/aejmac-tables-figures

name: aejmac-tables-figures
description: Use when building or revising exhibits for an American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics (AEJ: Macro) manuscript — impulse-response figures, fan charts, model-fit overlays, and regression/moment tables — to AEA house standards and macro conventions. Formatting and clarity; it does not generate the underlying estimates.

Tables & Figures (aejmac-tables-figures)

When to trigger

• IRF figures lack confidence bands, units, or a clear horizon axis
• Tables are dense, mislabeled, or report coefficients without the macro quantity of interest
• A model-fit comparison (data vs. simulated moments) is asserted in text but not shown
• Exhibits do not stand alone — the reader needs the body text to decode them

The AEJ: Macro exhibits bar

AEJ: Macro follows **AEA house style** (applied by the AEA at copyediting; the submitted PDF need not pre-conform, but clean exhibits speed review). Macro adds its own conventions: the **impulse-response function** is the workhorse figure, and the **headline quantity** (multiplier, peak response, welfare cost, share of variance) must be readable off the exhibit. Every exhibit should be **self-contained**: title, axis labels with units and horizon, sample, and the inference object (bands / SE) in the note.

Figure conventions (macro-specific)

• **IRFs**: plot the response with a **shaded confidence band** (state the level, e.g., 68% and/or 90%); label the horizon axis in the natural unit (quarters/months/years); mark zero; if sign-restricted, show the **identified set / median-target**, not a spurious point.
• **Fan charts / forecast bands**: show the full predictive distribution where the claim is about uncertainty.
• **Model-fit overlays**: plot **data vs. model** (targeted and untargeted moments) on the same axes; this is the credibility figure for quantitative work.
• **Counterfactual figures**: baseline vs. counterfactual paths with uncertainty carried through.
• **Variance decompositions / contribution plots**: stacked or grouped, with a clear legend.
• Vector output (`.eps`/`.pdf`) preferred for final files; keep colors legible in grayscale; no chartjunk.

Table conventions

• Report the **economic quantity**, not just raw coefficients — e.g., the multiplier, the elasticity, the implied share — with its SE/band.
• AEA tables conventionally use **significance stars**; AEJ: Macro accepts them, but the **standard error / band must be present** and must carry the inference (do not let stars substitute for a reported SE). Note significance levels in the table note.
• One decisive number per row; align decimals; units in the column header or note.
• Targeted-vs-untargeted-moment tables: clearly flag which moments were matched.
• Notes carry: sample, frequency, estimator, inference (HAC/cluster), and what an asterisk means.

Main text vs. online appendix

• Main text: the **decisive** IRFs, the headline table, the model-fit figure. AEJ: Macro articles run ~40 pages including exhibits (检索于 2026-06；以官网为准), so exhibits compete for space.
• Online appendix: full robustness IRFs, additional moments, alternative specifications, derivations.

Execution bridge (StatsPAI / Stata MCP)

Generate exhibits from the fitted result, not by retyping numbers (the usual source of body-vs-appendix drift). Full map: [`execution-with-mcp`](../../../shared-resources/empirical-methods/execution-with-mcp.md).

• **Tables:** `etable` (multi-model columns) or `did_summary_to_latex` straight from the

`result_id` — one variable definition, one set of numbers, body and appendix in sync.

• **Figures:** `plot_from_result` / `enhanced_event_study_plot` / `event_study_table` —

axis units and the SE/clustering note baked in.

• **Every note** names the estimator + clustering (from the result's diagnostics) and

states the magnitude in interpretable units.

See a full fitted-result → exhibit chain in the [JF execution walkthrough](../../../Journal-of-Finance-Skills/resources/worked-examples/02-execution-walkthrough.md).

Checklist

• [ ] Every IRF has a confidence band with its level stated, a labeled horizon axis, and a zero line
• [ ] Sign-restricted responses shown as a set/median-target, not a fake point estimate
• [ ] Model-fit figure (data vs. model, targeted + untargeted) present for quantitative papers
• [ ] Tables report the macro quantity with its SE/band; notes give sample/estimator/inference
• [ ] Significance stars (if used) accompany, not replace, reported SEs
• [ ] Each exhibit is self-contained (decodable without the body text)
• [ ] Decisive exhibits in main text; the rest in the online appendix; figures vector + grayscale-legible

Anti-patterns

• IRFs with no confidence bands, or bands whose level is never stated
• Sign-restricted IRFs drawn as a single line, hiding set-identification
• Tables of raw VAR coefficients with no impulse responses or implied quantity
• Stars reported but standard errors omitted
• A model "matches the data" claimed in prose with no overlay figure
• Exhibits readable only with a magnifying glass after the AEA's two-column typesetting

Output format

【Exhibit inventory】IRFs / fan charts / model-fit / counterfactual / tables
【IRF compliance】bands+level / horizon axis / zero line / set-vs-point? [Y/N]
【Quantity legibility】headline number readable off each exhibit? [Y/N]
【Table compliance】SE/band present; notes complete; stars don't replace SEs? [Y/N]
【Main vs. appendix split】decisive in text, rest in online appendix? [Y/N]
【Next step】aejmac-writing-style