Economic Education in Schools and Universities in England

The authors review three aspects of economic education in England. They examine trends in undergraduate economics in England, principally in terms of recruitment and outcomes and connections with economics in schools. They also review formal instruction in schools through so-called “advanced level” courses for 16–19-year-old students and the role of the academic community in recent research in England on economic education.     

‘Medical altruism in mainstream health economics: theoretical and political paradoxes’ comments

In this article, which was published in the September 2014 issue of the Review, Batifoulier and Da Silva examine the role of medical altruism in health economics. They argue that abandoning homo economicus and the mainstream practice of incorporating patient well-being in the doctor’s utility function in order to explain the clinical behavior of doctors and switching from profit maximization to medical altruism both lead to a dead end. We agree but the authors leave us with no way out. We argue instead that the doctor’s clinical behavior whether expressed in terms of utility or altruism is not a fit subject for economics. The way out is to restrict economics to health care issues with financial dimensions. In their article, Batifoulier and Da Silva bring their French experience to the table. We bring to the table our American experience with more than 40 years of hands-on care for patients along with the experiences of four other physicians in our extended family. The specialties include intensive care pediatrics, emergency medicine, intensive-care pulmonary medicine, dermatology, and otolaryngology. Our premise in responding to Batifoulier and Da Silva is that apart from payment for services rendered, there probably are no serious differences in the actual practice of medicine in France compared to the United States. And even if there are such differences, they are matters to be taken up by medicine not economics.     

Economics research in Canada: a long-run assessment of journal publications

Abstract.  We examine the publications of authors affiliated with an economics research institution in Canada in (1) the Top-10 journals in economics according to journals' impact factors, and (2) the Canadian Journal of Economics . We consider all publications in the even years from 1980 to 2000. Canadian economists contributed about 5% of publications in the Top-10 journals and about 55% of publications in the Canadian Journal of Economics over this period. We identify the most active research centres and identify trends in their relative outputs over time. Those research centres successful in publishing in the Top-10 journals are found to also dominate the Canadian Journal of Economics . Additionally, we check the robustness of our findings with respect to journal selection, and we present data on authors' PhD origin, thereby indicating output and its concentration in graduate education.     

The Masters of Economics: Where are we Now?

In this article, the authors present results from a survey of Masters of Economics program directors to determine the missions, inputs, and outcomes of these degree programs throughout the United States and Canada. They compare results of this survey to those of two previous studies that they conducted 20 and 10 years ago. Respondents were asked to provide information on program admission requirements, curriculum, faculty characteristics, enrollment, graduation rates, student financial support, and placement. The authors describe the changes that have occurred in the most recent decade; determine whether the changes they observed between 1992 and 2002 have continued, been reinforced, or been reversed in the most recent 10 years; and determine whether any consistent long-term trends are evident over the 20 years of study.     

Undergraduate Coursework in Economics: A Survey Perspective

Survey results from a large sample of economics departments describe offerings for principles courses, coursework requirements for economics majors, and program augmentations such as capstone courses, senior seminars, and honors programs. Findings are reported for all institutions, and institutions are subdivided into six different categories based on public or private control and the highest economics degree offered. The coursework required for the economics major typically consists of ten courses, five in a required core and five electives. The most conspicuous curriculum change over the past 30 years is the rise of econometrics as a required course, now mandatory at about half of major programs. The authors estimate that about 40 percent of students who matriculate as first-year undergraduates take at least one economics course before they leave.     

Evolution of the Masters in Economics

In this article, the authors update their previous study of terminal master's degree in economics programs to determine whether changes in the characteristics and students or the desired outcomes of master's programs have occurred during the decade between the two studies. The authors find that there are now fewer programs and on average, there has been a reduction in rigor in terms of degree requirements. They also find some evidence for increased diversity of faculty in these programs. The average number of students in programs remained about the same over the decade, but the average number of faculty serving these students decreased. While some differences are found, overall the authors conclude that master's in economics programs have not dramatically changed over the past 10 years.     

Recent trends in co-authorship in economics: evidence from RePEc

This article investigates the recent trends in co-authorship in economics. Using data from more than 700 000 journal articles we show that the average number of authors per article has increased over the last years. This process is likely to be continued in the future. In a regression analysis, we present evidence how the authorship of papers is related to the number of citations, the JEL classification, the number of journal pages and the length of the title.     

A Realistic International Economics

In this article, the authors describe the structure and assessment of a capstone course in economics. The outcomes are noteworthy for three reasons. First, among cited evidence to date, this is the only undergraduate economics program from a nonselective public university reporting similar achievements in undergraduate research paper publications. Second, the program reports learning outcomes of a relatively new instrument in standardized test (ETS MFT Economics) to measure attainment of proficiencies in economics. Finally, it introduces undergraduate research paper competition outcomes as a measure of student paper quality.     

The Structure of the Introductory Economics Course in United States Colleges

The authors examine class size, teaching methods, and the one-semester/two-semester organization of the first course in economics, where colleges and universities are classified into five broad categories, from liberal arts colleges to research institutions. Student satisfaction with respect to their institution is also reported.