Gender and quality at top economics journals

We show articles published in “top-five” economics journals authored by men are cited less than articles those same journals publish by women. Additionally, men’s citations rise when they co-author with women whereas women’s citations fall while they co-author with men, conditional on acceptance. Under strong—but we believe reasonable—assumptions, our findings imply top economics journals hold female-authored papers to higher standards and, as a result, do not publish the highest quality research. They also suggest that authors will be less willing to collaborate with women, all else equal