Search, summarize, and synthesize economics literature
npx skills add https://github.com/meleantonio/awesome-econ-ai-stuff --skill lit-review-assistantCopy and paste this command into Claude Code to install the skill
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| name | lit-review-assistant |
| description | Search, summarize, and synthesize economics literature |
| workflow_stage | literature |
| compatibility | ["claude-code","cursor","codex","gemini-cli"] |
| author | Awesome Econ AI Community |
| version | 1.0.0 |
| tags | ["literature-review","papers","citations","synthesis"] |
This skill helps economists conduct literature reviews by structuring searches, summarizing papers, and synthesizing findings. It provides templates for organizing literature and identifying research gaps.
Ask the user:
Help define search terms:
Create a structured summary for each paper:
# Literature Review: [TOPIC]
## Search Strategy
**Databases:** EconLit, NBER, Google Scholar, SSRN
**Date range:** 2010-2024
**Search terms:**
- ("minimum wage" OR "wage floor") AND (employment OR jobs)
- ("minimum wage") AND ("difference-in-differences" OR "DiD")
**Inclusion criteria:**
- Peer-reviewed or NBER working papers
- Focused on [specific outcome]
- Uses causal identification strategy
---
## Seminal Papers
### Card and Krueger (1994)
**Citation:** Card, D., & Krueger, A. B. (1994). Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. *American Economic Review*, 84(4), 772-793.
**Research Question:** What is the effect of minimum wage increases on employment?
**Data & Method:**
- DiD comparing NJ (treatment) to PA (control)
- Survey of fast-food restaurants before/after NJ minimum wage increase
**Key Findings:**
- No negative employment effect found
- Employment slightly increased in NJ relative to PA
**Contribution:** Challenged conventional view; pioneered quasi-experimental methods in labor economics
**Limitations:**
- Single state, short time horizon
- Potential survey response bias
---
### Cengiz et al. (2019)
**Citation:** Cengiz, D., Dube, A., Lindner, A., & Zipperer, B. (2019). The Effect of Minimum Wages on Low-Wage Jobs. *Quarterly Journal of Economics*, 134(3), 1405-1454.
**Research Question:** Do minimum wage increases destroy jobs or compress the wage distribution?
**Data & Method:**
- Bunching estimator using 138 minimum wage events
- Examine employment distribution around minimum wage
**Key Findings:**
- Jobs below the new minimum wage disappear
- But replaced by jobs just above the minimum
- No significant overall employment loss
**Contribution:** Novel bunching methodology; large-scale evidence
---
## Synthesis: What We Know
| Finding | Evidence Quality | Consensus Level |
|---------|-----------------|-----------------|
| Small minimum wage increases have minimal employment effects | Strong (multiple RCTs/quasi-experiments) | High |
| Effects may be heterogeneous by region | Medium | Growing |
| Large increases (e.g., $15) less studied | Limited | Low |
## Research Gaps
1. **Mechanism:** How do firms absorb higher labor costs? (Prices, profits, productivity?)
2. **Long-run effects:** Most studies focus on 1-2 years
3. **Geographic heterogeneity:** Do effects differ in low vs. high cost-of-living areas?
4. **Spillovers:** Effects on workers earning above minimum wage
## Connection to Your Project
Your study of [SPECIFIC QUESTION] can contribute by:
- [How your work fills a gap]
- [What new data/method you bring]
## [Author(s)] ([Year])
**Title:** [Full title]
**Published in:** [Journal/Working Paper Series]
**Research Question:** [One sentence]
**Data:**
- Source: [Dataset name]
- Period: [Years]
- Sample: [N observations, unit of analysis]
**Identification Strategy:** [Method in one sentence]
**Main Findings:**
1. [Key result 1 with magnitude]
2. [Key result 2]
3. [Robustness/heterogeneity]
**Limitations:**
- [Main concern 1]
- [Main concern 2]
**Relevance to your project:** [One sentence on how it connects]
**Key quote:** "[Most important direct quote]" (p. XX)
"exact phrase" - Exact matchingauthor:surname - Papers by specific authorsource:journal - Papers in specific journal-exclude - Exclude terms[year]..[year] - Date range