September 23rd, 2026
Economics journals are governed by a shrinking elite
LSE Impact. Understanding impact and practice in academic research
Describing a new stock-flow framework for analysing journal editorial boards, Alberto Baccini demonstrates how in recent years journal growth in economics has stalled, member turnover has collapsed, and boards have become increasingly stable and insular. This raises critical questions about diversity, innovation, and governance in economics. It also offers a toolkit for studying the same dynamics in other fields.
This post draws on the author’s paper, A Stock-Flow Framework for Editorial Board Dynamics: The Case of Economics Journals, 1866–2019, published in Quantitative Science Studies.
Alberto Baccini is Professor of Economics at the University of Siena, Italy where he teaches Quantitative Studies of Science in the Master in Statistics. He is an editor of the blog www.roars.it.
Read the full post at https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2026/09/23/economics-journals-are-governed-by-a-shrinking-elite/.
Mario Cedrini