Re: Leaving the Emerald City

[Phil Davis <pmd8@cornell.edu>]

I did a price history of the two economics journals published by 
Emerald, "Journal of Economic Studies" (2006 price $9,859), and 
the "International Journal of Social Economics" (2006 price 
$10,849).  This history and some calculations can be found at: 
http://people.cornell.edu/pages/pmd8/emerald_economics.xls

The Journal of Economic Studies started at the University of 
Strathelyde's Dept. of Economics in Glasgow, Scotland in 1965 and 
remained at 7 British Pounds (about $15 USD) until 1981 when it 
began publishing with MCB (the former name of Emerald). 
Beginning in 1982 ($120), a series of double-digit annual price 
increases ensued until 2000 that averaged 28% per year.  Several 
years saw amazing increases, such as from 88-89 when the journal 
price increased 71% (from $420 to $720), or from 95-96 when the 
journal went up by almost $1,000 (43%) in a single year ($2,730 
to $3,700).  The effects of double-digit compound interest took 
this journal to $6,838 in 2000.  In 2001, MCB changed its name to 
Emerald, and part of their reaction to the outrage of the library 
community was price moderation.  From 2001 to the present, we 
return to single-digit price increases, yet as we all know, 5% 
increase on an expensive journal can still result in a massive 
price increase.  Over the last year, the price of this journal 
increased by only 5% (from $9,389 to $9,859) yet this reflected 
an increase of $470 (more than the price of most economics 
journals).  Those interested in the pricing history of the 
International Journal of Social Economics can find this data from 
the above URL.

Returning to Joe Esposito's question about whether this increase 
reflects additional value to the consumer, or merely price 
gouging, I calculated the price per article over several years. 
In 1989, the Journal of Economic Studies published 23 articles in 
6 issues at a price per article of $31.  In 1995, they published 
26 articles in 4 issues (there was a combined 3/4/5 issue), for a 
price of $88 per article.  In 2005, they published 29 articles in 
5 issues for a price of $324/article.

Compared to other journals in economics, the median price per 
article is about $13 (or $6 for non-profit publishers and $20 for 
for-profits)  Furthermore, according to Bergstrom and McAfee's 
summary tables, Emerald leads the pack as the most expensive 
publisher with their median journal price being $7,409, and 
median price per article being $107 see: 
http://www.hss.caltech.edu/~mcafee/Journal/Summary.pdf While 
these two economics journals published by Emerald are clearly 
exceptional compared to other journals in economics, they are not 
exceptional for Emerald.

Lastly, Joe asked what the subscriber base is for these journals. 
A search on OCLC Worldcat turns up 161 print library holdings, 
yet most of the libraries that provide holdings information 
cancelled during the late 1980s through the early 1990s.  Rumors 
on the street are that the number of subscribing libraries to be 
less then 10.  If the theory of price elasticity is true for 
library subscriptions, a publisher can make much more money 
selling fewer subscriptions at a higher price.  If you don't care 
about maximizing readership or building prestige, this is clearly 
the way to go.  But if you don't believe me, just read, "What 
Self-Made Millionaires Really Think, Know and Do : A 
Straight-Talking Guide to Business Success and Personal Riches", 
by former MCB/Emerald owners Richard Dobbins and Barry O. 
Pettman.  "Together they founded a publishing company with no 
capital and recently became multimillionaires when the business 
was sold."


--Phil Davis