Rankings / Candidate
Marc Melitz
Harvard University · Trade
Currently #11, tier Field, score 14.3, named by 1 source.Score history: 100.0, 25.0, 14.3
The work. The Melitz model of 2003: firms differ, only the most productive export, and opening to trade shifts activity toward the winners and kills off the rest.
The case for. It is the workhorse of modern trade theory, the paper every trade economist teaches first, and it has never been rewarded.
The case against. Trade got Krugman in 2008 and the committee is slow on younger theorists; born in 1968, he may just be waiting his turn. A one-paper reputation can also be held against a candidate.
The KmikeyM angle. Heterogeneous firms is a story about selection: only the productive survive exposure to the market, and KmikeyM is one person choosing to be exposed on purpose.
What the sources say
- Clarivate alumni (prior years) named Marc Melitz: named in 2016: for pioneering descriptions of firm heterogeneity and international trade (heat 100) Preseason: the Clarivate alumni pool