Bibtex error after updating to TeXLive 2013: style file not found

Question

I have recently updated my TeXLive installation to the 2013 version (via MacTeX), and I am getting an error when trying to use the econometrica style from natbib. (The error comes from running Bibtex, not when running pdflatex):

I couldn't open style file econometrica.bst
---line 20 of file SE.aux : \bibstyle{econometrica : } I'm skipping whatever remains of this command I found no style file---while reading file SE.aux (There were 2 error messages)

BibTeX exited abnormally with code 2 at Thu Jun 27 10:27:42

I searched around and it seems like this style is not a standard natbib style, but I don't remember having had to install anything other than the standard MacTeX distribution before, so I don't understand why the code no longer works.

When I switch to the old TeXLive installation (2012) the code works as expected.

Here is a MWE

\documentclass[12pt]{article}

\usepackage{hyperref}
\usepackage{natbib}
\usepackage{hypernat}

\usepackage{filecontents}
\begin{filecontents}{risksse.bib}
@article{anghodrick,
    Author = {Andrew Ang and Robert J. Hodrick and Yuhang Xing and Xiaoyan Zhang},
    Date-Added = {2013-06-26 23:46:29 +0000},
    Date-Modified = {2013-06-26 23:48:33 +0000},
    Journal = {The Journal of Finance},
    Month = {February},
    Number = {1},
    Pages = {259-299},
    Title = {The Cross-Section of Volatility and Expected Returns},
    Volume = {LXI},
    Year = {2006}}
\end{filecontents}

\begin{document}
Taken from \citet{anghodrick}.

\bibliographystyle{abbrv}
\bibliography{risksse}

\end{document}

econometrica.bst contains a non-free license from tug mail list and hence only in MiKTeX from TL 2013 onwards, Download econometrica.bst into working folder is workaround I suppose — texenthusiast, Jun 27 '13 at 00:39
Thanks @texenthusiast , I could not find that using google... Post that as an answer or should I delete the question? — Vivi, Jun 27 '13 at 00:42
I think we should retain the thread as it would benefit other users (Non subscribers of TUG mailing list ) who are in same situation and it's a news in TL 2013. — texenthusiast, Jun 27 '13 at 00:44
@texenthusiast So would you be able to post an answer? For now I saved the style into the same folder as my main file, but if you could also tell me a place I can put this so that it works with all files that would be great. — Vivi, Jun 27 '13 at 00:48
I suppose you are on Mac OS hence follow How do I add a .sty file to my MacTeX/TeXShop installation?, something similar to $HOME/texmf/bibtex/bst/ in Linux (respecting the TEX directory structure), although I have no idea how it is done on Mac. — texenthusiast, Jun 27 '13 at 01:01
On Mac it's ~/Library/texmf/bibtex/bst/econometrica.bst, May be someone can conform to you with upvote to this comment. — texenthusiast, Jun 27 '13 at 01:04

score 7 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 27 '13 at 00:55

To confirm whether TeXLive 2013 distro has econometrica.bst installed, it can be verified by typing at Terminal/commandline window kpsewhich econometrica.bst which returns no path on TL 2013.

But incase of kpsewhich abbrv.bst it returns full path /usr/local/texlive/2013/texmf-dist/bibtex/bst/base/abbrv.bst

Please refer Karl Berry's email announcement on TUG maillist on its removal as econometrica.bst contains a non-free license and hence only in MiKTeX from TL 2013 onwards, Download econometrica.bst into working folder is one way of workaround

nathrock · Answer 2 · 2014-03-03T20:41:49.160

I had the same issue, and then I had a little difficulty getting TexShop to locate ecta.bst. Namely, there are two library folders, one is invisible in finder by default, and MacTex is picky about where the .bst can go. Here are a few pieces of information that remedy these issues:

1) (http://pages.uoregon.edu/koch/texshop/whereisstuff.html)

Personal files should be stored in ~/Library/texmf. (Recall that ~/Library is the library folder in your home directory, while /Library is a system folder analogous to /Applications.) You will have to create the subfolder "texmf." When TeX needs to open a file, it searches ~/Library/texmf first, so if you modify a standard TeX file and place it there, the modified file will be used.

2) (https://www.tug.org/mactex/faq/)

QM.06 : Why can't the latest MacTeX find my local BibTeX files? Earlier versions of MacTeX worked correctly.

AM.06 : TeX Live is slightly pickier about placement of these files. ".bib" files go in ~/Library/texmf/bibtex/bib or subfolders of this directory, and ".bst" files go in ~/Library/texmf/bibtex/bst or subfolders of this directory.

3) There is an option to reveal the user Library in the Finder -> View Options (Apple+J). It only appears when the view options are selected for a window showing the user's home folder (By default, the home folder will be located in the Users directory on the system's boot drive).

Welcome to TeX.SX! You can have a look at our starter guide to familiarize yourself further with our format. — Paul Gessler, Mar 01 '14 at 16:58
Alright, thanks. I changed the website quote. I know this isn't a full answer, but I didn't have enough reputation to add a comment. So I thought the best I could do is provide an alternative answer. Was this an appropriate thing to do? Any other suggestions on formatting? — nathrock, Mar 03 '14 at 20:34

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 20 '16 at 19:00

The simplest alternative is probably to use the bibstyle ecta, which is in texlive-bibtex-extra:

sudo apt-get install texlive-bibtex-extra

ecta is simply another implementation of the econometrica reference style. Its author claim (see page) to be actually closer to the original:

Compared to the bst file econometrica.bst (by KC Border), the present style file is closer to the canonical way of presenting the list of references in Econometrica, a publication of the Econometric Society.

Bibtex error after updating to TeXLive 2013: style file not found

3 Answers3