Applied Economics Letters is a companion journal to Applied Economics and Applied Financial Economics. It publishes short accounts of new original research and encourages discussion of papers previously published in its two companion journals. Letters are reviewed by the Editor, a member of the Editorial Board or another suitable authority. They are generally applied in nature, but may include discussion of method and theoretical formulation. In a change to the format of the Applied Financial Series of journals, from 2009 Applied Financial Economics Letters will be incorporated into its sister journal Applied Economics Letters.