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 proof under the relaxed assumption, then aejmic-robustness for the continuum extension; only once the proposition is stable do you return to aejmic-tables-figures and aejmic-rebuttal.

Minimal decision snippet

if decision_letter_arrived:          -> aejmic-rebuttal
elif ready_to_submit:                -> aejmic-submission
elif anticipating_referees:          -> aejmic-referee-strategy
elif proof_appendix_or_code:         -> aejmic-replication-package
elif prose_or_intro:                 -> aejmic-writing-style
elif exhibits_or_examples:           -> aejmic-tables-figures
elif extensions_or_edge_cases:       -> aejmic-robustness
elif which_assumption_or_id:         -> aejmic-identification
elif model_or_proof_unsettled:       -> aejmic-theory-model
elif fit_or_positioning_fuzzy:       -> aejmic-topic-selection / aejmic-literature-positioning
else:                                -> aejmic-topic-selection