Some institutions (social norms and conventions) of contemporary mainstream economics, macroeconomics and financial economics

Dequech, David

doi:10.1093/cje/bex014

Cited by 19 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 47 publications

(31 reference statements)

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“…With the notable exception of heterodox economics (Hylmö, 2018;Maio, 2013), the field tends to cohere around a "mainstream" approach characterized by highly technical methodologies emphasizing, e.g., mathematical modeling and assumptions concerning the rationality of human behavior (Fourcade et al, 2015;Hylmö, 2018). Dequech (2017) argues that the equation of rigor with mathematical formalization is the defining feature of mainstream economics, leading to the neglect of uncertainty, a rejection of institutional effects, and sanctions for those who violate this convention. The general consensus over this mainstream approach means that the field has a relatively homogeneous notion of research quality (Lamont, 2009), allowing for a relatively concerted approach to publication and hiring.…”

Section: Economics and The Organizational Context Of Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Research as discovery or delivery? Exploring the implications of cultural repertoires and career demands for junior economists’ research practices

Steffy

Langfeldt

2022

High Educ

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Recently, social scientists have begun to study the implications of increasing pressures in the early academic career. Studies focusing mostly on the life sciences have shown junior scholars making research decisions based on a productivity logic to increase their chances of career success. In this paper, we extend this literature to the very different context of economics, characterized by a dominant mainstream, a clear hierarchy, and an independent/small-team approach to scholarship. Adopting a culture-in-action framework, we analyze how cultural repertoires help early career economists deal with the sometimes competing career pressures associated with working in high-status departments. Drawing from in-depth interviews with tenure-track economists in three Scandinavian countries, we find that skillful use of discovery-talk and delivery-talk helps respondents respond to the challenges they face as junior academics. Implications for research include the avoidance of, e.g., interdisciplinary work and questions of only regional importance. Furthermore, the data indicate that discovery and delivery notions partly overlap and so contribute to preserving economics as a relatively coherent and homogenous field.

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Section: Economics and The Organizational Context Of Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Research as discovery or delivery? Exploring the implications of cultural repertoires and career demands for junior economists’ research practices

Steffy

Langfeldt

2022

High Educ

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“…Emphasis is on the technical and the formal and learning the language that allows students to think like economists with an almost exclusive reliance on textbooks purportedly representing the latest expertise in the field but typically present variations on the same neoclassical economic micro and macroeconomic approaches. A similar hierarchy is built into the economics profession itself where promotion and recognition is measured by a set of neoclassical economic journals that accept papers that largely use the same constructs of understanding (Dequech, 2017;Scerri, 2008).…”

Section: Monoeconomics: An Institutional Understandingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Institutionalizing neoclassical economics in Africa: Instruments, ideology and implications

Stein¹

2021

Economy and Society

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Postwar development economics drew broadly from an array of different theoretical approaches, including theorizing from the south. Academic economists and policy makers in African countries openly and critically debated alternative possibilities from different theoretical traditions. As the multi-paradigmatic approach was under assault, the great development economist Albert Hirschman reminded us, in 1981, that this transcendence beyond monoeconomics arose out of the 'unprecedented discredit of orthodox economics' from within the economics establishment following the Great Depression and that the reassertion of neoclassical economics was somewhat predictable. The unevenness of the patterns of development provided the opening for the wholesale attack on development economics. Following the crisis of the universities in the 1980s, brought on to some degree by donors like the World Bank, economics departments on the African continent were reconstituted and reshaped in the image of the monoeconomics of the West. Capacity building efforts emphasized a single theoretical paradigm aimed in part at supporting structural adjustment policies. The African Economic Research Consortium, based in Nairobi and founded in 1988, played a key role in transforming the economics profession in Africa. The paper will map out the institutional dynamics and the consequences of reconstructing economic departments and government agencies in African countries.

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“…The history of economic thought thus casts serious doubt on the assumption that the current mainstream is always necessarily better (e.g. Akerlof, 2020;Backhouse, 1994;Blaug, 2001;Cedrini & Fontana, 2018;Cedrini & Fontana, 2015;Colander & Landreth, 1998;Davis, 2006;Dequech, 2017;Dow, 2009;Fourcade, 2009;Gans & Shepherd, 1994;Gräbner & Strunk, 2020;Lee, 2009;Morgan & Rutherford, 1998;Samuels et al, 2008;Weintraub, 2002).…”

Section: Part Imentioning

confidence: 99%

Economy Studies

Muijnck¹,

Tieleman²

2021

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The Economy Studies project emerged from the worldwide movement to modernise economics education, spurred on by the global financial crisis of 2008, the climate crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic. It envisions a wide variety of economics graduates and specialists, equipped with a broad toolkit, enabling them to collectively understand and help tackle the issues the world faces today. This is a practical guide for (re-)designing economics courses and programs. Based on a clear conceptual framework and ten flexible building blocks, this handbook offers refreshing ideas and practical suggestions to stimulate student engagement and critical thinking across a wide range of courses. Key features Adapting Existing Courses: Plug-and-play suggestions to improve existing economics courses with attention to institutions, history, values and practical skills. Teaching materials: A guide through the rapidly growing range of innovative textbooks and other teaching materials. Example Courses and Curricula: How to design pluralist, real-world economics education within the practical limits of time and resources. The companion website, www.economystudies.com, contains a wealth of additional resources, such as tailor-made booklets for more specific audiences, additional teaching materials and links to plug-and-play syllabi and courses, and opportunities for workshops and exchange with other economics educators.

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Some institutions (social norms and conventions) of contemporary mainstream economics, macroeconomics and financial economics

Cited by 19 publications

References 47 publications

Research as discovery or delivery? Exploring the implications of cultural repertoires and career demands for junior economists’ research practices

Research as discovery or delivery? Exploring the implications of cultural repertoires and career demands for junior economists’ research practices

Institutionalizing neoclassical economics in Africa: Instruments, ideology and implications

Economy Studies

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