The search process began in December when the AEA solicited nominations from its membership and reached out to department chairs to encourage a broad applicant pool of potential candidates.The committee also independently identified candidates.To help inform the evaluation, reviewer statistics were obtained from the AEA publications office for each nominee.Information on Google Scholar citations and number of publications in top journals, as well as other information, was compiled.The committee considered a range of factors when evaluating candidates, such as fit of each candidate's research field with the journal's current field needs, previous editorial experience, management and leadership styles, vision for the journal, approach to diversifying the publication process, institutional affiliation, and the speed and quality of editorial decisions.Based on these factors and the information received, the candidates were classified into four categories: yes, maybe, unlikely, and no.A Zoom meeting was held, where a ranked list of preferred candidates to interview was identified.The committee reached out to the top six candidates (after excluding two due to institutional affiliation overlaps) and was able to confirm three interviews.The committee conducted 45-minute interviews with each of the three finalists.Questions asked included goals as head editor, anticipated challenges, and managerial styles.Committee members were impressed by all finalists with their thoughtfulness, experience, and commitment to the journal's mission.Ultimately, the committee agreed that Raymond Fisman would serve the AEA extremely well in the role of editor of AEJ Applied.Fisman stood out particularly for his strong leadership experience and his ability to help fill the gap in development economics that will be left by Olken's departure.Fisman demonstrated respected management skills as co-lead editor of The Review of Economics and Statistics, a position that ended in summer 2025.
Heather Royer (Fri,) studied this question.