IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/ajecsc/v68y2009i5p1041-1061.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Market, the Firm, and the Economics Profession

Author

Listed:
  • Daniel Sutter

Abstract

The mathematical and statistical complexity of economic research increased remarkably over the past century. While criticisms of the trend abound, the “wisdom of crowds” argument creates a presumption that the profession's acceptance of increasing mathematical sophistication is a net improvement. I provide a contrasting “market failure” argument for the excessive mathematization of economics. Academic research is not a cash‐based economy, and this limits economists' ability to contract for assistance with technical research. Consequently, production of mathematical and statistical research must use the firm—the department—instead of the market. This alters the composition of the faculty and ultimately the economics curriculum, and the resulting level of sophistication may be greater than optimal.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel Sutter, 2009. "The Market, the Firm, and the Economics Profession," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(5), pages 1041-1061, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ajecsc:v:68:y:2009:i:5:p:1041-1061
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1536-7150.2009.00652.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1536-7150.2009.00652.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1536-7150.2009.00652.x?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mark Thornton, 2004. "Does Academic Publishing Pass the Real Market Test?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 120(1_2), pages 41-61, July.
    2. Cowen, Tyler, 2007. "The Importance Of Defining The Feasible Set," Economics and Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 23(1), pages 1-14, March.
    3. Herbert G. Grubel & Lawrence A. Boland, 1986. "On the Efficient Use of Mathematics in Economics: Some Theory, Facts and Results of an Opinion Survey," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(3), pages 419-442, August.
    4. Fogel, Robert William, 1967. "The Specification Problem in Economic History," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 27(3), pages 283-308, September.
    5. Mark Blaug, 1998. "Disturbing Currents in Modern Economics," Challenge, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(3), pages 11-34, May.
    6. Donald W. Katzner, 2003. "Why mathematics in economics?," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(4), pages 561-574.
    7. Philip Mirowski, 1991. "The When, the How and the Why of Mathematical Expression in the History of Economic Analysis," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 145-157, Winter.
    8. Philip R. P. Coelho & James E. McClure, 2005. "Theory versus Application: Does Complexity Crowd Out Evidence?," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 71(3), pages 556-565, January.
    9. Coase, R H, 1974. "The Lighthouse in Economics," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 17(2), pages 357-376, October.
    10. Grubel, Herbert G & Boland, Lawrence A, 1986. "On the Efficient Use of Mathematics in Economics: Some Theory, Facts and Results of an Opinion Survey," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(3), pages 419-442.
    11. Hansen, W Lee, 1991. "The Education and Training of Economics Doctorates: Major Findings of the Executive Secretary of the American Economic Association's Commission on Graduate Education in Economics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 29(3), pages 1054-1087, September.
    12. Daniel B. Klein, 2005. "The Ph.D. Circle in Academic Economics," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 2(1), pages 133-148, April.
    13. Daniel Sutter & Rex Pjesky, 2007. "Where Would Adam Smith Publish Today? The Near Absence of Math-free Research in Top Journals," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 4(2), pages 230-240, May.
    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. Turner, Grant, 2018. "Establishing a comprehensive census of undergraduate economics curricula:Foundational and special requirements for major programs in the U.S," MPRA Paper 103235, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Tiago Cardao-Pito, 2017. "Organizations as Producers of Operating Product Flows to Members of Society," SAGE Open, , vol. 7(3), pages 21582440177, August.

    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. Daniel B. Klein & Pedro Romero, 2007. "Model Building versus Theorizing: The Paucity of Theory in the _Journal of Economic Theory_," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 4(2), pages 241-271, May.
    2. Rex J. Pjesky & Daniel Sutter, 2011. "Does the Lack of a Profit Motive Affect Hiring in Academe? Evidence from the Market for Lawyers," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 70(4), pages 1053-1084, October.
    3. Philip R. P. Coelho & James E. McClure, 2008. "The Market for Lemmas: Evidence That Complex Models Rarely Operate in Our World," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 5(1), pages 78-90, January.
    4. Espinosa, Miguel & Rondon, Carlos & Romero, Mauricio, 2012. "The use of mathematics in economics and its effect on a scholar's academic career," MPRA Paper 41341, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Turan Yay & Huseyin Tastan, 2010. "Invisible Hand in the Process of Making Economics or on the Method and Scope of Economics," Panoeconomicus, Savez ekonomista Vojvodine, Novi Sad, Serbia, vol. 57(1), pages 61-83, March.
    6. Andrés Marroquín & Julio H. Cole, 2015. "Economical writing (or, “Think Hemingway”)," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 103(1), pages 251-259, April.
    7. João Ricardo Faria, 2001. "Rent Seeking in Academia: The Consultancy Disease," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 45(2), pages 69-74, October.
    8. Daniel Sutter & Rex Pjesky, 2007. "Where Would Adam Smith Publish Today? The Near Absence of Math-free Research in Top Journals," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 4(2), pages 230-240, May.
    9. Eivind Merok & Nils August Andresen, 2007. "Back to the Future – the Marginal Utility of History in Economics," Nordic Journal of Political Economy, Nordic Journal of Political Economy, vol. 33, pages 1-3.
    10. David K. Leonard, 1993. "Structural Reform of the Veterinary Profession in Africa and the New Institutional Economics," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 24(2), pages 227-267, April.
    11. Paula E. Stephan, 2004. "Robert K. Merton's perspective on priority and the provision of the public good knowledge," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 60(1), pages 81-87, May.
    12. Élodie Bertrand, 2006. "La thèse d'efficience du « théorème de Coase ». Quelle critique de la microéconomie ?," Revue économique, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 57(5), pages 983-1007.
    13. O'Rourke, K.H. & Williamson, J.G., 1999. "The Heckscher-Ohlin Model Between 1400 and 2000: When it Explained Factor Price Convergence, Ehen it Did not, and Why," Papers 99/25, College Dublin, Department of Political Economy-.
    14. Mamedov, Arseny (Мамедов, Арсений) & Hudko, E. (Худько, Е.) & Belev, Sergei (Белев, Сергей) & Moguchev, Nikita Sergeevich (Могучев, Никита Сергеевич), 2016. "Comparative Analysis of the Effectiveness of Individual Instruments of State Investment Policy [Сравнительный Анализ Эффективности Применения Отдельных Инструментов Государственной Инвестиционной П," Working Papers 3052, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.
    15. Reynolds, Bruce J., 2000. "Cooperative Principles as Constraints for Public Goods Production," 2000 Annual Meeting, December 12-13 31808, NCERA-194 Research on Cooperatives.
    16. Siri Terjesen, 2007. "Note to Instructors: Building a Better Rat Trap," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 31(6), pages 965-969, November.
    17. Walter Block, 2010. "Rejoinder To Boettke On Coasean Economics And Communism," Romanian Economic Business Review, Romanian-American University, vol. 5(3), pages 9-30, September.
    18. Walter Block & William Barnett, 2009. "Coase and Bertrand on lighthouses," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 140(1), pages 1-13, July.
    19. Marc Flandreau, 2013. "Sovereign states, bondholders committees, and the London Stock Exchange in the nineteenth century (1827–68): new facts and old fictions," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 29(4), pages 668-696, WINTER.
    20. M. Fourcade & E. Ollion & Y. Algan, 2015. "The Superiority of Economists," Voprosy Ekonomiki, NP Voprosy Ekonomiki, issue 7.

    More about this item

    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:bla:ajecsc:v:68:y:2009:i:5:p:1041-1061. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0002-9246 .

    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.