3,813,667 research outputs found
Concentration in Knowledge Output: A case of Economics Journals
Full text linkThis paper assesses the degree of author concentration in seven economics journals, which were published in India during 1990-2002. To measure the degree of author concentration, Lotka's Law was used. Moreover, we also make an exploratory analysis of the geographic, economics subfield and institutional concentration in 704 economics journals. An important finding of this paper is that specialized journals in the sample report the highest degree of author concentration. This result is quite similar to the findings by Cox and Chung (1991). Furthermore, there are several instances showing that the journals lean towards certain norms; this may affect the flow of innovative ideas into economics. We conclude that a knowledge activity, involving the high degree of concentration and a biased publication process, may affect the flow of new ideas into the discipline.Concentration, Lotka's Law
The Benefits of Being Economics Professor A (and not Z)
Full text linkAlphabetic name ordering on multi-authored academic papers, which is the convention in the economics discipline and various other disciplines, is to the advantage of people whose last name initials are placed early in the alphabet. As it turns out, Professor A, who has been a first author more often than Professor Z, will have published more articles and experienced afaster growth rate over the course of her career as a result of reputation and visibility. Moreover, authors know that name ordering matters and indeed take ordering seriously: Several characteristics of an author group composition determine the decision to deviate from the default alphabetic name order to a significant extent.performance measurement, incentives, economists, name ordering
Why Economics Must Abandon Its Theory of the Firm
No full text1 In with the new, out with the old? The raison d’etre of this book is the belief that significant new currents are developing in and on the fringes of economics. A moot point is whether these new interdisciplinary currents from complex systems and econophysics will simply embellish what is known, or whether they may in time transform economics itself. In part the answer to this question depends on the soundness of existing economics. In this chapter, I show that, at least in the area known as the theory of the firm, the new must completely abandon the old, because the latter is based on mathematical fallacies
Heterodox economics: history and prospects
Full text linkFrederic S. Lee's collection of essays makes a substantial contribution to our understanding of the history of heterodox economics, and to our sense of heterodox economics as a community. This paper explores issues arising from the collection in relation to the characterisation of this history, the understanding of heterodox economics itself and the nature and role of such a history from a historiographical perspective. The paper concludes with a discussion of the future of heterodox economics and an argument for a pluralist strategy for its promotion. Copyright The Author 2011. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Cambridge Political Economy Society. All rights reserved., Oxford University Press.
Half a century of development economics : a review based on the"Handbook of Development Economics"
Full text linkDevelopment economics has made remarkable progress in 50 years, says the author, summarizing changes in the field since Nehru's first proposals for an independent India. Synthesizing insights about changes in the field from the many contributors to the"Handbook of Development Economics,"the author observes (among other things): 1) Different schools of thought may dominate, but the range of research has broadened. Economics has"hardened"as its practitioners have learned to use data more carefully and to reason more rigorously. 2) The policy message has been turned upside down. Gone is the idea that development is industrialization and that the main policy problem is to manage the interface between country and city. Today urbanization and industrialization are viewed as mere components of an integrated transformation, in which the expansion of foreign trade is central. Traditional institutions are viewed with far more understanding, because overhasty modernization has often proved counterproductive. 3) More than ever, development is seen as a"whole replacement"process, the key to which is mastery of Northern technology--now understood to be both simpler and more complex than previously thought. Simpler, because much technology is uncomplicated, and complex because even simple technology requires ingenuity and a costly investment in adaptations. 4) There has been a radical change in economists'view of market agents and policymakers. Gone are the days when economists thought their advice should be aimed mainly at planners. Policymakers are utility maximizers, too. Employees of state enterprises coalesce into powerful interest groups that block efforts to raise productivity. The new thinking is sometimes modified by evoking the vague concept of"governance,"under which the economist's view is to help design a system of interacting state and private institutions that, led by the state, cooperate in achieving social goals. Whether something useful will come from this line of thinking remains to be seen. The author detects major gaps in economists'undrstanding of development, suggesting a particular need for further study of collective action (a far more pervasive component of human action than is realized) and the selection of roles by individuals and the costly investment this entails (a concept that may shed light on Schumpeter's well-known but little-studied entrepreneur).Labor Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Health Economics&Finance,Environmental Economics&Policies,Decentralization,Health Economics&Finance,Poverty Assessment,Achieving Shared Growth,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies
Economics: from emperor to vassal?
No full textFor years economics has been engaged in a bitter turf-war with its disciplinary rivals in marketing and management. Its war-cry has been its command of science and theory. The author argues that the exodus of students to the more pragmatic rival disciplines is more than a coincidence. Economic theory is moribund, and in comparison the 'real- world’ disciplines inevitably look attractive
Department of Economics Action Plan
No full textDepartment of Economics Action Plan for Academic Program ReviewDepartment of Economics, Action Plan, Academic Program ReviewDepartment of Economics, Action Plan, Academic Program Revie
OVERCOMING POSITIVISM IN ECONOMICS: AMARTYA SEN'S PROJECT OF INFUSING ETHICS INTO ECONOMICS
Full text linkLogical Positivism, which arose in philosophy early in the twentieth century, proclaimed the sharp distinction between facts and values. Despite objections at the time, positivism was imported into economics in the 1930s. Over time, objections lessened; economics was transformed and ethical considerations were driven out of its core. In the 1950s, debates about positivism arose within the discipline which had exported it. According to the American philosopher Hilary Putnam, the fact/value distinction is now discredited in philosophy. If that is so, the methodological foundations of contemporary economics are also discredited. In this article I examine Amartya Sen’s moral science of economics. First, I will present his historical account of the connections between economics and ethics. Sen claims that there was a close connection between the two until positivism was imported. Second, I will sketch some of Sen’s ethical objections to modern economics, which is still suffering from positivism. Finally, I will lay out some of his ideas on how economics can be returned to an ethical path. Once the ground has been cleared of positivism, ethics can re-emerge in economics in various ways. One path has been marked out by Sen.Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,
Research in economics in Spain: rankings of institutions and authors
Full text linkIn this paper we analyse the research in Economics in Spain during the 1990s considering the contributions of both Spanish and foreign economist who have worked in Spain during that period. To do so, we use different bibliometric indicators in order to elaborate rankings for both institutions and researchers. These rankings can be useful for several potentials users such as: a) Evaluation Agencies and Funding Bodies to help them in grant-allocation decisions; b) Graduate students who whish to choose the right institution to complete their postgraduate education, and c) Young Ph Ds who have entered the academic job market and need information about the research perfomance of different institutions
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