Perspectives on Economics in the School Curriculum: Coursework,Content, and Research

This review describes the conditions for teaching economics in the kindergarten through twelfth grade (K–12) curriculum in U.S. schools. The first section presents data on course-taking in economics in high schools and state mandates for economics instruction. It discusses the value of the infusion approach to teaching economics either in place of a separate course or as a complement to it. The second section describes the economic content that is taught to students as presented in content guides and standards. The final section presents research findings on (1) test instruments for measuring outcomes from economics instruction, (2) the effect of teacher coursework and training on the student economic understanding, and (3) how instructional materials complement or substitute for instructor selection and training.     

Core Requirements for the Economics Major

In this article, the authors are the first to describe the core economics curriculum requirements for economics majors at all American colleges and universities, as opposed to a sample of institutions. Not surprisingly, principles of economics is nearly universally required and implemented as a two-semester course in 85 percent of economics major programs. Most schools do not prescribe the order in which the principles sequence is taken. The intermediate courses are commonly required, although variation exists across institution types. While the quantitative requirement for the major has increased since 1980, significant differences exist among institutions and by academic rankings. As compared to 1950, there has been an increase in the number of required economics credit hours for the major.     

A Preliminary Report on the Efficiency of Introductory Economics Courses

This article is the first report of a project in which the efficiency of the introductory economics course at Queen's University in Canada is being examined. Finding that the TUCE “relies too heavily on a knowledge of U.S. institutions,” Crowley and Wilton assembled a set of questions from several sources (including TUCE items adapted to the Canadian situation). Taking into account the student's initial understanding of economics, sex, major field, student year, the instructor's ability to arouse and maintain interest, and the amount of time spent on the course, the authors employ a regression model with student score on the posttest as the dependent variable. Their findings, although preliminary, add to the growing body of research on the introductory course and suggest some interesting possibilities. Among these possibilities is the fact that some “natural” learning may occur among students not exposed to a formal economics course.     

基于交易成本经济学的企业业务外包分析

企业业务外包是近年来在国外兴起的一种经营行为,它的目的是降低成本,提高企业的竞争力。目前中国很多企业也纷纷在尝试这一做法。然而不是任何企业,任何业务都适合外包。本文将从交易成本经济学的角度来对企业业务外包这一行为进行分析,提出适宜进行业务外包的情况,并说明进行业务外包时应该注意的问题。     

中国工业经济与企业管理若干前沿问题综述

本文从三个大的方面、12个具体问题综述了我国工业经济和企业管理领域近两年研究的主要进展,一是中国工业化进程与问题,二是中国产业组织问题,三是企业管理方面的前沿问题。这些综述有助于对我国工业经济学和企业管理学所关注的问题有一个大体的把握,也在一定意义上为这两个学科的未来发展准备了一点资料基础。     

The Status of Econometrics in the Economics Major: A Survey

In this article, the authors describe the place of econometrics in undergraduate economics curricula in all American colleges and universities that offer economics majors as listed in the U.S. News & World Report “Best Colleges 2010” guide (U.S. News & World Report 2009). Data come from online catalogs, departmental Web sites, and online course syllabi. About one-third of the schools require econometrics of all students majoring in economics, about half require it of none, and a sixth require it of some, but not all, economics majors. Among universities with economics PhD programs and liberal arts colleges, almost all those ranked in the top 10 require it. Below the top 10, there is little correlation between ranking and econometrics requirements. Liberal arts econometrics classes are much more likely to require research projects than their counterparts in universities.     

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.     

Teaching Methods in U.S. Undergraduate Economics Courses

In 1995 and 2000, the authors surveyed academic economists in the United States to establish how economics is taught in four types of undergraduate courses. The authors report overall findings from the 2000 survey and compare these results with the aggregate findings for respondents from all types of colleges and universities in the 1995 survey. The basic finding is that, despite some indications of increased emphasis and interest in teaching over this period, the teaching methods in these courses have changed very little over the past five years and are still dominated by “chalk and talk” classroom presentations.     

An Integrated Modular Approach to Teaching Introductory Economics

The authors describe the design and administration of a large two-semester course in principles of economics that permits both students and faculty some choice of both subject matter and meeting times during the semester. Students complete a standardized nine-week core and are then allowed to select topical modules. Advantages and disadvantages are discussed.     

诺贝尔经济学奖获得者的区域经济学思想分析

诺贝尔经济学奖获得者的区域经济学思想,涉及区域差异与贸易、区域经济发展、区域竞争与合作等,这些思想之间具有一定的关联。诺奖得主的学术观点反映出经济学研究越来越关注区域(空间)问题,区域经济研究越来越转向宏微观兼顾,研究方法更加精细化。诺贝尔经济学获奖者的区域经济学思想对区际贸易及我国区域经济差异等具有较强的解释力。受诺贝尔经济学获奖者区域经济学思想的启发,中国的相关研究应更加关注空间因素,注重对具有中国特色的事物及现象的研究,使区域经济研究向规范和精细化方向发展,同时关注制度创新研究,建立中国特色的区域经济学。     

商业秘密经济学及其在中国的应用

商业秘密作为企业和个人的一项特殊的财产权利,对其给予充分的法律保护符合效率原则。中国当前对商业秘密的法律保护有待加强,应该引入惩罚性赔偿制度,合理规定商业秘密的保护期限,在商业秘密侵权诉讼中采取举证责任倒置,从而实现效率目标,促进合作与安全,增进社会公共利益。     

A Training System for Graduate Student Instructors of Introductory Economics at the University of Minnesota

Lewis and Orvis report on a systematic teacher training program for Graduate Student Instructors involving an integrated series of student evaluations, videotaped lecture observations and instructional seminars. This program when evaluated showed a significant and measurable impact on both student and instructor performances in the classroom.     

A Simple Model of Entrepreneurship for Principles of Economics Courses

The critical roles of entrepreneurs in creating, operating, and destroying markets, as well as their importance in driving long-term economic growth are still generally either absent from principles of economics texts or relegated to later chapters. The primary difficulties in explaining entrepreneurship at the principles level are the lack of a universally accepted definition, a plausible explanation of the demand for entrepreneurship, and a diagram that summarizes the impact of entrepreneurship on market equilibrium and growth—a definition, a story, and a picture. This article discusses how the notion of the stationary state associated with Schumpeter (1911 Schumpeter, J. A. 1911/1983. Theory of economic development., Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.  [Google Scholar]/1983), Knight (1921 Knight, F. H. 1921/1971. Risk, uncertainty and profit, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]/1971), and Weber (1930 Weber, M. 1930/2002. The Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism, New York: Scribner's.  [Google Scholar]/2002) can provide a framework for integrating the entrepreneur into the early part of principles of economics courses.     

Attributes of Effective Economics Instructors: An Analysis of Student Evaluations

Samuels reminds us of the influence that institutional economists have had on economic thought, and of the roles they have played as critics and specialists in various fields of economic inquiry.     

对社会转型期《劳动经济学》课程内容建设的思考

课程内容建设是课程建设的关键。在社会转型期,劳动经济学课程内容建设应该将西方劳动经济学的一般原理与我国市场经济的具体实践相结合,关注经济现实,立足于问题研究,着眼于学科发展,为学生了解经济发展的规律和劳动力市场的实践服务。     

Contemporary Economic thought. The Contribution of Neo-Institutional Economics

This article examines the historical developments of the institutionalist theory of the business enterprise since the early 1900s in order to demonstrate its distinctive characteristics that are often overlooked or belittled by some institutional-evolutionary economists and most mainstream economists. I argue that the institutionalist theory is an evolving and emergent theory, which bears a reciprocal, evolutionary, and cumulative relationship between the business enterprise and society. The institutionalist theory is, therefore, suitable for the understanding of the real-world business enterprise as it can be modified and refined along with the evolution of capitalism. The article begins with a discussion of the present state of the institutionalist theory. The following section is devoted to the major contributions to the institutionalist theory situated in the evolution of U.S. capitalism. The penultimate section provides a critical discussion of new institutional and evolutionary approaches to the firm. The article concludes with a brief discussion as to what should be done for the further development of the institutionalist theory of the business enterprise.     

关于创建与发展中国经济学的若干思考

理论经济学可划分为马克思主义经济学、西方经济学和中国经济学。发展社会主义市场经济是一个全新的课题,在马克思主义经济学和西方经济学中都找不到现成答案。中国经济学应在经济学研究已取得的成果的基础上,扎根于本土,深入系统地研究现实社会主义初级阶段的生产关系,通过对社会主义市场经济运行和发展的分析,揭示社会主义初级阶段市场经济运动的规律。     

论中国经济学的创建

传统社会主义政治经济学已经不能适应和指导我国社会主义市场经济体制形成和完善引致的制度变迁与社会转型的实践,必须进行理论观点、体系框架和研究方法上的创新。与时俱进,创建研究中国特色社会主义的中国经济学成为我们的紧迫任务。     

农产品贸易保护的国际政治经济学分析

世贸组织多哈回合的坎昆会议上农产品贸易谈判的失败,集中体现出对外贸易政策的本质是其本国国内政治经济的反映。农产品的特点和作用以及农业的特殊地位决定了发达国家在农产品贸易中的高保护政策。对农产品贸易保护的国际政治经济学视角的分析能够使我们更好地了解发达国家在贸易谈判中的观点和立场。     

西方经济学与马克思主义经济学关于生产理论的比较——一个方法论的视角

西方经济学与马克思主义经济学的生产理论研究方法上存在三个方面本质区别:西方经济学的生产理论是以"经济人"假设为出发点,把劳动者仅仅作为生产要素研究;而马克思主义经济学的生产理论是以"历史的、现实的人"为出发点,把劳动者既看作生产要素,又作为生产主体来研究.西方经济学的生产理论只研究生产一般,因而使用价值(即效用)范畴是其研究的核心;而马克思主义经济学则不仅研究生产一般,更注重研究生产的具体社会形式,因而把价值范畴作为研究的核心.西方经济学用个体主义方法,把生产理论仅仅置于微观领域来研究,致使其理论体系在微观与宏观上形成脱节;而马克思主义经济学则运用唯物辩证法,在宏观和微观的有机联系中研究资本主义的生产和再生产问题.