrite clearly and

concisely so that the reader can easily understand and accept the writer’s argument. One way is

to construct short sentences using the active voice, and the other way is to use precise words.

Statistical analysis, for example, requires significant use of statistical jargon, such as

instrumental variable, regression discontinuity (RDD), and Difference in Differences (D-in-D).

These technical terminologies carry specific meanings, and economists use them necessarily and

consistently to help the reader interpret the text appropriately. Economists may use acronyms for

long words, which makes the page cleaner and speeds the delivery of information.
 A particular distinguishing textual feature of economic writing is that economists use the

present tense, even though they are talking about past events. That is, they write “our results

suggest …” instead of “our results suggested …”; when they refer to previous work or state data

sources, they say “Eichengreen (2001) finds …” and “we use data from … (Furceri et al.,

2017).” A possible explanation is that it stresses that economic research is facts that are

uninfluenced by time.

I also find that economists do not avoid using first-person pronouns such as “I” or “we”

as a rule. Some use third-person pronouns exclusively by saying “this study examines …” and “it

shows …,” but many writers also write “I explore … ” or “we have shown … ” when necessary.

By having more freedom using first or third person constructions, especially when they are

describing their particular findings, economists add more clarity and assurance to their

arguments.

7. Paper Structure

Economics papers have a predictable organizational structure, which is divided into the

following sections: title, authors and affiliations, dates of publication, abstracts, introduction,

methods, data analysis, discussion of results, conclusion, and references, with each being clearly

titled. Having a coherent and logical structure allows the writer to convince and engage with

readers easily. Another benefit is that it allows readers to read quickly according to their needs.

For example, some readers only read titles and abstracts, and others may go deeper looking at

tables and figures.

8. Citation Styles

Economists cite literature in two ways. One is using signal phrases to introduce the authors’ last

names in context, with the year of publication in parentheses after the namenames, such as “As
Chen, Rogoff, and Rossi (2010) argue, …(Manzur, 2017).” The other one is using in-text

parenthetical citations to put the author’s name and the yearis to include both last names and

years in parentheses, with a comma in between, as shown in the last example. This citation

practice allows economists toat the end of sentences. By mentioning last names, economists give

explicit recognitioncredits to previous scholarly contributions without interrupting the flow of

arguments. At the endscholars’ contributions and allow readers to find the references on the

reference list. Furthermore, specifying publication years shows the relativity of time of the

references. As the discipline of Economics has been changing quickly due to social development,

new methodologies, etc., citing up-to-date research makes the writer’s arguments more

persuasive. At the end of their research papers, economists will includeprovide a reference list in

the Chicago style of all works they have cited. They sort the authors’ last names alphabetically

so that the readers can easily find the reference they wish to look further. Occasionally,

economists use footnotes, but not for citation purposes; instead, they putthat has complete

citations of the references they have cited. These references are also listed alphabetically by the

authors’ last names to facilitate readers to find the references. Occasionally, economists use

footnotes to include less important details, such as data comments, exceptions of results, and

acknowledgments to help readers track the papers’ main ideas. . To summarize, economists

utilize a citation style that quickly satisfies the purpose of citing sources without interrupting the

flows of their arguments.

9. Discussion of Results

To provide further evidence to my thesis on appropriate literacy practices used in economic

writing, Table 1 presents the empirical data I observe from 11 randomly chosen economic

articles at the UCSB Online Library.

 Table 1. Frequency of Literacy Practices Frequency in Economics2
Literacy practices and conventions Times identified among the Frequency of
11 articles I observe occurrence (%)
Keep sentences short and simple 11 100
Tend to use active voice 11 100
Stick to the present tense 10 91
Use first-person pronouns when needed 10 91
Follow a clear structure 10 91
Literacy practices and conventions Times identified among the Frequency of
11 articles I observe occurrence (%)
Use models 9 82
Use statistical jargon 11 100
State assumptions, limitations, etc. of models 11 100
Present mathematical equations 9 82
Present flow diagram 3 12
Use empirical data to test hypotheses 6 55
Use tables or figures 11 100
Citations in signal phrases/ author-year in 11 100
parentheses

Table 1. Frequency of Literacy Practices Frequency in Economics3

Literacy practices and conventions Times identified among the Frequency of
11 articles I observe occurrence (%)
Use models 9 82
Present mathematical equations 9 82
Present flow diagram 3 12
Use empirical data to test hypotheses 6 55
Use tables or figures 11 100
Keep sentences short and simple 11 100
Tend to use active voice 11 100
Stick to the present tense 10 91

2 With a significantly small number of observations, this table aims to reproduce the convention of providing
quantitative evidence in economics, instead of giving actual statistical analysis.
3 With a significantly small number of observations, this table aims to reproduce the convention of providing
quantitative evidence in economics, instead of giving actual statistical analysis.
 Use first-person pronouns when needed 10 91
Use statistical jargon 11 100
Follow a clear structure 10 91
Citations in signal phrases/author-year in 11 100
parentheses

Note: Data randomly obtained from the UCSB Online Library. https://www.library.ucsb.edu/research/
resources/databases/subjects?subj=765

As presented in Table 1, most literacy practices identified in this

essay have a high frequency of occurrence (≥ 90%), demonstrating

that my thesis of common literacy practices used in economics is

statistically significant.

10. Conclusion

Economics is an essentially mathematical principle, which features some of its literacy practices

of valuing quantitative evidence and seeking clarity and conciseness. Meanwhile, it explores

empirical problems, filling the gap between economic theories and observed data, which

generates other literacy practices of using statistical techniques with models and data. Efficiency

is an important economic concept, and the goal of discerning and engaging in these literacy

practices is to achieve an efficient way of communicating within this community. That is, when

economists expect to see statistical analysis based on facts instead of opinions, both the writers

save time in finding the right evidence to their hypotheses, and the readers in evaluating the

quality of the papers. By maximizing the scholarly achievements in this fielddiscipline, so

economists value quantitative evidence instead of qualitative, seeking explicit argumentations

instead of streams of consciousness. Meanwhile, Economics is concerned with real-world issues,

putting economic theories into practice, so economists utilize the approach of developing models

and testing with empirical data. Learning and employing these literacy practices helps the writer

communicate his or her findings more effectively to the discourse community of Economics.

Ultimately, economists can

realize their trueshared goal as a discipline of improving the overall well-being of society.
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