Journal profile · ECONOMICS
Labour Economics
ISSN 0927-5371 · eISSN 1879-1034 · Elsevier
Labour Economics: CAS Zone 2 · Economics (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.95; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,240; review about 360 days (submission to acceptance, publisher); 130 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Labour Economics is published by Elsevier and is in Zone 2 of Economics in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Labor market dynamics and wage inequality, Employment and Welfare Studies and Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics, together about 39.7% of its articles. Its main subfields are Economics and Econometrics. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The Official Journal of the European Association of Labour Economists (EALE)Labour Economics is devoted to publishing international research on empirical, theoretical and econometric topics that are of particular interest to labour economists. In particular, Labour Economics gives due recognition to solid empirical work with a strong economic interpretation. From time to time Labour Economics publishes review articles and articles on comparative labour market policies. Special issues and special sections of Labour Economics are available for the publication of collections of high quality topical papers or conference papers.Send us your past reportsTo improve the speed and quality of decisions, Labour Economics encourages authors to provide information relating to prior submission of the paper at other journals. Please include the editor's letter and referee reports accompanied by a response letter. Labour Economics reserves the right to use its own referees and provide these referees with copies of this correspondence.Data PolicyIt is the policy of Labour Economics to publish papers only if the program codes and the data used in the analysis are clearly and precisely documented and are readily available to any researcher for purposes of replication. Authors of accepted papers, in particular those that contain empirical work, simulations, experimental work, or numerical computations, must provide to the Journal, prior to publication, the data, programs, and other details of the computations sufficient to permit replication. These will be posted on the Labour Economics site. The editor should be notified at the time of submission if the data used in a paper are proprietary or if, for some other reason, the requirements above cannot be met. The program codes, however, must be made available.Submission to the journal is free to EALE members. You can easily become a member of the Association here.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): ECONOMICS
Editor-in-chief Marco FrancesconiPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 20, United Kingdom 9, France 5, Netherlands 3, Israel 3 (52 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Labor market dynamics and wage inequalityEconomics, Econometrics and Finance22.8%
- Employment and Welfare StudiesHealth Professions9.1%
- Gender, Labor, and Family DynamicsSocial Sciences7.9%
- Firm Innovation and GrowthEconomics, Econometrics and Finance6.2%
- Retirement, Disability, and EmploymentSocial Sciences6%
- Labor Movements and UnionsSocial Sciences3.5%
- Economic Policies and ImpactsEconomics, Econometrics and Finance3.4%
- Migration and Labor DynamicsSocial Sciences3.4%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Economics Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Economics | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Economics | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Economics Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Economics | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Economics | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Economics Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Economics | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Economics | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Editions, and major and minor categories, are shown separately and never merged into one zone; check which edition your institution uses before you submit or report.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- Impact factor
- 1.95LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 2Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.6LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 4.6Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.73LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.53LetPub ·
- h-index
- 149OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,544OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.43OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 5%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 54.49%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 117LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,580 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 92 | 64 | 28 |
| 2025 | 130 | 71 | 214 |
| 2024 | 135 | 95 | 625 |
| 2023 | 118 | 82 | 1,196 |
| 2022 | 151 | 84 | 2,716 |
| 2021 | 104 | 49 | 2,601 |
Sources count differently and were observed at different times, so each source's own value is kept; "publisher" marks figures from the journal's website.
Review & acceptance
Review time and acceptance
Publisher-reported review time from the journal's website
360 dayssubmission to acceptance
The publisher's own definition applies; dates from this journal's articles in the last 24 months are not available yet, so the publisher's figure is used.
Figures by source
- Submission to first decision
- 10 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 103 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 360 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 10 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Single anonymous peer reviewPublisher website
Community reports come from authors' own submissions (confidence 0.5) and are not a promise from the journal; for publisher figures, the journal's own definitions apply.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Hybrid open accessLetPub
A subscription journal in which authors can pay to publish their article open access.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 3,240 / EUR 3,030 / GBP 2,590 / JPY 401,860 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | USD 3,610 | — | — |
A hybrid journal charges the APC only when the author chooses open access; publishing under the subscription model is usually free.
Other charges and waivers (author guidelines)
- Other fees
- EUR 52.5
- Submission fee
- USD 100
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
Open calls for papers1, by deadline
Publisher websiteWhat to prepare8 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 250 words
- Keywords
- 1–7
- Reference style
- Numbered, in order of citation
- Templates
- LaTeX
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
- Highlights
- Required
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
- Cover letter
- Optional
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- AI use Declaration of generative AI use
Authors must declare the use of generative AI tools in the manuscript preparation process upon submission of the paper.Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies (“AI tools”) have been rapidly adopted in research and scholarly publishing, offering significant benefits while requiring clear standards for responsible and transparent use.Authors preparing a manuscript for this journal may use AI tool…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Group authorship
Group authorship refers to the attribution of an article to a defined and named group of authors whose members have contributed to the work. Examples include research consortia, clinical trial groups, collaborative networks, task forces or working groups, expert panels or consensus groups, and participatory research groups. Group authorship must be declared on the title page at submission. When av…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Declaration of competing interests
All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence or bias their work. Examples of potential competing interests include:EmploymentConsultanciesStock ownershipHonorariaPaid expert testimonyPatent applications or registrationsGrants or any other fundingAffiliation with the journal as an Editor or Advisory Board …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability
Data and program codes must be documented and available for replication; accepted papers must provide data, programs, and computation details prior to publication. Model summary
It is the policy of Labour Economics to publish papers only if the program codes and the data used in the analysis are clearly and precisely documented and are readily available to any researcher for purposes of replication.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright License options
Authors will be offered open access user license options which will determine how you, and third parties, can reuse your open access article. We advise that you review these options and any funding body license requirements before selecting a license option.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access
We refer you to our open access information page to learn about open access options for this journal.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review
This journal follows a single anonymized review process. Your submission will initially be assessed by our editors. If your submission is deemed suitable, it will typically be sent to be reviewed by a minimum of two reviewers for an independent expert assessment of the scientific quality. The decision as to whether your article is accepted or rejected for publication will be made by our editors.Re…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
Preprint sharing allowed per Elsevier policy; free preprint posting service on SSRN offered. Model summary
Preprint sharingAuthors may share preprints in line with Elsevier's article sharing policy. Sharing preprints, such as on a preprint server, will not count as prior publication.We advise you to read our policy on multiple, redundant or concurrent publication. In support of Open Science, this journal offers its authors a free preprint posting service on SSRN, Elsevier’s preprint and early research …
Source ↗Publisher website ·
Excerpts are quoted from the journal's website; "model summary" lines are written by Workers AI and checked against the text. The journal's website is authoritative.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- ISSN
- 0927-5371
- Electronic ISSN
- 1879-1034
- Society / sponsor
- European Association of Labour Economists
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Labour Economics
What CAS zone is Labour Economics in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Labour Economics is in Zone 2 of Economics, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Economics. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Economics. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Labour Economics?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.95; CiteScore 4.6, h-index 149.
How long does peer review take at Labour Economics?
The publisher reports about 360 days (submission to acceptance). Article statistics cover accepted papers only, publisher figures follow the journal's own definitions, and community reports come from authors' own submissions; none is a promise from the journal.
What are the manuscript requirements of Labour Economics?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 250 words; Keywords: 1–7; Reference style: Numbered, in order of citation; Templates: LaTeX; Suggested reviewers: Optional; Highlights: Required; Graphical abstract: Optional; Cover letter: Optional. A model extracted these from the author guidelines and each was checked against the text; check the latest version on the journal's website before submitting.
Where are the editorial board members of Labour Economics based?
Of the 52 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (20), United Kingdom (9) and France (5). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Labour Economics?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Labour Economics is indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Is Labour Economics open access, and what is the APC?
Labour Economics is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,240.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex; every figure is tagged with its source and the date it was observed, and conflicting values are kept per source. LetPub source page: view ↗ (archived 2026-08-26). Last updated: .