Canadian Economics in Decline: Implications for Canada's Economics Journals

This paper analyzes publication activity and its Canadian content for a random sample of current academic faculty in Canadian economics departments using both descriptive evidence and time-dependent panel regression models. We find some support for Anthony Scott's (1993) hypothesis that publications with Canadian content are delayed until later career stages, but we also find strong evidence of declining interest in Canadian content for newer faculty hired since 1990 and for faculty in Canada's top-rated departments. Canadian academics have tended to publish in the Canadian Journal of Economics (CJE/RCE) early in their career and Canadian Public Policy/Analyse de polituqes (CPP/Adp) in mid-career, but both these outlets feature fewer publications from faculty hired since 1990. Publication in the CJE/RCE persists for top departments into mid-career but is less common among those hired with a PhD from outside Canada, while publication in CPP/Adp is more likely among faculty in departments outside the top ten. The contracting supply of content for Canadian economics journals, particularly CPP/Adp, appears to be aggravated by the recent hiring and retention decisions of departments seeking to improve their ranking based on top journal publications.