IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/pubcho/v183y2020i3d10.1007_s11127-020-00807-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Behavioral symmetry, rent seeking, and the Republic of Science

Author

Listed:
  • Diana W. Thomas

    (Creighton University)

  • Michael D. Thomas

    (Creighton University)

Abstract

Scientific inquiry, like all other human activity, cannot be separated from the humans conducting the inquiry. While public discourse often treats science as sacrosanct and scientists as devoid of any but the purest motives, the science of science literature has long understood scientific inquiry as a fundamentally social activity undertaken by self-interested, partial, human choosers with limited information (Polanyi in Minerva 1(1):54–73, 1962; Kuhn in The structure of scientific revolutions. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, 1962; Leonard in J Econ Methodol 9(2):141–168, 2002). In this essay, we review the assumptions of two of the original contributions to the science of science literature regarding human agents and compare them to the assumptions underlying economic models. We assert that Michael Polanyi and Thomas Kuhn did for the science of science literature what Buchanan and Tullock (The calculus of consent: Logical foundations of constitutional democracy. Liberty Fund, Indianapolis, 1962) did for politics in the 1950s, which is to reassert behavioral symmetry. We then extend some of Buchanan’s insights from his study of politics and constitutions, public choice and constitutional political economy, to the study of science and draw out implications for interest-group influence in the republic of science.

Suggested Citation

  • Diana W. Thomas & Michael D. Thomas, 2020. "Behavioral symmetry, rent seeking, and the Republic of Science," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 183(3), pages 443-459, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:183:y:2020:i:3:d:10.1007_s11127-020-00807-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s11127-020-00807-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11127-020-00807-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11127-020-00807-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Deirdre N. McCloskey & Stephen T. Ziliak, 1996. "The Standard Error of Regressions," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 34(1), pages 97-114, March.
    2. Hottenrott, Hanna & Lawson, Cornelia, 2017. "Fishing for complementarities: Research grants and research productivity," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 1-38.
    3. Sah, Raaj Kumar & Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1986. "The Architecture of Economic Systems: Hierarchies and Polyarchies," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(4), pages 716-727, September.
    4. Arthur T. Denzau & Douglass C. North, 1994. "Shared Mental Models: Ideologies and Institutions," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(1), pages 3-31, February.
    5. Blakeley B. McShane & David Gal & Andrew Gelman & Christian Robert & Jennifer L. Tackett, 2019. "Abandon Statistical Significance," The American Statistician, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 73(S1), pages 235-245, March.
    6. Levy,David M. & Peart,Sandra J., 2020. "Towards an Economics of Natural Equals," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781108428972.
    7. John P. A. Ioannidis & T. D. Stanley & Hristos Doucouliagos, 2017. "The Power of Bias in Economics Research," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 127(605), pages 236-265, October.
    8. Baumol, William J., 1996. "Entrepreneurship: Productive, unproductive, and destructive," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 3-22, January.
    9. Lawrence H. White, 2005. "The Federal Reserve System's Influence on Research in Monetary Economics," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 2(2), pages 325-354, August.
    10. Peter J. Boettke & Christopher J. Coyne & Peter T. Leeson, 2014. "Earw(h)ig: I can’t hear you because your ideas are old," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 38(3), pages 531-544.
    11. Olivier Blanchard, 2016. "The Phillips Curve: Back to the '60s?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(5), pages 31-34, May.
    12. Peter J. Boettke & Rosolino A. Candela, 2020. "Where Chicago meets London: James M. Buchanan, Virginia Political Economy, and cost theory," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 183(3), pages 287-302, June.
    13. Bryan Caplan, 2001. "Rational Ignorance versus Rational Irrationality," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(1), pages 3-26, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Daniel J. Smith, 2020. "James M. Buchanan centennial birthday academic conference: an introduction to the special issue," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 183(3), pages 223-226, June.
    2. Doucouliagos, Hristos & Hinz, Thomas & Zigova, Katarina, 2022. "Bias and careers: Evidence from the aid effectiveness literature," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Vlad Tarko, 2015. "The role of ideas in political economy," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 28(1), pages 17-39, March.
    2. Michael Stuetzer & David B. Audretsch & Martin Obschonka & Samuel D. Gosling & Peter J. Rentfrow & Jeff Potter, 2018. "Entrepreneurship culture, knowledge spillovers and the growth of regions," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(5), pages 608-618, May.
    3. Schnellenbach, Jan & Schubert, Christian, 2015. "Behavioral political economy: A survey," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 40(PB), pages 395-417.
    4. Hederer, Christian, 2007. "Political Entrepreneurship and Institutional Change: an Evolutionary Approach," MPRA Paper 8249, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Matthew W. McCarter & Abel M. Winn, 2013. "When the Economics of a Decision Matters More than the Psychology of the Decision: Understanding the Economic Significance of Auction Fever," Working Papers 13-19, Chapman University, Economic Science Institute.
    6. Michael Wyrwich & Michael Stuetzer & Rolf Sternberg, 2016. "Entrepreneurial role models, fear of failure, and institutional approval of entrepreneurship: a tale of two regions," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(3), pages 467-492, March.
    7. Niklas Elert & Dan Johansson & Mikael Stenkula & Niklas Wykman, 2023. "The evolution of owner-entrepreneurs’ taxation: five tax regimes over a 160-year period," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 517-540, April.
    8. Black, Bernard & Hollingsworth, Alex & Nunes, Letícia & Simon, Kosali, 2022. "Simulated power analyses for observational studies: An application to the Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    9. Hsiung Bingyuan, 2009. "Benchmarks and Economic Analysis," Review of Law & Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 5(1), pages 75-99, March.
    10. Schnellenbach, Jan, 2021. "The concept of Ordnungspolitik: Rule-based economic policy-making from the perspective of the Freiburg School," Freiburg Discussion Papers on Constitutional Economics 21/7, Walter Eucken Institut e.V..
    11. Darcy W E Allen, 2020. "When Entrepreneurs Meet:The Collective Governance of New Ideas," World Scientific Books, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., number q0269, January.
    12. Friederike Welter, 2011. "Contextualizing Entrepreneurship—Conceptual Challenges and Ways Forward," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 35(1), pages 165-184, January.
    13. Stephan B. Bruns & David I. Stern, 2019. "Lag length selection and p-hacking in Granger causality testing: prevalence and performance of meta-regression models," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 797-830, March.
    14. Asatryan, Zareh & Havlik, Annika & Heinemann, Friedrich & Nover, Justus, 2020. "Biases in fiscal multiplier estimates," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    15. Altman, Morris, 2020. "A more scientific approach to applied economics: Reconstructing statistical, analytical significance, and correlation analysis," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 315-324.
    16. Darcy W.E. Allen, 2019. "Entrepreneurial Exit: Developing the Cryptoeconomy," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Melanie Swan & Jason Potts & Soichiro Takagi & Frank Witte & Paolo Tasca (ed.), Blockchain Economics: Implications of Distributed Ledgers Markets, Communications Networks, and Algorithmic Reality, chapter 10, pages 197-214, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    17. Bruns, Stephan B. & Kalthaus, Martin, 2020. "Flexibility in the selection of patent counts: Implications for p-hacking and evidence-based policymaking," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(1).
    18. Lucas, David S. & Fuller, Caleb S. & Packard, Mark D., 2022. "Made to be broken? A theory of regulatory governance and rule-breaking entrepreneurial action," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 37(6).
    19. Guillaume Coqueret, 2023. "Forking paths in financial economics," Papers 2401.08606, arXiv.org.
    20. Bennett, Daniel L., 2019. "Infrastructure investments and entrepreneurial dynamism in the U.S," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 1-1.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Economic methodology; Behavioral symmetry; James M. Buchanan;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B10 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - General
    • B20 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - General
    • B50 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:183:y:2020:i:3:d:10.1007_s11127-020-00807-4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.