The Economics of Economics Journals: A Statistical Analysis of Pricing Practices by Publishers (Research Note)

This study uses multiple regression analysis to investigate price determinants of the top-ranked economics journals. Holding other factors constant, the study found that the prices charges to libraries in the United States are significantly higher for journals from for-profit publishers and for those originating in Europe. The estimated price differential for European journals is too large to be attributed entirely to the extra cost of shipping the periodicals to the United States. Another finding was that there is a positive and significant correlation between a journal's impact (measured by frequency of citations) and its price. The results suggest that journal prices are not always cost based. One implication is that, as the main bruyers in the market, libraries should not passively acquiesce to all price increases