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on History and Philosophy of Economics |
| By: | Becker, Sascha O (University of Warwick and Monash University) |
| Abstract: | This chapter explores the intersection of religion and economics on the 250th anniversary of Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, first published in 1776. While Smith is often viewed as a secular figure in economics, his work was deeply influenced by the moral philosophy of his time, which was shaped by Christian thought. I discuss how economists think about the religious themes in Smith's work in the 21st century and review what we know today about the connection between religion and economic outcomes. |
| Keywords: | Adam Smith; religion JEL Classification: B1, B2, N3, N9, P5, Z12 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:789 |
| By: | Nicolas Brisset (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - UNS - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (1965 - 2019) - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UniCA - Université Côte d'Azur); Raphaël Fèvre (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - UNS - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (1965 - 2019) - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UniCA - Université Côte d'Azur) |
| Abstract: | This article traces the emergence of a new type of economist in interwar France—the conjuncturist—through a study focusing on Alfred Sauvy and Robert Marjolin. We argue that these neglected figures helped to shape a new, autonomous, field of expertise that consisted of diagnosing and forecasting the economic situation to guide public decision making. As we show, the history of the conjuncturists is closely linked to that of the Popular Front in general, and to its emblematic law on the forty-hour week in particular. By becoming the most vocal opponents of this law, the conjuncturists fomented an open mutiny against the very government that had given them their first prominent position, in order to obtain the repeal of the forty-hour week, which Sauvy achieved in November 1938. Although the Popular Front was by then a thing of the past, and a future war with Germany had become the most likely outcome, the figure of the conjuncturist had succeeded in firmly occupying the institutional landscape of 1940s France—a form of economic expertise that was henceforth inseparable from political activity itself. |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05512073 |
| By: | Pietro Daniel Omodeo (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice) |
| Abstract: | This essay critically explores the connection between epistemology, political ecology, economy, and technological developments in the Anthropocene, understood as the epoch in which humankind has become a major force of geological transformation. It addresses the Anthropocene as a discourse and as a reality, bringing together epistemological reflexivity, ideology critique, and political economy-cum-ecology. The essay begins with an overview of the genesis and development of the Anthropocene concept—an often-repeated history which I reconsider from the viewpoint of historiographic developments in the history and philosophy of science. Since the Anthropocene hypothesis makes the history of knowledge, technological advancement, and socioeconomic structures fundamental factors in the Earth's history, I point to the necessity of revising our reality-conceptions to account for the development of a world in which epistemic, economic, and political histories intersect with physics, geology, and biology. As a reappraisal of the historico-materialist approaches to science studies, I propose to expand the 'externalist' understanding of the socio-economic roots and social functions of science by including, in the geoanthropological paradigm to come, considerations of social metabolism and ecology. This proposal is also meant to serve as a basis for new forms of cross-disciplinary economic thinking that must comprise cultural and environmental perspectives. These considerations are the background of my criticism of the ideological aberrations in the debate on Anthropocene politics, which I term 'dark ecologies'. I especially refer to Bruno Latour's adherence to Malthusian and social-Darwinian ideas. In the last part, I discuss eco-socialist alternatives to the ecological impasse and advocate for the defence of the commons against their alienation as a premise of future prosperity. |
| Keywords: | Political ecology, geoanthropology, technological alienation, Latour, Malthusianism, tragedy of the commons, eco-socialism |
| JEL: | F64 J10 O14 O44 Q01 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ven:wpaper:2026:05 |
| By: | Mathieu Guigourez (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne, Université Paris 1 Panthéo-Sorbonne) |
| Abstract: | This paper challenges the Pigouvian framing of carbon taxation as a neutral corrective tool, arguing that carbon pricing also reshapes how individuals understand their responsibility in the climate crisis. The paper synthesises four critiques – moral licensing, framing distortions, dampening effects, and endogenous preferences – showing how carbon pricing can displace or erode moral responsibility. In response, it introduces a distinction between accordant responsibility, defined as behavioural alignment with external incentives, and procedural responsibility, grounded in moral reflection and autonomous commitment. It challenges the view that price signals alone can engineer moral agency and argues for policies that sustain ethical commitments |
| Keywords: | Carbon Tax; Individual Responsibility; Framing; Crowding out Effects; Endogeneous Preferences |
| JEL: | Q57 D62 D91 B41 A12 |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:26003 |
| By: | Lia Bergin |
| Abstract: | Janet Henry, Clare Lombardelli and Almudena Sevilla discuss how the profession can do better |
| Date: | 2026–02–20 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepcnp:728 |
| By: | Youssef Bouazizi (UMI - جامعة مولاي إسماعيل = Université Moulay Ismaïl); Mounia Hamidi; Aimad El Hajri; Mohammed Ghazouani |
| Abstract: | La recherche quantitative par questionnaire occupe une place centrale dans les travaux doctoraux en sciences de gestion. Pourtant, de nombreuses fragilités empiriques observées dans les thèses et articles ne résultent ni d'un manque de données ni d'une insuffisance des outils statistiques, mais de dérives méthodologiques situées bien en amont de l'analyse. Cet article propose une relecture intégrée du processus de recherche quantitative, en montrant que la validité empirique repose sur une chaîne continue reliant la conception du questionnaire, l'opérationnalisation des variables, le plan d'échantillonnage, la préparation des données et l'analyse statistique. À partir d'une synthèse critique de la littérature méthodologique et de l'expérience d'encadrement doctoral, le papier met en évidence les confusions récurrentes qui fragilisent la production des données et compromettent durablement l'inférence statistique. L'objectif n'est pas de proposer un manuel de techniques, mais d'offrir aux doctorants un cadre méthodologique structurant, leur permettant d'anticiper les erreurs irréversibles et de concevoir des dispositifs empiriques cohérents, transparents et empiriquement robustes. |
| Date: | 2026–01–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05441644 |
| By: | John Van Reenen |
| Abstract: | How the study of innovation and competition has been transformed. |
| Keywords: | Growth, Creative destruction, Nobel, Innovation, , Productivity |
| Date: | 2026–02–20 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepcnp:722 |