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on Sociology of Economics |
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Issue of 2009‒03‒14
two papers chosen by Jonas Holmström Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration |
| By: | Bruno S. Frey |
| Abstract: | Academic economists today are caught in a “Publication Impossibility Theorem System” or PITS. To further their careers, they are required to publish in A-journals, but this is impossible for the vast majority because there are few slots open in such journals. Such academic competition is held to provide the right incentives for hard work, but there may be serious negative consequences: the wrong output may be produced in an inefficient way, the wrong people may be selected, and the losers may react in a harmful way. The paper suggests several ways for improvement. |
| Keywords: | Academia, economists, publication, journals, incentives, economic methodology |
| JEL: | A1 D02 I23 |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zur:iewwpx:406&r=sog |
| By: | David Colander; Hans Föllmer; Armin Haas; Michael Goldberg; Katarina Juselius; Alan Kirman; Thomas Lux; Brigitte Sloth |
| Abstract: | The economics profession appears to have been unaware of the long build-up to the current worldwide financial crisis and to have significantly underestimated its dimensions once it started to unfold. In our view, this lack of understanding is due to a misallocation of research efforts in economics. We trace the deeper roots of this failure to the profession’s insistence on constructing models that, by design, disregard the key elements driving outcomes in real-world markets. The economics profession has failed in communicating the limitations, weaknesses, and even dangers of its preferred models to the public. This state of affairs makes clear the need for a major reorientation of focus in the research economists undertake, as well as for the establishment of an ethical code that would ask economists to understand and communicate the limitations and potential misuses of their models |
| Keywords: | financial crisis, academic moral hazard, ethic responsibility of researchers |
| JEL: | A11 B40 G1 |
| Date: | 2009–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kie:kieliw:1489&r=sog |