FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Kristine Etter
American Economic Association
Phone: (615) 343-0417
Email: kristine.b.etter@Vanderbilt.Edu

NASHVILLE, TN (April 7, 2026) - The American Economic Association (AEA) announces recipients of the John Bates Clark Medal, Distinguished Fellows, Foreign Honorary Members, and the Best Paper Awards of the American Economic Journals. These outstanding achievements will be honored at the AEA Annual Meeting in January 2027.

Awarded annually to an economist under the age of 40, the John Bates Clark Medal recognizes outstanding research accomplishments in economics. The AEA Electoral College, consisting of the Association's Honors and Awards Committee and voting members of the Executive Committee, selects the winner.  A list of Clark Medal recipients is available at https://www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/honors-awards/bates-clark.

The Distinguished Fellow awards recognize the lifetime contributions of distinguished economists. Since 1965, past presidents of the AEA are recognized as Distinguished Fellows, and up to four additional individuals may be elected for the award in one calendar year. Distinguished Fellows are selected by the AEA Nominating Committee and voting members of the Executive Committee, sitting together as an electoral college. A list of current and past Distinguished Fellows is available at https://www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/honors-awards/distinguished-fellows.

The Foreign Honorary Members award is presented to foreign economists of distinction. Honorees are elected by the AEA's Executive Committee upon recommendation from the Honors and Awards Committee. A list of current Foreign Honorary Members is available at https://www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/honors-awards/foreign-honorary-members.

The annual American Economic Journal (AEJ) Best Paper Awards highlight the best paper published in each of the American Economic Journals: Applied Economics, Economic Policy, Macroeconomics, and Microeconomics over the last three years. Nominations are provided by AEA members, and winners are selected by the journals' editors, co-editors, and boards of editors. A list of current and past AEJ Best Paper Award winners is available at https://www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/honors-awards/aej-best-papers.

A list of the 2026 spring award winners is provided below. For more information about these awards, the recipients, and biographies of the John Bates Clark Medalist and Distinguished Fellows, visit https://www.AEAweb.org.


The American Economic Association Spring Awards


John Bates Clark Medalist

Ludwig Straub, Harvard University


Distinguished Fellows

Donald Andrews, Yale University
N. Gregory Mankiw, Harvard University
Robert A. Margo, Boston University
Marjorie McElroy, Duke University


Foreign Honorary Members

Jacques-François Thisse, Catholic University of Louvain


American Economic Journal (AEJ) Best Paper Awards 
Complimentary full-text articles are available at the links below.

AEJ: Applied Economics: "Do Carbon Offsets Offset Carbon?" by Raphael Calel, Jonathan Colmer, Antoine Dechezleprêtre, and Matthieu Glachant 17(1), (pp. 1–40) January 2025

AEJ: Economic Policy: "Employed in a SNAP? The Impact of Work Requirements on Program Participation and Labor Supply," by Colin Gray, Adam Leive, Elena Prager, Kelsey Pukelis, and Mary Zaki 15(1), (pp. 306–41) February 2023

AEJ: Macroeconomics: "Optimal Fiscal and Monetary Policy with Distorting Taxes," by Christopher A. Sims† 17(2), (pp. 1–23) April 2025

AEJ: Microeconomics: "The Fake News Effect: Experimentally Identifying Motivated Reasoning Using Trust in News," by Michael Thaler 16(2), (pp. 1–38) May 2024

† Awarded posthumously


About the American Economic Association

The American Economic Association encourages economic research, issues publications on economic subjects, and encourages perfect freedom of economic discussion. With more than 17,000 members, the AEA publishes the American Economic Review (AER), AER: Insights (AERI), Journal of Economic Literature (JEL), Journal of Economic Perspectives (JEP), AEA Papers and Proceedings, and American Economic Journals (AEJ): Applied Economics, Economic Policy, Macroeconomics, and Microeconomics. The AEA is focused on improving the professional climate of economics through its committees, workshops, resources, and more. Information can be found at https://www.AEAweb.org, or by contacting Kristine Etter at kristine.b.etter@Vanderbilt.Edu.