Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Network

A Guide to Writing in Economics
Prepared by Paul Dudenhefer, Writing Tutor, EcoTeach
Center and Department of Economics, Duke University

Second Edition ©2007 by Paul Dudenhefer

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A Guide to Writing in Economics
Prepared by Paul Dudenhefer, Writing Tutor, EcoTeach Center and Department of Economics, Duke University
Introduction 4
Part I: Writing and Scholarly Argumentation 5
1. Writing a Paper—a Good Paper 6
2. The Paper as a Whole 7
3. Making Arguments: Claim, Reasons, Evidence—or, How to Ace that
Essay Exam 8
4. Making Economic Arguments 10

Part II: The Writing of Economics: A Discipline-Specific Examination 12
5. Writing about Evidence 13

5a. Writing about Models 13
5b. Writing about Data 14
5c. Reporting Data and Results in Tables 15
5d. Tables and Text: Writing about Your Results 17

6.
7.
8.
9.

Writing
Writing
Writing
Writing

Literature Reviews 19
History-of-Thought Papers 20
Book Reviews 21
Abstracts 22

Part III: Bookends: Introductions and Conclusions 24
10. Introductions 25
10a. General Content of Introductions 25
10b. Yes, But How to Actually Begin a Paper? 28
10c. Introductions: Summing Up 31

11. Conclusions 31

Part IV: Economists Do It With . . . Style? 34
Part V: Eight Principles of Clear, Cohesive, and Coherent Writing 37

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Part VI: Final Words 44
Appendices
Genres of Economics Writing 46
Sample Model Section 48
Sample Data Sections 52
Sample Literature Review 55
Sample Book Review 57
Sample Introduction 59

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Introduction
When I tell people that I am the writing tutor for the economics department, I am usually met with a surprised reaction. And why not? Most people associate writing with the English department and, only to a slightly lesser extent, with the other disciplines in the humanities; they do not normally associate writing with economics and the other sciences. You may be one of them.
You may be asking yourself, What does