From econometrica-skills
Positions an Econometrica theory/methods result precisely within its lineage, writing related-work paragraphs that pre-empt formal comparison questions from referees and editors.
How this skill is triggered — by the user, by Claude, or both
Slash command
/econometrica-skills:ecta-literature-positioningThe summary Claude sees in its skill listing — used to decide when to auto-load this skill
- The related-work section lists papers but never says how *this* result differs formally
Econometrica referees are typically the people who wrote the results you are extending — and the handling co-editor (one of a small board; e.g., Keisuke Hirano, Aureo de Paula, Marciano Siniscalchi, Pete Klenow, Patrick Kline, under Editor Marina Halac, 2025–2029 — verify the current board) routes the paper to exactly those experts. Positioning is not a literature dump — it is a precise statement of the formal relationship between your result and the closest prior results. For each key neighbor, say exactly one of: we nest it, we generalize it, we weaken its assumption, we provide what it lacked (e.g., the limiting distribution, uniqueness, a constructive proof).
Because the lineage here is methods/theory rather than empirical findings, the neighbors to position against are usually theorems and estimators with names attached — the GMM framework (Hansen 1982), HAC inference (Newey–West 1987), nested fixed-point estimation (Rust 1987), the relevant fixed-point or representation theorem — not "the literature on this policy." Mis-stating who proved what is a credibility hit with this pool.
Build a small map before writing prose:
The closest result is [Author, Year], who [conclusion] under [assumption A]. We obtain
[our conclusion] under [weaker assumption A′], which [permits case / yields object] not
covered there. [Author2, Year] consider [related setting] but [lack object / impose
restriction]; our [theorem N] supplies [that object]. Unlike [strand], we do not require
[restrictive condition], at the cost of [honest cost].
State costs honestly: a referee who finds an unacknowledged cost reads the rest of the paper suspiciously.
【Foundational result】...
【Direct antecedents】[A (assumption→conclusion), B, ...]
【Deltas】[vs A: weaken X; vs B: add limiting distribution; ...]
【Nesting shown?】yes (corollary N) / no — needs explicit special case
【Honest cost】...
【Next step】ecta-identification
npx claudepluginhub brycewang-stanford/awesome-journal-skills --plugin econometrica-skillsPositions an Econometric Theory contribution against prior theorems: which assumptions weakened, which limit result generalized, what was previously unproven. Uses APA citations.
Structures literature positioning for Econometrics Journal papers: separates frontier vs applied citations, compresses related work under the 20-page limit, and ties theory references to assumptions.
Stakes a JET theory contribution against the closest existing theorems by specifying which assumption is weakened, result generalized, or phenomenon characterized. For related-work paragraphs or referee defense.