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npx versuz@latest install brycewang-stanford-awesome-agent-skills-for-empirical-research-skills-43-wentorai-research-plugins-skills-domains-economics-repgit clone https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Agent-Skills-for-Empirical-Research.gitcp Awesome-Agent-Skills-for-Empirical-Research/SKILL.MD ~/.claude/skills/brycewang-stanford-awesome-agent-skills-for-empirical-research-skills-43-wentorai-research-plugins-skills-domains-economics-rep/SKILL.md---
name: repec-economics-api
description: "Access 4M+ economics working papers and articles via RePEc API"
metadata:
openclaw:
emoji: "📊"
category: "domains"
subcategory: "economics"
keywords: ["RePEc", "economics papers", "working papers", "IDEAS", "EconPapers", "economic research"]
source: "https://ideas.repec.org/"
---
# RePEc (Research Papers in Economics) API
## Overview
RePEc is the largest decentralized bibliographic database for economics, indexing 4.4M+ items (working papers, journal articles, books, software) from 2,600+ publishers. It powers IDEAS and EconPapers — the two most-used economics paper search engines. The API provides metadata access and citation data. Free, no authentication required for basic access.
## Access Methods
### IDEAS Search API
```bash
# Search economics papers
curl "https://ideas.repec.org/cgi-bin/htsearch?q=monetary+policy+inflation&cmd=Search&fmt=json"
# Search specific types
# Working papers
curl "https://ideas.repec.org/cgi-bin/htsearch?q=fiscal+stimulus&ul=%%2Fp%%2F&fmt=json"
# Journal articles
curl "https://ideas.repec.org/cgi-bin/htsearch?q=trade+liberalization&ul=%%2Fa%%2F&fmt=json"
```
### RePEc Simple API
```bash
# Get metadata for a handle
curl "https://api.repec.org/handle?handle=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:28104"
# Author profile by short-id
curl "https://api.repec.org/author?short-id=ppi1"
# List items in a series
curl "https://api.repec.org/series?series=RePEc:nbr:nberwo"
```
### CitEc Citation Data
```bash
# Get citations for a paper
curl "https://citec.repec.org/api/plain/RePEc:nbr:nberwo:28104"
# Response: list of citing paper handles
```
### LogEc Usage Statistics
```bash
# Get download/view statistics
curl "https://logec.repec.org/scripts/paperstat.pf?h=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:28104"
```
## RePEc Handle Structure
```
RePEc:{archive}:{series}:{id}
Examples:
RePEc:nbr:nberwo:28104 → NBER Working Paper 28104
RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:114:y:2024:i:1:p:1-25 → AER article
RePEc:ecm:emetrp:v:92:y:2024:i:3:p:821-845 → Econometrica article
RePEc:red:sed024:1234 → SED 2024 meeting paper
```
### Major Archives
| Prefix | Publisher |
|--------|-----------|
| `nbr` | National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) |
| `aea` | American Economic Association |
| `ecm` | Econometric Society |
| `wbk` | World Bank |
| `imf` | International Monetary Fund |
| `fed` | Federal Reserve System |
| `cpr` | Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) |
## Python Usage
```python
import requests
IDEAS_URL = "https://ideas.repec.org/cgi-bin/htsearch"
CITEC_URL = "https://citec.repec.org/api/plain"
def search_economics(query: str, max_results: int = 20,
paper_type: str = None) -> list:
"""Search economics papers on IDEAS/RePEc."""
params = {
"q": query,
"cmd": "Search",
"fmt": "json",
"ps": max_results,
}
if paper_type == "working_papers":
params["ul"] = "%2Fp%2F"
elif paper_type == "articles":
params["ul"] = "%2Fa%2F"
resp = requests.get(IDEAS_URL, params=params, timeout=30)
resp.raise_for_status()
data = resp.json()
results = []
for item in data.get("matches", []):
results.append({
"title": item.get("title", ""),
"url": item.get("url", ""),
"handle": item.get("handle", ""),
"authors": item.get("authors", ""),
"date": item.get("date", ""),
"abstract": item.get("abstract", "")[:300],
})
return results
def get_citations(handle: str) -> list:
"""Get papers citing a given RePEc handle."""
resp = requests.get(f"{CITEC_URL}/{handle}", timeout=30)
resp.raise_for_status()
citations = []
for line in resp.text.strip().split("\n"):
line = line.strip()
if line and line.startswith("RePEc:"):
citations.append(line)
return citations
def search_working_papers(topic: str) -> list:
"""Search specifically for working papers."""
return search_economics(topic, paper_type="working_papers")
# Example: find monetary policy research
papers = search_economics("central bank digital currency", max_results=10)
for p in papers:
print(f"[{p['date']}] {p['title']}")
print(f" {p['authors']}")
# Example: citation analysis
if papers and papers[0].get("handle"):
cites = get_citations(papers[0]["handle"])
print(f"\nCited by {len(cites)} papers")
for c in cites[:5]:
print(f" {c}")
```
## Key Data Products
| Product | URL | Description |
|---------|-----|-------------|
| IDEAS | ideas.repec.org | Full-text search engine |
| EconPapers | econpapers.repec.org | Alternative search interface |
| CitEc | citec.repec.org | Citation analysis |
| LogEc | logec.repec.org | Usage statistics |
| AuthorService | authors.repec.org | Author profiles and rankings |
| CollEc | collec.repec.org | Institutional research output |
## Rankings
RePEc publishes monthly rankings of economists, institutions, and journals based on citations, downloads, and h-index:
```bash
# Top economists
curl "https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.person.all.html"
# Top institutions
curl "https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.inst.all.html"
```
## References
- [IDEAS/RePEc](https://ideas.repec.org/)
- [EconPapers](https://econpapers.repec.org/)
- [RePEc Author Service](https://authors.repec.org/)
- [CitEc](https://citec.repec.org/)
- Zimmermann, C. (2013). "Academic Rankings with RePEc." *Econometrics* 1(3): 249-264.