Articles ineconomics journals are usually classified according to classification codes derived from theJournal of Economic Literature (JEL). TheJEL is published quarterly by theAmerican Economic Association (AEA) and contains survey articles and information on recently published books and dissertations. The AEA maintainsEconLit, a searchable data base of citations for articles, books, reviews, dissertations, and working papers classified by JEL codes for the years from 1969. A recent addition to EconLit is indexing of economics journal articles from 1886 to 1968[1] parallel to the print seriesIndex of Economic Articles.[2]
Developed in the context of theJournal of Economic Literature, the JEL classification system became a standard method of classifying economics literature, including journal articles, books, collective volume articles, dissertations, working papers in economics, book reviews from theJournal of Economic Literature, andEconLit.[3]
There are 26 primary JEL categories:
| JEL Codes[α] | General Categories |
|---|---|
| A | General Economics and Teaching |
| B | History of Economic Thought,Economic Methodology, andHeterodox Approaches |
| C | Mathematical and Quantitative Methods |
| D | Microeconomics |
| E | Macroeconomics andMonetary Economics |
| F | International Economics |
| G | Financial Economics |
| H | Public Economics |
| I | Health,Education, andWelfare |
| J | Labor Economics andDemographic Economics |
| K | Law and Economics |
| L | Industrial Organization |
| M | Business Administration andBusiness Economics •Marketing •Accounting •Personnel Economics |
| N | Economic History |
| O | Economic Development,Innovation,Technological Change, andGrowth |
| P | Economic Systems |
| Q | Agriculture andNatural Resource Economics •Environmental andEcological Economics |
| R | Urban, Rural, Regional,Real Estate, andTransportation Economics |
| Y | Miscellaneous Categories |
| Z | Other Special Topics |
Each JEL primary category has secondary and tertiary subcategories, for example, under JEL: D – Microeconomics:
JEL code (sub)categories, including periodic updates, are referenced atJournal of Economic Literature (JEL) Classification System.
Articles in economics journals also list JEL codes, facilitating their use acrosssearch engines. Comprehensive uses of JEL (sub)classifications include:
