How to Write an Active Vs Passive Voice for Economics

In economics, the choice between active and passive voice determines the clarity of causal mechanisms and the transparency of empirical methodologies. While modern journals like the American Economic Review increasingly favor the active voice for establishing agency, the passive voice remains essential for describing data processing and standardized statistical tests.

What Is an Active Vs Passive Voice in Economics?

Active voice occurs when the subject of the sentence performs the action (e.g., 'The central bank raised interest rates'), while passive voice occurs when the subject receives the action (e.g., 'Interest rates were raised by the central bank'). In economics, this distinction is critical for distinguishing between endogenous decisions made by agents and exogenous shocks or systematic processes described in a model.

Before You Start

• Identify the primary agents in your paper, such as firms, households, or policy makers.
• Review the style guidelines of your target journal, as publications like the Journal of Political Economy have specific preferences for authorial voice.
• Categorize your sections into 'Theoretical Framework' and 'Empirical Methodology' to determine where voice shifts are most appropriate.
• Clarify your causal arrows to ensure that active verbs correctly attribute economic effects to their specific drivers.

Use Active Voice for Theoretical Assumptions

When building a model, use the active voice to describe how agents behave. This clarifies the microfoundations of your argument and makes the logic easier to follow for the reader.

Example: Instead of 'Utility is maximized by the consumer,' write 'The consumer maximizes utility subject to a budget constraint.'

Tip: Focus on the decision-maker as the grammatical subject to highlight agency.

Apply Passive Voice for Standard Data Cleaning

When describing routine data transformations or cleaning processes in your methodology section, the passive voice is often preferred because the person performing the action is less important than the procedure itself.

Example: Logarithmic transformations were applied to the GDP per capita figures to account for non-linearity.

Tip: Use passive voice to keep the focus on the data rather than your personal actions during the coding phase.

Employ Active Voice to State Research Contributions

In your introduction, use the active voice to clearly state what your paper achieves. This builds authority and ensures the reader knows exactly what your contribution to the literature is.

Example: This paper explores the impact of trade liberalization on wage inequality in emerging markets.

Tip: Avoid the 'royal we' if you are a sole author, but use 'we' for co-authored papers to signal collaboration.

Use Passive Voice for Exogenous Shocks

When an event occurs outside the control of the agents in your model, the passive voice can effectively signal its exogeneity.

Example: The local economy was impacted by a sudden drought that reduced agricultural yields by twenty percent.

Tip: Use passive voice when the cause is an 'act of God' or an external variable in an IV regression.

Switch to Active Voice for Causal Results

When reporting the results of your regression analysis, use active verbs to describe how one variable affects another. This makes your findings more impactful.

Example: A one percentage point increase in the tax rate reduces corporate investment by three percent.

Tip: Avoid 'is seen to' or 'is found to' as they weaken the strength of your statistical evidence.

Describe Fixed Effects and Controls in Passive Voice

Standard econometric specifications involving fixed effects or robust standard errors are best described using the passive voice to maintain a professional, technical tone.

Example: Country and year fixed effects are included in all specifications to control for unobserved heterogeneity.

Tip: This keeps the methodology section concise and focused on the model's structure.

Use Active Voice for Policy Recommendations

When concluding with policy implications, the active voice helps you make direct, actionable suggestions to policymakers.

Example: Governments should implement carbon taxes to internalize the negative externalities of industrial production.

Tip: Direct verbs like 'should,' 'must,' or 'recommends' require an active subject to be persuasive.

Maintain Passive Voice for Literature Summaries

When summarizing broad trends in the field rather than specific studies, the passive voice can help generalize findings across multiple papers.

Example: The Phillips Curve has been extensively debated in the macroeconomic literature regarding its stability over time.

Tip: Use this to transition between different schools of economic thought.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Using passive voice to hide a lack of causal evidence (e.g., 'It is thought that inflation rises' without citing a mechanism).
• Overusing the word 'significant' in the passive voice without clarifying if it refers to statistical or economic significance.
• Writing 'The data was analyzed' repeatedly, which creates a monotonous tone in the Empirical Strategy section.
• Confusing the reader by switching voices mid-sentence when describing a supply and demand shift.
• Failing to attribute specific model assumptions to the correct author by using a vague passive construction.

Pro Tips

• Read the 'Instructions for Authors' in the Quarterly Journal of Economics; they often prefer active voice for clarity.
• Use active verbs like 'mitigates,' 'exacerbates,' or 'induces' to describe economic relationships more precisely.
• In your abstract, use active voice for the first and last sentences to bookend your research with strong claims.
• Check your 'Limitations' section; passive voice can sometimes sound defensive, so use active voice to take ownership of the scope.
• When using Instrumental Variables, use active voice to describe the instrument's effect on the endogenous regressor.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it okay to use 'I' or 'we' in an economics paper?

Yes, it is increasingly common and often encouraged in top-tier journals. Using 'we' (for multiple authors) or 'I' (for single authors) allows you to use the active voice, which makes your methodology and contributions clearer.

When should I use the passive voice in an econometrics section?

Use it when the process is more important than the researcher. For instance, 'Standard errors were clustered at the firm level' is better than 'I clustered the standard errors' because the clustering is a standard technical requirement.

Does active voice make my economics paper sound less objective?

No. Objectivity comes from your data and logic, not from distancing yourself through grammar. In fact, active voice can increase transparency by clearly stating who is making an assumption or performing a test.

How do I describe a regression equation using active voice?

You can say 'Equation 1 estimates the relationship between X and Y' or 'The model regresses Y on a set of independent variables.' This attributes the action to the model itself.

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