Research Ethics Education in Economics

Abstract

In this paper, we report the findings from the data we collected from a survey in order to measure how common research ethics education in economics is. We have found out that (1) research ethics is taught in only a very few economics departments around the globe; (2) topics related to research ethics are not taught in courses on economics and ethics; and (3) the number of papers published in specialised peer-reviewed journals on economics education is only a tiny fraction of the number of papers published in these journals. There has been no evidence in economics showing that economics departments have taken strong initiative on teaching research ethics to undergraduate and graduate students.     

The state of Portuguese research in economics: an analysis based on publications in international journals

In this paper I analyze the state of Portuguese research in economics based on publications in international journals for the period of 1986 to 2000. I find that scientific production is increasing but productivity remains low. I also provide a revealing characterization of the production habits of Portuguese researchers by answering the following questions: where do Portuguese researchers publish? who are the most active publishers? how often do they publish? how much do they collaborate? what is their background? Finally, I analyze the impact of that research based on citation counts.Received: July 2001, Accepted: November 2001, Mathematics Subject Classification: A10, A14I would like to acknowledge the helpful comments of the Editor, Paulo Brito, as well as Ana Rute Cardoso, Clara Dismuke, João Santos Silva, Octávio Figueiredo, Pedro Pita Barros and Pedro Portugal.     

Incorporating research findings in the economics syllabus: evidence on genuine sociality from Italy and the UK

Economics education is proving slow in incorporating into the syllabus the genuine advances made in economics research in the last few decades. As economics education relies primarily on the single approach of neoclassical economics, whilst recent advances in research have been marked by a wide variety of approaches, many of which are interdisciplinary, the methodological divide between education and research is growing wider. We attempt to measure how keen students are to incorporate research findings in the syllabus by developing a questionnaire which introduces undergraduate students in Italy and the U.K. to key findings in the research literature on genuine sociality, an area in which the methodological divide is very noticeable. Students display moderate support for being taught the material on genuine sociality. Students who wish to incorporate genuine sociality in the syllabus tend to be older, value virtue and have a religion.     

Statistical significance and scientific misconduct: improving the style of the published research paper

Abstract

A science, business, or law that is basing its validity on the level of p-values, t statistics and other tests of statistical significance is looking less and less relevant and more and more unethical. Today’s economist uses a lot of wit putting a clever index of opportunity cost into his models; but then, like the amnesiac, he fails to see opportunity cost in statistical estimates he makes of those same models. Medicine, psychology, pharmacology and other fields are similarly damaged by this fundamental error of science, keeping bad treatments on the market and good ones out. A few small changes to the style of the published research paper using statistical methods can bring large beneficial effects to more than academic research papers. It is suggested that misuse of statistical significance be added to the definition of scientific misconduct currently enforced by the NIH, NSF, Office of Research Integrity and others.     

高等学校科学研究及其质量评价

在实现高等教育大众化过程中，科研教学人员是高校得以发展的主导力量，其科学研究是高校得以发展的必要条件。树立正确的高等学校科学研究质量观，对高校科研教学人员的成果进行正确合理的评价，不仅关系到研究人员自身的利益，而且关系到高校的创新发展和人才培养。     

马克思主义经济学人本思想对财务学研究的启示与拓展

针对财务学的“经济人”假设进行了探讨,认为正是由于公司财务理论研究前提假定的非真实性,导致了当前主流财务学在研究导向、研究方法和研究对象上的失效。马克思经济学人本主义思想为财务学研究如何贴近社会现实提供了一个很好的借鉴思路。财务学本身具有社会属性,在此基础上,财务学研究的领域可以扩展到制度财务学、财务社会学、财务心理学、财务伦理学等方面。     

The economics of research,consulting, and teaching quality: theory and evidence from a technical university

We investigate the effect of both research and consulting on teaching quality in higher education, at the individual level. We propose a theoretical model in which academics allocate effort between the three activities, over a two period time horizon, under the assumption of positive spillovers from research to both consulting opportunities and teaching, and of life-cycle effects on incentives. Propositions from the model are tested against data from a mid-sized Italian engineering faculty. We find that teaching quality is negatively related to consulting and positively related to research experience. However, both relationships are not linear, due to the importance of several mediating factors, such as seniority and the role of scientific publications as a signal for attracting consulting opportunities.     

Writing in the discipline and reproducible methods: A process-oriented approach to teaching empirical undergraduate economics research

The authors of this article describe an empirical research project as a component of an upper-level undergraduate economics writing-in-the-discipline course, thus aiming to reduce the high fixed costs associated with designing an empirical research project assignment and encourage more undergraduate economics research. This project is central to the course structure and has a dual-purpose: to teach students economics writing conventions and reproducible empirical research methods. The authors present a sequenced project design and replication documentation protocol and posit that this promotes student learning and leads to improvements in organization and coherence throughout the entire research and writing process. As an essential element of the course, students learn to do econometrics through effective writing, data management, and empirical analysis.     

Ranking economics departments in the US South: an update

This study provides an update to Mixon and Upadhyaya’s (2001) ranking of Southern economics departments using research output indexed in EconLit. Ranking results from a ‘core’ (i.e. the top five faculty researchers) of each institution’s economics department reveal that Vanderbilt University, George Mason University, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland and Georgia State University currently maintain the top five economics departments, respectively, in the US South. Relatedly, the five institutions rising the most from Mixon and Upadhyaya (2001) are Tulane University, Georgia State University, University of Texas–Dallas, Rice University and Florida International University, respectively.     

Models in evolutionary economics and environmental policy: Towards an evolutionary environmental economics

In this paper we review evolutionary economic modelling in relation to environmental policy. We discuss three areas in which evolutionary economic models have a particularly high added value for environmental policy-making: the double externality problem, technological transitions and consumer demand. We explore the possibilities to apply evolutionary economic models in environmental policy assessment, including the opportunities for making policy-making endogenous to environmental innovation. We end with a critical discussion of the challenges that remain.     

基于模糊VIKOR的高校虚拟科研团队成员选择决策

针对网络环境下虚拟科研团队成员的特点——跨地域、跨组织、跨文化,构建了高校虚拟科研团队成员选择决策指标体系。针对决策指标难于量化的特点,提出基于模糊VIKOR方法的高校虚拟科研团队成员选择的模糊多属性折中的群决策方法。利用实例对该方法的有效性进行了说明。     

科研团队社会资本、个体动机对个体知识共享行为的影响——基于多层线性模型的跨层次分析

将团队社会资本分为结构资本、关系资本和认知资本,将个人动机分为互惠动机、兴趣动机、关系动机和利他动机,采用多层线性模型方法并利用调研数据,从团队和个人两个层次探究了科研团队的社会资本和个体动机对个体显性知识共享行为和隐性知识共享行为的影响。结果显示:个人动机和科研团队社会资本对个体的显性知识和隐性知识共享行为都产生正向影响,其中个人动机的影响作用更为显著;社会资本在3个个人动机变量与显性知识共享行为之间发挥调节作用。     

财经类大学生思想行为特点及对策研究

文章认为高校财经类专业学生在思想观念、专业学习、文化素质、情感等方面具有与其它专业不同的特点,并根据财经类专业学生的思想特点和行为方式,探讨了教育管理内容,提高思想政治教育工作的针对性和实效性。     

Transition to market economics: Employment and informal activity in rural areas

According to the neo-liberal model, the high levels of unemployment and collapsing real wages of transition will reallocate labor to new activities. But whether and how households actually reallocate labor is the subject of growing debate. We use survey data from Bulgaria to develop a typology of rural households based on their labor allocation characteristics. We find a diversity of outcomes. A significant share of households experience no change in labor allocation, some shift labor to own commercial enterprises, but a significant minority are displaced from the emerging market economy. Potential for informal activity among these households appears limited. Of great concern is the regional concentration of such households.     

Citations,journal ranking and multiple authorships: evidence based on the top 300 papers in economics

Two propositions are examined with reference to the top 300 papers in economics journals in terms of citations as reported by RePec. The results show that while there is significant correlation between the quality of a journal and the number of top papers published in that journal, the correlation is far away from being perfect. Furthermore, citations are not related to the number of authors, which provides evidence against the proposition that multi-authored papers are typically of higher quality than single-authored papers. The results also cast a shadow of doubt on the soundness of the bucket classification of journals.     

Relating the philosophy and practice of ecological economics: The role of concepts, models, and case studies in inter- and transdisciplinary sustainability research

We develop a general and unifying methodology for ecological economics which integrates philosophical considerations on the foundations of ecological economics with an adequate operationalization. We argue that the subject matter and aims of ecological economics require a specific combination of inter- and transdisciplinary research, and discuss the epistemological position on which this methodology is based. In accordance with this understanding of inter- and transdisciplinarity and the underlying epistemological position, we develop an operationalization which comprises simultaneous analysis on three levels of abstraction: concepts, (generic) models and case studies. This provides a systematic and integral view on ecological economics, and thus allows one to see the relationship between contributions to the field that have so far been perceived as very heterogeneous and largely unrelated. At the same time, this methodological framework may provide orientation for the further development of ecological economics.     

Slanting advice and biasing recommendations for welfare gains in an imperfect world

The socially optimal biasing of point recommendations to groups of economic agents, for example extension advice to farmers or small firms, is discussed. The optimal bias depends on the comparative values of the second order derivatives of net benefits obtained by individuals within the groups from the information transmitted. While it is often uneconomic to tailor extension advice or information to individual circumstances, various conditions of diversity identified in this paper favour differentiation of recommendations.     

科研团队合作网络特征分析及比较——以中德两个大学科研团队为例

以中德两个大学科研团队为例,利用通过实地访谈和问卷调查收集的数据,运用社会网络分析和典型案例研究方法,对两个大学科研团队合作网络的结网特点和特征进行了比较分析。结果显示:由于两个样本科研团队的规模一致且团队规模较大,因此其合作网络的密度具有一致性,即均较低;两个科研团队在合作网络的集中度、网络结构和稳定性方面存在较大差异;两个科研团队的领导人对其合作网络均具有重要影响。     

高校科研促进黑龙江省“八大经济区”和“十大工程”战略目标实现的对策

阐述我国高校科研的现状及黑龙江省高校科研优势,分析高校科研对社会经济发展的作用,并结合黑龙江省"八大经济区"和"十大工程"战略目标,提出了以立足区域经济发展完善高校科研转化机制、打造创新平台、推进产学研合作、加快成果转化等对策,以服务于地方经济,推动区域经济发展。     

怎样看待当前的货币信贷形势——基于科学发展观的一个视角

针对当前我国经济领域中存在的货币信贷快速增长和固定资产投资反弹现象,本文从科学发展观视角全面剖析了当前货币信贷的运行轨迹,并就货币信贷快速增长与固定资产投资反弹可能引发的相关问题进行了思考.本文认为,当前我国货币信贷快速增长的根源在于人民币汇率的错配与国内实行的低利率甚至负利率所致,因此,当前我国的政策应当重点从加快利率市场化改革、加快汇率市场化改革、加快推进金融体制改革和加快推动金融市场建设等4个方面入手.