/aejmic-workflow

name: aejmic-workflow
description: Use when deciding which aejmic-* sub-skill to invoke next, or when sequencing manuscript work from topic selection through rebuttal for an American Economic Journal: Microeconomics (AEJ: Micro) submission. Routes — it does not replace — the specialized skills.

AEJ: Micro Workflow Router (aejmic-workflow)

Overview

This is the router. It tells you **which aejmic-* skill to use at the current stage** of a manuscript aimed at the *American Economic Journal: Microeconomics* (AEJ: Micro) — the **American Economic Association's** quarterly journal (founded 2009, one of four AEJs) for **microeconomic THEORY and its applications**: game theory, mechanism and market design, industrial-organization theory, contract theory, information economics, decision theory, behavioral theory, and theory-grounded experiments. AEJ: Micro is **theory-first** — it rewards a clean, general, well-motivated result, with structural/experimental applications welcome when the economics is the point.

Default assumption: unless the user says otherwise, treat the target as AEJ: Micro. Operational tells that you are at AEJ: Micro and not a sibling: it wants **broad micro interest + the AEA editorial process** (vs. specialist *JET* / *GEB* / *Theoretical Economics*); it is **less abstract/methodological** than *TE* or *Econometrica*; and it is **theory**, not empirical applied micro (that is *AEJ: Applied*). Process tells: **single-blind** review via the AEA submission system (author revealed to referees; referees anonymous), a **submission fee** (AEA member rate — volatile), JEL classification per AEA practice, and the **AEA Data and Code Availability Policy** for any paper with data, code, experiments, or numerical results. Re-verify volatile specifics on the official AEA pages (see `resources/official-source-map.md`).

When to trigger

• The user asks "what should I do next?"
• A draft needs its current bottleneck diagnosed
• Work is ping-ponging between the model, the proofs, the framing, and the response letter
• An AEJ: Micro decision letter arrived and the user needs to switch into revision mode

Routing table

| Current symptom | Next skill | |-----------------|------------| | Unsure the question is broad-micro-interesting theory (not JET/TE/AEJ:Applied) | `aejmic-topic-selection` | | Contribution vs. the closest existing result is fuzzy or oversold | `aejmic-literature-positioning` | | The model, equilibrium concept, or proof architecture is the bottleneck | `aejmic-theory-model` | | Unclear what makes the result tight / which assumption is doing the work | `aejmic-identification` | | Extensions, edge cases, or (applied) robustness checks are missing | `aejmic-robustness` | | Propositions, numerical examples, or experimental exhibits are messy | `aejmic-tables-figures` | | Prose buries the result; abstract/intro do not land | `aejmic-writing-style` | | Proof appendix, numerical/structural/experimental code deposit, README | `aejmic-replication-package` | | Want to anticipate referee objections / calibrate desk-reject odds | `aejmic-referee-strategy` | | Ready to submit via the AEA system; need a preflight | `aejmic-submission` | | Received an R&R; need a response-letter strategy | `aejmic-rebuttal` |

Default order

1. `aejmic-topic-selection` — lock a broad-interest microeconomic-theory question 2. `aejmic-literature-positioning` — stake the result against the closest theorem 3. `aejmic-theory-model` — **the central skill**: model, equilibrium concept, proof strategy 4. `aejmic-identification` — what makes the result tight / what identifies parameters 5. `aejmic-robustness` — extensions, edge cases, applied robustness 6. `aejmic-tables-figures` — propositions, numerical examples, experimental tables 7. `aejmic-writing-style` — make the result land (abstract + intro last) 8. `aejmic-replication-package` — proof appendix + code (AEA Data Editor) 9. `aejmic-referee-strategy` — pre-empt the objections theory referees raise 10. `aejmic-submission` — AEA system preflight (single-blind, JEL, fee) 11. `aejmic-rebuttal` — after the R&R

> `aejmic-writing-style` is a late-stage polish; do not rewrite the intro before the model and proofs settle.

Anti-patterns

• Polishing prose or exhibits while the **model or main proof is still moving** — `aejmic-theory-model` must settle first
• Treating AEJ: Micro like *JET*/*GEB* (specialist, maximal generality) or *AEJ: Applied* (empirical) — wrong fit gate
• Deferring the **proof appendix** and any **numerical/experimental code** until acceptance — the AEA Data Editor checks before publication
• Reporting an applied result with significance asterisks instead of standard errors

Routing by paper archetype

AEJ: Micro spans several branches; the bottleneck differs. Read the archetype, then enter the chain at the right link.

| Archetype | Likely first bottleneck | Enter at | |-----------|-------------------------|----------| | pure theory (mechanism/game/decision) | equilibrium concept + proof strategy + generality | `aejmic-theory-model` | | theory with structural estimation | parameter identification + counterfactual validity | `aejmic-identification` → `aejmic-theory-model` | | theory-grounded experiment | design maps to the model's prediction; pre-registration | `aejmic-topic-selection` → `aejmic-identification` | | IO theory / applied micro-theory | the mechanism's robustness to modeling choices | `aejmic-theory-model` → `aejmic-robustness` |

Worked routing example (illustrative)

A user says: "My mechanism-design result is proved, but a referee says it hinges on a knife-edge tie-breaking assumption and asks whether it survives a continuum of types." That is two distinct AEJ: Micro pushbacks — *which assumption is doing the work* (owned by `aejmic-identification`) and *does the mechanism extend* (owned by `aejmic-robustness`), both anchored to `aejmic-theory-model`. Route to `aejmic-theory-model` to restate the