The Publication Profile of Economists

Publication rates are reported from a set of 126 economics and related journals for 1,600 economists who received their doctorates between 1969 and 1988. The data strongly support the contention that publication of one article per year in established journals is exceptional.     

What Economists Do about Values

The paper explores the way the work of classic institutionalist authors can inform modern nonprofit economics. From the Veblenian perspective, nonprofit organization is explained as an institutional consequence of the pecuniary-industrial dichotomy. The Ayresian theoretical system is used to highlight nonprofit organization as a particular form of the progressive weakening of the institution of private property in response to technological imperatives. Based on these arguments, the societal meaning of nonprofit organization is shown to be in realizing instrumental value that is unattainable through pecuniary ceremonial behavior embodied in the for-profit sector. At the same, in line with the Veblenian analysis of American universities, the ability of nonprofit firms to attain instrumental value is recognized as potentially limited by the corrupting effects of the embedding pecuniary culture.     

中国经济学家的道德追问

道德问题是近年来中国经济学界普遍关注的一个热点。 2 0世纪 90年代中期以后 ,围绕经济学 (家 )要不要讲道德 ,一批著名的经济学家掀起了争论的高潮 ;经济学家对道德的追问既基于知识分子人文关怀的本性 ,也是中国经济体制转型和社会变革中 ,经济学家对市场化道路和经济学学科边界、方法、作用等深刻反思的结果。从经济学的视野进行道德关怀是经济学家研究道德的特点 ,有助于拓展经济学的视野 ,但从经济学与伦理学交叉的角度进行经济道德的研究应是经济学研究道德的最重要的切入点。     

How Economists Use Literature and Drama

A review of how, in their professional writings, economists have used passages, plots, characters, themes, and ideas from literature and drama.     

The Legal-Economic Nexus from the Perspective of New Institutional Economists and Original Institutional Economists

There are two institutional economics approaches to law and economics. New institutional economists prescribe that arbitrators foster efficiency in setting economic disputes and original institutional economists focus on creating reasonable values – that is, balancing efficiency and justice. Disequilibrium between desired efficiency and perceived fairness triggers agency and is a source of coevolution of law and economics.     

Economists in the PITS?

Academic economists today are caught in a “Publication Impossibility Theorem System” or PITS. In order to further their careers, they are required to publish in A-journals, but for the vast majority this is impossible because there are few slots open for them in such journals. Such academic competition maybe useful to generate hard work; however, there may be serious negative consequences: the wrong output may be produced in an inefficient way, the wrong people may be selected, and losers may react in a harmful way. This article suggests several ways to remedy this situation.     

Economists as subjects: Toward a psychology of economists

Economists can reflect on their own field of research and themselves in a number of ways. The philosophy of science has long been the dominant way to reflect on the work of scientists, to be joined in more recent times by both the sociology of science and the rhetoric of science. In this paper I do not argue that these approaches are wrong, but I do argue that they should be complemented with a study of the individual scientist. A psychology of economists, in other words, is called for. One important theory in recent psychological literature (social learning/cognitive theory) is introduced as an instance to indicate what kind of suggestions concerning the reflective position of individual scientists might be derived. It would be preferable from this perspective that scientists set high standards for themselves, have an open mind to what happens in different disciplines, and set high standards by which to judge others. Then follows a discussion where some potential objections to the approach in general, or to the specific psychological theory in particular, are refuted.     

Economists as subjects: Toward a psychology of economists

Economists can reflect on their own field of research and themselves in a number of ways. The philosophy of science has long been the dominant way to reflect on the work of scientists, to be joined in more recent times by both the sociology of science and the rhetoric of science. In this paper I do not argue that these approaches are wrong, but I do argue that they should be complemented with a study of the individual scientist. A psychology of economists, in other words, is called for. One important theory in recent psychological literature (social learning/cognitive theory) is introduced as an instance to indicate what kind of suggestions concerning the reflective position of individual scientists might be derived. It would be preferable from this perspective that scientists set high standards for themselves, have an open mind to what happens in different disciplines, and set high standards by which to judge others. Then follows a discussion where some potential objections to the approach in general, or to the specific psychological theory in particular, are refuted.     

Economists on Darwin's theory of social evolution and human behaviour

Abstract

This article analyses Darwin's image among economists with a specific focus on his theory of social evolution as presented in the Descent of Man (1871). We propose an analysis of the way and context in which economists refer to Darwin, mention his name and quote his writings. It then appears that Darwin is most of the time viewed as a biologist only, who never developed his own theory of social evolution. He is thus quoted as a biologist who either borrowed concepts from economists who developed a theory of social evolution, or laid the basis for biological theory of social evolution developed by others, Spencer, in particular. It is only recently that eventually the twofold dimensions—biological and social—of Darwin's general theory of evolution are considered together by bioeconomists.     

Representation and Educational Background of European Economists in Top Journals of Economics

We assess the contribution of European authors to 10 topjournals of economics from 1980 to 1998. Despite efforts on the European Union and national levels topromote academic excellence, European authors still play a minor role in top journals. Examining the development overtime we find little evidence for an increasing share of European contributions. Particular attention has been paidto the educational background of European authors. There is still a segmentation of academic education alonglanguage barriers in continental Europe. However, a considerable proportion of European authors has received a PhD from the US.     

Gender Differences in Research Patterns Among PhD Economists

This study is based on a 1996 survey of PhD economists working in the academic and nonacademic sectors since 1989. Despite a raw gender difference in all types of research output, the male dummy variable proves statistically significant in predicting only one publication measure. In a full sample and faculty subsample, number of years since receipt of PhD, publication in a refereed journal as a graduate student, and the total number of presentations made in professional forums were consistently, positively related to research productivity. The importance of other independent variables varies by research output. Typically unavailable variables such as workload, time use, submissions data, and family circumstances are also examined.     

Do Recent PhD Economists Feel Prepared to Teach Economics?

A survey of recent economics PhDs who graduated from U.S. PhD programs and are now teaching in either the United States or Canada revealed that only half of the respondents who taught a stand-alone course during their doctoral program had any teacher preparation training. Those who did have training only felt “adequately” prepared for teaching. However, as a general rule, the respondents felt that they were well-prepared for teaching at the completion of their graduate program. The authors did not find significant differences in the responses of those who did complete formal pedagogical training during their doctoral program and those who did not. Those who completed training during their doctoral program appear to currently be more enthusiastic about training.     

An Institutional Explanation for Economists’ Theoretical and Methodological Choices

Scientific research in general and economics research in particular is a social act. More specifically, schools of economic thought as well as associations, research groups and conferences are expressions of social organizations within the realm of economics. Historically, studies investigating the methodologies used in economics have focused on the strengths of these social organizations. This study aims to analyze the key roles played by individuals within social organizations in building and reinforcing economics and, in turn, their influence on these individuals. To achieve this goal, we use an institutionalist approach in a broad sense. We show how economics as an academic environment can be presented as an institutional entanglement and how an institutionalist approach can enhance an understanding of why economists adopt a particular theoretical and methodological perspective. It is argued that habits, observations and cognitive abilities should be seriously considered to understand the logic and decision making of economic researchers. We discuss also the importance of forming groups in the process of institutionalizing elements relevant to an economic researcher’s logic and decision making and present an interpretation of mainstream economics in terms of the analytical approach of our study.     

What Determines Research Output of Academic Economists?

This paper looks at the characteristics that explain research productivity in a cross section of academic economists. From a sample of 150 economists, we obtained data on a range of human capital variables, teaching loads and research funding. The results suggest that human capital variables, particularly the grade of honours and the nature and location of the PhD., are especially important in explaining a quality-weighted research output measure. Teaching loads are also significant. In particular, we find that a 10 per cent increase in the number of teaching hours may reduce research output by as much as 20 per cent, whereas a 10 per cent increase in the number of grants held per year may raise output per year by as much as 15 per cent.     

The Value of Peripatetic Economists: A Sesqui-Difference Evaluation of Bob Gregory

Does a country benefit from temporarily importing human capital? Do foreign academic visitors generate additional scholarly research on local issues? I use a survey in which visitors to ANU's Economics Program described their research before and after their visit and designated an otherwise similar non-visitor as a control. Matching to controls may thus be along observable and unobservable characteristics. These visits have a highly significant impact on the visitor's subsequent research, redirecting it toward Australia. Valuing this extra research based on scholarly citations received and the effects of citations on salaries shows substantial monetary gains.     

The Influence of Economists On the Federal Reserve Act

Many economists helped to lay the groundwork for the Federal Reserve. Some did important work analyzing the problems of the National Bank System and arguing for formation of a central bank in economics journals. At least as importantly, if not more so, some economists took an active role in the reform movement and provided help and advice with the actual Congressional bill. Among these are J. Lawrence Laughlin, who chaired a group that actively raised support for the Federal Reserve Act in Congressional districts, and H. Parker Willis, who served as an expert for the subcommittee which wrote the original draft of what became the Federal Reserve Act. More broadly, this episode illustrates the impact that intellectuals and ideas can have on actual events; the analysis contemporary economists did in academic journals and in more political activities before and after the panic of 1907 guided the actual formation of a working central bank (JEL B10, N21).     

Economists versus engineers: Two approaches to environmental problems

The Review of Austrian Economics - There are two distinct and partly irreconcilable approaches to analyzing environmental problems. The first, we call the engineering approach and the other the...     

Ego Facing Alter: How Economists have Depicted Human Interactions

The paper analyses, in a historical perspective, how economists approached human interactions. In particular it is aimed at: (a) showing that in the beginning of economic science some economists, Genovesi and Smith in particular, analysed many dimensions of human interactions, and their account of rational economic behaviour was complex and not only instrumental; (b) analysing, through the works of Pareto and Wicksteed, the main turning point in the history of economics which reduced interactions to the sole instrumental one; (c) highlight some methodological questions and doubts on how contemporary economics approaches interactions.     

Economists, value judgments, and climate change: A view from feminist economics

A number of recent discussions about ethical issues in climate change, as engaged in by economists, have focused on the value of the parameter representing the rate of time preference within models of optimal growth. This essay examines many economists' antipathy to serious discussion of ethical matters, and suggests that the avoidance of questions of intergenerational equity is related to another set of value judgments concerning the quality and objectivity of economic practice. Using insights from feminist philosophy of science and research on high reliability organizations, this essay argues that a more ethically transparent, real-world-oriented, and flexible economic practice would lead to more reliable and useful knowledge.     

The Market for New Ph.D. Economists

Multinomial logit analysis, based on survey questionnaires, shows that graduate program ranking, length of time in the Ph.D. program, publications, and marital status are important determinants of occupational outcome for new Ph.D. economists.