You should have a good chance of some interest in your paper if it is:
- high quality (i.e. well thought out and well-written)
- doesn't take too long to get its point across
- cognizant of other research (i.e. make sure your research is new and not a rehash of some existing papers)
- sent to people who will have an interest in it (i.e. not randomly sending it to just any old professors of economics)
I am not an academic but I sent a paper to the chair of my country's society for economics, and I was given the option to present it at their annual convention.
It's too presumptuous to send the paper in the first email, so I asked if there was any interest in my first email, and sent the paper in the second email. Not all professors will reply (some will be just too busy even if your paper is very interesting)
If you're genuinely contributing to the field, people will be interested in your work, but remember that they are probably time-poor, and there may not be anything in it for them, at least in the short term (if your paper is quite good, and you're happy to do so, you could offer them the opportunity to collaborate so they get their name on the final paper - this might be of enough value to them to consider your paper more seriously)