Beginning in 2022, the Journal of Human Resources will increase the number of issues published per year from four to six. This change allows the journal to accommodate a steady increase in top quality research submissions over the last several years.
The Journal of Human Resources publishes articles that use a lens of microeconomics to study everything from healthcare, to the labor market, to early childhood development and education, to government-sponsored programs in various nations. Though the journal’s title may seem to signal a connection with the field of human resources, it actually predates the popularization of this term, which didn’t occur until the 1970s. The JHR was started in 1965 to study “the effects of education, manpower, and welfare policies in the classroom, in the labor market, in the community, and in the lives of human beings,” as Gerald G. Somers, then the chairman of JHR’s board of editors, wrote in his introduction to the first issue. In effect, the use of “human resources” in the journal’s title relates to scholarly examination and evaluation of the US government’s investment in its citizens (its “human resources”) through such policies as the Manpower Development and Training Act (1962), the Vocational Education Act (1963), and the Economic Opportunity Act (1964).
Over time, the journal expanded its focus beyond the US, and now each issue of JHR features research from around the world. For example, the current issue includes studies on air pollution reduction efforts in Sweden, labor issues in Colombia, Italian high school students’ development of personality traits, survey methods to measure cognitive and noncognitive skills in Kenya and Colombia, and the economic impacts experienced by Malawian farmers from a change in their children’s annual school start date.
With such a broad relevance, it’s no wonder that the journal has seen an increase in article submissions in recent years. Adding two more issues per year will expand JHR’s capacity to publish this globally important and timely research. In addition to a full slate of issues, two supplementary special issues are in the works: one on monopsony in the labor market will be published in 2022, and another on child mental health will appear in 2023.
The Journal of Human Resources is among the leading journals in empirical microeconomics. Intended for scholars, policy makers, and practitioners, each issue examines research in a variety of fields, including labor economics, development economics, health economics, and the economics of education, discrimination, and retirement. Founded in 1965, the Journal of Human Resources features articles that make scientific contributions in research relevant to public policy practitioners.