Abstract
One of the most important developments in economics’ postwar history of the discipline was the emergence of a series of applied fields with the economics of education being one of the most interesting cases since it was forged at the crossroads between economics and educational research. In this paper we will analyse the emergence and consolidation of the economics of education by looking at the period between 1960 and 1980 that mark the institutionalization of the field. The analysis will be supported by bibliometric data from a large sample of economics and education journals that will help us to identify the main authors and themes and see how similar (or different) the profile of the emerging field in economics is from that in education journals. In doing this, we will compare the profile of this emerging applied field in the two different disciplinary contexts - economics and education, and how economists interested in educational issues established a dialogue with other economists and with non-economists specialized in educational topics in the phase of emergence and consolidation of this new applied field.