American Economic Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
362166945
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Nashville, TN, USA
Phone
6153222595
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Professional Societies, Associations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$14,309,259
Expenses
$13,144,181
Assets
$57,947,387
Liabilities
$4,976,026

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

32 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JANET CURRIE (PRESIDENT)
  • LAWRENCE KATZ (PRESIDENT-ELECT)
  • NICHOLAS BLOOM (VICE PRESIDENT (1/4-12/31))
  • EBONYA WASHINGTON (VICE PRESIDENT (1/4-12/31))
  • HILARY HOYNES (VICE PRESIDENT (1/1-1/4))
  • LINDA TESAR (VICE PRESIDENT (1/1-1/4))

Highest reported compensation

  • PETER L ROUSSEAU (SECRETARY - TREASURER): $415,194 total reported compensation
  • TIMOTHY TAYLOR (JEP MANAGING EDITOR): $292,083 total reported compensation
  • BARBARA FISER (DIRECTOR OF ADMINISTRATION): $247,110 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

See schedule o

What it reported doing in 2024

The aea holds conferences and programs throughout the year including the annual meeting - where the aea in conjunction with 66 associations in related disciplines known as the allied social sciences associations (assa), holds a three-day meeting each january to present papers on general economics topics. Other conference/workshops held include the aea summer program, continuing education conference, cement workshops, educate, the ctree conference, csqiep mentoring conference and summer mentoring pipeline conference.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 88% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 47
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 64
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 88.3%; rating input score 88
  • Program expense ratio: 87.4%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 8.1%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.41; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.5%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.2% per year; rating input score 100; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 88.3% of revenue deployed · 87.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 8 filed program accomplishments · $11.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $415K · 32 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $329K reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 14 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.