Should-Read: I think Emily Eisner gets this right: Emily Eisner: Women in Economics at Berkeley

Should-Read: I think Emily Eisner gets this right: Emily Eisner: Women in Economics at Berkeley: “However in order to turn bold ideas into a reality, the AEA needs to establish institutions and systems that will incentivize the behavior they endorse…

…and address issues as they come up (and evolve over time). Professions such as sociology and law have modeled the type of robust code of conduct that a profession such as economics could adopt. These other professions have established more specific guidelines for conduct with other professionals, clients, research subjects, audience members, and the general public. While the current draft put out by the AEA does allude to social media and spaces where comments can be made anonymously as venues that need to maintain a high standard of conduct, they do not explicitly address the specific forms of misconduct that would violate the Code. This leaves ample room for ambiguity and inaction in the case of misconduct. Further, the Code does not offer a system of recourse for those who have witnessed or fallen victim to violations of conduct. Without a formal process of reporting and addressing violations, it is not clear that this Code will exist as anything other than wishful thinking…