Jhr Literature Positioning

---
name: jhr-literature-positioning
description: Use when positioning a Journal of Human Resources manuscript against applied microeconomics, labor, education, health, development, discrimination, retirement, and policy literatures, with explicit reconciliation to prior estimates.
---

# Literature Positioning (jhr-literature-positioning)

## When to trigger

- The paper has a policy question but the contribution over prior work is fuzzy
- Prior estimates conflict with yours and need reconciliation
- The introduction reads like a general literature survey

## JHR positioning bar

JHR explicitly values whether a manuscript reconciles its results with prior
published work. Positioning must therefore do more than cite related papers: it
should explain why estimates differ across samples, designs, populations, periods,
or mechanisms.

## Checklist

- Name the closest prior estimates and their design.
- State whether your contribution is new variation, new data, new population,
  new mechanism, stronger reconciliation, or policy interpretation.
- Compare magnitude, not only sign and significance.
- Identify which prior result your analysis confirms, revises, or contradicts.
- Preview any comparative estimation you run to bridge prior results.

## Output format

```text
[Closest prior estimate] citation + magnitude/design
[Your delta] data / design / population / mechanism / reconciliation
[Why estimates differ] ...
[Policy implication] ...
[Next step] jhr-identification-strategy
```