jegeo-theory-model
Use when the model or conceptual frame is the bottleneck for a Journal of Economic Geography (JEG) manuscript — NEG / quantitative-spatial models OR conceptual frameworks from human geography. Makes the mechanism legible to both communities; it does not invent results.
Profile →npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills --skill jegeo-theory-model --agent claude-code
Same command for any agent — swap --agent for codex, cursor, copilot.
Weekly change comes from our own snapshots, not the repository page — it measures attention, not adoption.
# Theory and Model Craft (jegeo-theory-model) ## When to trigger - The empirics are strong but there is no mechanism — just a gravity structure or a set of correlations with space as a fixed effect - A formal NEG/quantitative-spatial model is in place but a geographer reviewer cannot see what economic-geography *story* it tells - A conceptual paper (evolutionary/institutional/relational) has rich theory but an economist reviewer cannot see a testable or generalizable claim - The model's spatial assumptions (mobility, trade costs, externality range, spatial scale) are buried or undefended ## Two modes of theorizing — choose deliberately JEG accepts both **formal models** and **conceptual frameworks**, but each must be made legible to the other community. Decide which mode you are in, then do the work that makes the other side trust it. ### Mode A: Formal model (NEG / quantitative-spatial) The lineage runs from core-periphery NEG (Krugman; Fujita-Krugman-Venables) to the estimable quantitative-spatial models (Redding-Rossi-Hansberg, Allen-Arkolakis, Donaldson-Hornbeck). A JEG formal model must: - **Carry an economic-geography mechanism a geographer can name** — agglomeration force vs
- When to trigger
- Two modes of theorizing — choose deliberately
- Mode A: Formal model (NEG / quantitative-spatial)
- Mode B: Conceptual framework (evolutionary / institutional / relational)
- The bridge move (what wins at JEG)
- Checklist
- Anti-patterns
- Worked vignette (illustrative)
- Referee pushback mapped to the model/frame fix
- Spatial scale and externality range are theoretical choices
- Output format
What does the jegeo-theory-model skill do?
Use when the model or conceptual frame is the bottleneck for a Journal of Economic Geography (JEG) manuscript — NEG / quantitative-spatial models OR conceptual frameworks from human geography. Makes the mechanism legible to both communities; it does not invent results.
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills --skill jegeo-theory-model --agent claude-code` — it drops the skill into your project so the agent can pick it up. Swap the --agent value for codex, cursor or copilot if you use one of those.
Where does this skill come from?
From brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills, a repository with 909 stars. We read it straight from the repository tree rather than a submitted listing, so what you see here is what is actually published.
Is a popular skill a good skill?
Not necessarily. Stars measure attention, not adoption — a repository can trend for a week and be abandoned. That is why we show the weekly change from our own snapshots next to the total, instead of a single flattering number.