Working papers report research findings well in advance of formal publication. High-quality working papers are published by research organizations such as the NBER and CEPR, as well as by academic departments and nongovernmental organizations. The links below should help you to locate working papers available electronically.
The best place to start a general search may be at EconPapers or the Social Science Research Network (SSRN). The following is a more complete, but still selective, list:
- AgEcon Search (University of Minnesota)
- CEPR Centre for Economic Policy Research (UK) -- online discussion papers and other publications
- EconPapers search RePEc archives of working papers
- IDEAS (Internet Documents in Economics Access Service) also searches RePEC archives
- MRPA Munich Personal RePEc archive - for authors unaffiliated with institutions
- NBER Working Papers (latest working papers from the National Bureau of Economic Research)
- NEP New Economics Papers - browse and receive e-mail notification of new submissions to RePEc
- RePEc largest archive of Full text research papers in Economics from EconWPA, Fed in Print, NBER, CEPR as well as over 100 other archives. Access through the IDEAS or EconPapers search engines
- RePEc authors service Information about authors of working papers
- Rutgers University-New Brunswick, Department of Economics Working Papers (search engine)
- Social Science Research Network leading alerting and download service for working papers. Note that SSRN has a subscription component, but it is free to search and browse for papers, and most papers are freely downloadable.
For sites not listed here, try EDIRC, a directory of economics institutes and research centers, or the Organizations tab.