The Sacred AEA Book Room

[John-Charles Bradbury]

On my most recent trip to the AEAs I was reminded of the rules governing the "book room" where publishers, policy groups, and computer programs show their wares to economists.  During past visits to this room this seems to me to be nothing more than advertising. This year, I did not register for the conference; therefore, I was prevented from entering the room.  Though I really did not care, I find this odd.  Book publishers give me tons of free books all the time.  Why do they want to exclude me from the room?  They normally don't miss an opportunity to stick free books under my nose.  So I doubt the publishers want this rule.  The other entity that might desire this rule is the AEA, which wants to prevent free-riding on conference attendance.  Economists may want to take advantage of the spatial agglomeration of like-minded individuals without paying the registration fee.  But, the necessary exclusion seems to occur at the main conference events.  I certainly do not value a trip to the book room worth the price of registration...even if my school subsidizes my trip 100%. And the one area where most free-riding occurs, those engaged in the job search, is not excluded.  You can read the message board and find the job disclosure codes publicly available.  What is going on here?   JC