I think there exists a canon of works which every economist should read. This matters both for the ideas which it will inspire, but also to ensure that we speak the same language. The target audience for this reading list is a bright young economist, perhaps in their third year of undergraduate studies, who is strongly considering becoming a professor. I hope, nevertheless, that the suggestions might be stimulating to grad students, and even to faculty members.

The selection of papers will be slanted by my interests, as I will not assign papers which I have not read. I encourage others, though, who might have an interest in this to draw up their own list. (Plausibly, it would be best if you stopped now and drew up your list so as to remain independent, but I can accept you reading this first!). For non-growth-theory-oriented macroeconomics, the reading list to consult is integralds’s reading list (now 10 years old, but holding up reasonably well).

The papers will be organized by topic, and in a rough reading order within that topic, though you can start with any topic. Titles will be abbreviated when natural, and I will try to link an ungated version of the paper in each case. You can go at your own pace, but there are 161 papers in this list. I expect you could easily read three a day, on average, and finish in about two months.

Trade:

1. “Scale Economies, Product Differentiation, and the Pattern of Trade”, Paul Krugman (1980)

2. “Intraindustry Specialization and the Gains from Trade.” Paul Krugman (1981)

3. “Gains From Trade When Firms Matter”, Melitz and Trefler, (2012)

4. “The Impact On Trade From Intra-Industry Reallocations and Aggregate Industry Productivity”, Marc Melitz (2003)

5. “Technology, Geography, and Trade”, Eaton and Kortum (2002)

6. “Alternative Sources of Gains from Trade”, Robert Feenstra (2018)

7. “New Trade Models, Same Old Gains?” Arkolakis, Costinot, Rodriguez-Clare (NB: why do they come to so much smaller results? The Pareto distribution is important!)

8. “The Elusive Pro-Competitive Effects of Trade”, Arkolakis, Costinot, Donaldson, Rodriguez-Clare (2019)

9. “Market Penetration Costs”, Costas Arkolakis (2010)

10. “The China Syndrome”, Autor, Dorn, Hanson (2013)

11. “The Impact of the 2018 Tariffs”, Amiti, Redding, Weinstein (2019)

12. “New Goods, Old Theory”, Paul Romer (1993) (NB: specifically the working paper!)

13. “A ‘Reciprocal Dumping’ Model of International Trade”, Brander and Krugman (1983)

14. “Are Trade Wars Class Wars?”, Borusyak and Jaravel (2023)

Economic Geography:

1. “Increasing Returns and Economic Geography”, Paul Krugman (1991)

2. “Geographic Concentration: A Dartboard Approach”, Ellison and Glaeser (1997)

3. “Railroads of the Raj”, Dave Donaldson (2018)

4. “The View From Above”, Donaldson and Storeygard (2016)

5. “Floods”, Dev Patel (2025)

6. “How Much Should We Trust the Dictator’s GDP Growth Estimates”, Luis R. Martinez (2022)

7. “Evolving Comparative Advantage”, Costinot, Donaldson, Smith (2016)

8. “Bones, Bombs, and Break-points”, Davis and Weinstein (2002)

9. “The Global Distribution of Economic Activity”, Henderson, Squires, Storeygard, Weil (2018)

10. “Railroads, Reallocation, and the Rise of American Manufacturing”, Hornbeck and Rotemberg (2024)

Labor:

1. “The Impact of Neighborhoods on Intergenerational Mobility”, Chetty and Hendren (2015)

2. “Moving to Opportunity”, Chetty, Hendren, Katz (2016)

3. “The Gift of Moving”, Nakamura, Siggurdsson, Steinsson (2022)

4. “Can Women Have Children and a Career?”, Lundborg, Plug, Rasmussen (2017)

5. “Why Has the Labor Share of Income Declined?”, Zachary Mazlish (2021)

6. “How Substitutable Are Workers?”, Jäger, Heining, Lazarus (2025)

7. “Minimum Wages and Employment”, Card and Krueger (1994)

8. “Comment”, Neumark and Wascher (2000)

9. “Minimum Wages, Efficiency, and Welfare”, Berger, Herkenhoff, Mongey (2025)

10. “A New Method of Estimating Risk Aversion”, Raj Chetty (2006)

11. “The Speed of Employer Learning”, Fabian Lange (2007)

12. “Equilibrium Unemployment as a Worker Discipline Device”, Shapiro and Stiglitz (1984)

13. “Efficiency Wage Models of Unemployment”, Janet Yellen (1984)

14. “A Model of Price Adjustment”, Peter Diamond (1971)

Taxation:

1. “A Contribution to the Theory of Taxation”, Frank Ramsey (1927)

2. “Salience and Taxation”, Chetty, Looney, Kroft (2009)

3. “The Case for a Progressive Tax”, Diamond and Saez (2011)

4. “Optimal Taxation in Theory and Practice”, Mankiw, Weinzerl, Yagan (2011)

5. “K is not capital, L is not labor”, Steve Randy Waldman (2013)

Innovation and Growth:

1. “The Origins of Endogenous Growth”, Paul Romer (1994)

2. “Endogenous Technological Change”, Paul Romer (1990) (NB: Acemoglu slides)

3. “A Model of Growth Through Creative Destruction”, Aghion and Howitt (1992)

4. “The O-Ring Theory of Economic Development”, Michael Kremer (1993)

5. “Population Growth and Technological Change”, Michael Kremer (1993)

6. “The End of Economic Growth?” Chad Jones (2019)

7. “Time Series Tests of Endogenous Growth Models”, Chad Jones (1995)

8. “R&D Based Models of Economic Growth”, Chad Jones (1995)

9. “Taxing Top Incomes in a World of Ideas”, Chad Jones, (2021)

10. “Are Ideas Getting Harder to Find?”, Bloom, Jones, Van Reenen, Webb (2019)

11. “Who Becomes an Inventor in America?”, Bell, Chetty, Jaravel, Petkova, Van Reenen (2019)

12. “The Social Origins and IQ of Inventors”, Aghion, Akcigit, Hyytinen, Toivanen (2017)

13. “Innovation, Reallocation, and Growth”, Acemoglu, Akcigit, Alp, Bloom, Kerr (2018)

14. “Inappropriate Technology: Evidence from Global Agriculture”, Moscona and Sastry (2025)

15. “Cutting the Innovation Engine”, Babina, He, Howell, Perlman, Staudt (2023)

16. “Public Investments and Private Patenting”, Azoulay, Graff Zivin, Li, Sampat (2019)

17. “Patent Buyouts”, Michael Kremer (1998)

18. “Taxation and Innovation in the 20th Century”, Akcigit, Grigsby, Nicholas, Stantcheva

Sources of Growth:

1. “A Contribution to the Empirics of Economic Growth”, Mankiw, D. Romer, Weil (1992)

2. “The Neoclassical Revival in Growth Economics”, Klenow and Rodriguez-Clare (1997)

3. “The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development”, Acemoglu, Johnson, Robinson (2001)

4. “Do Institutions Cause Growth?”, Glaeser, La Porta, Lopez-de-Silanes, Shleifer (2004)

5. “Good Policy or Good Luck?”, Easterly, Kremer, Pritchett, Summers (1993)

6. “Persistence of Fortune”, Chanda, Cook, Putterman (2014)

7. “The Long-Run Determinants of Economic Growth”, Putterman and Weil (2010)

8. “Why Do Some Countries Produce So Much More Output Than Others?”, Hall and Jones (1999)

Industrial Organization (Development):

1. “Allocative Efficiency vs ‘X-Efficiency’”, Harvey Leibenstein (1966)

2. “Misallocation and Manufacturing TFP”, Hsieh and Klenow (2009)

3. “The Life-Cycle of Plants in India and China”, Hsieh and Klenow (2014)

4. “Does Management Matter?”, Bloom, Eifert, Mahajan, McKenzie, Roberts (2013)

5. “Why do Management Practices Differ?”, Bloom and Van Reenen (2010)

6. “What Determines Productivity?”, James Schmitz (2005)

7. “Misallocation in the Market for Inputs”, Boehm and Oberfield (2020)

8. “The Organization of Firms Across Countries”, Bloom, Sadun, Van Reenen (2012)

9. “Growth and the Fragmentation of Production”, Boehm and Oberfield (working paper)

10. “Competition and Innovation”, Aghion, Bloom, Blundell, Griffith, Howitt (2005)

11. “The Myth of Asia’s Miracle”, Paul Krugman (1994)

12. “The Tyranny of Numbers”, Alwyn Young (1995)

13. “What Explains the Industrial Revolution in East Asia?”, Chang-Tai Hsieh (2002)

14. “Understanding China’s Growth”, Xiaodong Zhu (2012)

15. “Multinationals, Monopsony, and Local Development”, Mendez-Chacon and Van Patten (2022)

Industrial Organization (Methods):

1. “Identifying Technology Spillovers and Product Market Rivalry”, Bloom, Schankerman, Van Reenen (2013)

2. “Demand Estimation: A Practitioner’s Guide”, Aviv Nevo (2000)

3. “Market Structure and Productivity”, Chad Syverson (2004)

4. “Market Size in Innovation”, Acemoglu and Linn (2004)

5. “A Penny For Your Quotes”, Manuel Trajtenberg (1990)

6. “Technological Opportunity and Spillovers of R&D”, Adam Jaffe (1986)

7. “The Unequal Gains From Product Innovation”, Xavier Jaravel (2019)

8. “How Dangerous Are Drinking Drivers?”, Levitt and Porter (2001)

9. “Quotas in General Equilibrium”, Baqaee and Malmberg (2025)

10. “The Rise of Market Power”, De Loecker, Eeckhout, Unger (2020)

11. “Trends in Competition”, Shapiro and Yurokoglu (2024)

12. “An Interplant Test of the Efficiency Wage Hypothesis”, Capelli and Chauvin (1991)

13. “Quantifying Quality Growth”, Bils and Klenow (2001)

14. “The Market for News”, Shleifer and Mullainathan (2005)

15. “Media Bias and Reputation”, Gentzkow and Shapiro (2006)

16. “What Drives Media Slant?”, Gentzkow and Shapiro (2010)

Development:

1. “The Economist as Plumber”, Esther Duflo (2018)

2. “Schooling and Labor Market Consequences of School Construction”, Esther Duflo (2001)

3. “Worms”, Miguel and Kremer (2004)

4. “The Direction of Marriage Payments”, Corno, Hildebrandt, Voena (2020)

5. “Putting a Band-Aid on a Corpse”, Banerjee, Glennerster, Duflo (2008)

6. “Forced Coexistence and Economic Development”, Christian Dippel (2014)

7. “The Slave Trade and the Origins of Mistrust in Africa”, Nunn and Wantchekon (2011)

8. “Dams”, Duflo and Pande (2005)

9. “General Equilibrium Effects of Cash Transfers”, Egger, Haushofer, Miguel, Niehaus, Walker (2022)

10. “The African Growth Miracle”, Alwyn Young (2012)

Economic History:

1. “How Much Should We Trust DnD Estimators?”, Bertrand, Duflo, Mullainathan (2004)

2. “The Potato’s Contribution to Population and Urbanization”, Nunn and Qian (2011)

3. “Two Views of the British Industrial Revolution”, Peter Temin (1997) with Kedrosky’s gloss

4. “The Persistent Effects of Peru’s Mining Mita”, Dell (2010)

5. “How Did Growth Begin?”, Jon Steinsson (2024)

6. “On the Origin of Gender Roles”, Alesina, Giuliano, Nunn (2013)

7. “Slavery and the Industrial Revolution”, Heblich, Redding, Voth (2023)

8. “Capitalism, Slavery, and the Industrial Revolution”, Davis Kedrosky (2022)

9. “From Slavery to Capitalism?”, Davis Kedrosky (2022)

10. “Why Isn’t the Whole World Developed?”, Gregory Clark (1987)

11. “Time and Work in 18th Century London”, Hans-Joachim Voth (1998)

Macroeconomics:

1. “Of Money”, David Hume (1752)

2. “The Role of Monetary Policy”, Milton Friedman (1968)

3. “Rules Rather Than Discretion”, Kydland and Prescott

4. “Bank Runs, Deposit Insurance, and Liquidity”, Diamond and Dybvig (1983

5. “Lord Keynes and the General Theory”, Paul Samuelson (1946)

6. “Increasing Returns and the Foundation of Unemployment Theory”, Martin Weitzman (1981)

Health

1. “Why Have Americans Become More Obese?”, Cutler, Glaeser, Shapiro (2003)

2. “Food Deserts”, Allcott, Diamond, Dube, Handbury, Rahkovsky, Schnell (2019)

3. “The Value of Life and the Rise in Health Spending”, Hall and Jones (2007)

4. “Why Have Health Expenditures Risen So Much?”, Chad Jones (2004)

5. “The Value of Medicaid”, Finkelstein, Hendren, Luttmer (2022)

6. “Mortality Effects and Choice”, Abaluck, Caceres Bravo, Hull, Starc (2021)

7. “Saved by Medicaid”, Wyse and Meyer (2025)

Information:

1. “The Use of Knowledge In Society”, F. A. Hayek (1945)

2. “The Problem of Social Cost”, Ronald Coase (1960)

3. “The Economics of Information”, George Stigler (1961)

4. “The Market for Lemons”, George Akerlof, 1970

5. “Information, Trade, and Common Knowledge”, Milgrom and Stokey (1982)

6. “Relying on the Information of Interested Parties”, Milgrom and Roberts (1986)

7. “Bid, Ask and Transaction Prices”, Glosten and Milgrom (1985)

8. “Pricing and Advertising Signals of Product Quality”, Milgrom and Roberts (1986)

9. “Credit Rationing in Markets with Imperfect Information”, Stiglitz and Weiss (1981)

10. “Incentive Compatibility and the Bargaining Problem”, Roger Myerson (1979)

11. “A Simple Model of Herd Behavior”, Abhijit Banerjee (1992)

12. “Bayesian Persuasion”, Kamenica and Gentzkow (2011) (NB: consult Shleifer’s encomium of Gentzkow for a more intuitive presentation)

Auction Theory:

1. “The Simple Economics of Optimal Auction Design”, Bulow and Roberts (1989)

2. “Counterspeculations, Auctions, and Competitive Sealed Tenders”, William Vickrey (1961)

3. “Optimal Auction Design”, Roger Myerson (1981)

4. “Durability and Monopoly”, Ronald Coase (1972)

5. “Auctions versus Negotiations”, Bulow and Klemperer (1996)

6. “Credible Auctions: A Trilemma”, Akbarpour and Li (2020)

7. “Thickness versus Information in Dynamic Matching Markets”, Akbarpour, Li, Oveis Gharan (2017)

Theory of the Firm:

1. “The Nature of the Firm”, Ronald Coase (1937)

2. “Production, Information Costs, and Economic Organization”, Alchian and Demsetz (1972)

3. “Vertical Integration, Appropriable Rents, and the Competitive Contracting Problem”, Klein, Crawford, Alchian (1978)

4. “The Costs and Benefits of Ownership”, Grossman and Hart (1986)

5. “Unforeseen Contingencies and Incomplete Contracts”, Maskin and Tirole (1999) (NB: consult the authors discussion of this work! This is fairly hard)

6. “Multitask Principal-Agent Analyses”, Holmstrom and Milgrom (1991)

7. “How to Count to One Thousand”, Joel Sobel (1992)

8. “Dividend and Corporate Taxation in an Agency Model of the Firm”, Chetty and Saez (2010)