Research Note: Geographical Distribution in Climate Economics PublicationS

The majority of the most climate vulnerable populations in the world
are located geographically in countries in the Global South. However, research and policy discussions on climate change often exclude knowledge produced by scholars from such regions.

This research note investigates the extent to which this exclusion is mirrored in economics journal publications. A data set of articles studying climate economics in the top 20 economics journals was analysed, with a focus on the geographic locations of the authors’ institutions.

For the 50 most cited articles on climate economics, 91% of authors were found to be affiliated with USA and UK based institutions and 0% of authors with Global South based institutions.

For the 50 most recently published articles less than 1% of authors were found to be affiliated with Global South based institutions. These findings confirm a significant geographical imbalance in climate economics publications.Â