IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hhs/ratioi/0058.html

Economics without Entrepreneurship or Institutions: A Vocabulary Analysis of Graduate Textbooks

Author

Listed:

Abstract

A teacher’s words reflect the theory and methods he uses. Words reveal theoretical structures, the problems identified as relevant, and how those problems should be analyzed. I investigate whether entrepreneurship-rich and institutions-rich theories are represented in Ph.D. programs in economics. I analyze textbooks for the presence of terms that fall naturally into two sets. One set deals with the knowledge and discovery: entrepreneur, innovation, invention, tacit knowledge, and bounded rationality. The other deals with social rules: institutions, property rights, and economic freedom. When the words appear I examine the meaning. I examine the textbooks used in required courses in microeconomics, macroeconomics and industrial organization in all Ph.D. programs in economics in Sweden. The investigation is not specific to Sweden, however, because Ph.D. programs in Sweden are virtually identical to programs in the United States. The same textbooks are used, and nearly all of the textbooks examined are written by economists in the United States. I find that (i) all programs are in the tradition of “mainstream” economics; (ii) by and large, the eight expressions scarcely appear in the textbooks; and (iii) when they do appear, their meaning is diluted or distorted, compared to their meaning in theories where the idea is more central. In my judgment, the results constitute powerful evidence that today’s doctoral programs do not train young economists to identify and analyze important economic issues in a relevant way.

Suggested Citation

  • Johansson, Dan, 2004. "Economics without Entrepreneurship or Institutions: A Vocabulary Analysis of Graduate Textbooks," Ratio Working Papers 58, The Ratio Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:ratioi:0058
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.ratio.se/pdf/wp/dj_entre.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bhagwati, Jagdish N, 1982. "Directly Unproductive, Profit-seeking (DUP) Activities," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 90(5), pages 988-1002, October.
    2. Maurice Obstfeld & Kenneth S. Rogoff, 1996. "Foundations of International Macroeconomics," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262150476, December.
    3. Acemoglu, Daron & Johnson, Simon & Robinson, James A., 2005. "Institutions as a Fundamental Cause of Long-Run Growth," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 6, pages 385-472, Elsevier.
    4. Chambers,Robert G., 1988. "Applied Production Analysis," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521314275.
    5. Herbert A. Simon, 1955. "A Behavioral Model of Rational Choice," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 69(1), pages 99-118.
    6. Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson & James A. Robinson, 2001. "The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1369-1401, December.
    7. Robert E. Hall & Charles I. Jones, 1999. "Why do Some Countries Produce So Much More Output Per Worker than Others?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(1), pages 83-116.
    8. Assar Lindbeck, 2001. "Economics in Europe," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 2(01), pages 31-32, March.
    9. R. Schmalensee & R. Willig (ed.), 1989. "Handbook of Industrial Organization," Handbook of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 2, number 2.
    10. Israel M. Kirzner, 1997. "Entrepreneurial Discovery and the Competitive Market Process: An Austrian Approach," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(1), pages 60-85, March.
    11. Kevin M. Murphy & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1991. "The Allocation of Talent: Implications for Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(2), pages 503-530.
    12. Robert D. Tollison, 1982. "Rent Seeking: A Survey," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(4), pages 575-602, November.
    13. Mueller,Dennis C. (ed.), 1997. "Perspectives on Public Choice," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521553773.
    14. repec:ejw:journl:v:1:y:2004:i:2:p:369-379 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Baumol, William J., 1996. "Entrepreneurship: Productive, unproductive, and destructive," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 3-22, January.
    16. Pavel Pelikan, 1993. "Ownership of firms and efficiency: The competence argument," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 4(3), pages 349-392, September.
    17. Henrekson, Magnus & Rosenberg, Nathan, 2001. "Designing Efficient Institutions for Science-Based Entrepreneurship: Lessons from the US and Sweden," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 207-231, June.
    18. Robert J. Barro & Paul Romer, 1993. "Economic Growth (1992)," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number barr93-1, 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. repec:ejw:journl:v:8:y:2011:i:1:p:57-75 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Milo Bianchi & Magnus Henrekson, 2005. "Is Neoclassical Economics still Entrepreneurless?," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(3), pages 353-377, July.
    3. David S. Lucas & Caleb S. Fuller & Ennio E. Piano & Christopher J. Coyne, 2018. "Visions of entrepreneurship policy," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 7(4), pages 336-356, November.
    4. Johansson, Dan & Karlsson, Johan & Malm, Arvid, 2020. "Family business—A missing link in economics?," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 11(1).
    5. Bergh, Andreas & Wernberg, Joakim, 2024. "Stress-Testing a Quasi-Market: Unintended Consequences of the Swedish School Voucher System," Working Paper Series 1505, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    6. Magnus Henrekson & Mikael Stenkula, 2022. "William J. Baumol: Innovative Contributor to Entrepreneurship Economics," Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology, in: Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology: Including a Symposium on the Work of William J. Baumol: Heterodox Inspirations and Neocla, volume 40, pages 107-131, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    7. Tyler J. Brough & Randy T Simmons, 2023. "Economics as moral exchange: James Buchanan meets Martin Buber," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 194(3), pages 395-420, March.
    8. repec:ejw:journl:v:4:y:2007:i:3:p:338-344 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Kopczewski, Tomasz & Okhrimenko, Iana, 2019. "Can homo economicus be an altruist? A classroom experimental method," International Review of Economics Education, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 1-1.
    10. William Stull, 2014. "Taking the Plunge: Teaching the Microeconomics of Entrepreneurship," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 20(2), pages 139-150, May.
    11. repec:ejw:journl:v:2:y:2005:i:1:p:133-148 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Robert Lepenies, 2014. "Economists as political philosophers : a critique of normative trade theory," RSCAS Working Papers 2014/11, European University Institute.
    13. Schneck, Stefan & May-Strobl, Eva, 2014. "The economic contribution of start-up firms in Germany," Working Papers 02/14, Institut für Mittelstandsforschung (IfM) Bonn.
    14. repec:ejw:journl:v:11:y:2014:i:1:p:46-80 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Julita E. Wasilczuk, 2017. "Research on Entrepreneurship – Forms of Entrepreneurship (Badanie przedsiebiorczosci a jej rodzaje)," Research Reports, University of Warsaw, Faculty of Management, vol. 1(23), pages 14-26.
    16. repec:jpe:journl:1761 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. repec:ejw:journl:v:4:y:2007:i:2:p:169-183 is not listed on IDEAS

    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. repec:ejw:journl:v:1:y:2004:i:3:p:515-538 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Feng, Xunan & Johansson, Anders C. & Zhang, Tianyu, 2014. "Political participation and entrepreneurial initial public offerings in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 269-285.
    3. Milo Bianchi & Magnus Henrekson, 2005. "Is Neoclassical Economics still Entrepreneurless?," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(3), pages 353-377, July.
    4. Aleksandar Vasilev, 2013. "On the cost of rent-seeking by government bureaucrats in a Real-Business-Cycle framework," Working Papers 2013_20, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    5. Vasilev, Aleksandar, 2013. "Essays on Real Business Cycle Modeling and the Public Sector," EconStor Theses, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, number 130522.
    6. Robin Douhan & Magnus Henrekson, 2010. "Entrepreneurship and second-best institutions: going beyond Baumol’s typology," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 629-643, August.
    7. Delgado, Michael S. & McCloud, Nadine & Kumbhakar, Subal C., 2014. "A generalized empirical model of corruption, foreign direct investment, and growth," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 298-316.
    8. Timur Natkhov & Leonid Polishchuk, 2019. "Quality of Institutions and the Allocation of Talent: Cross‐National Evidence," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(4), pages 527-569, November.
    9. Elert, Niklas & Henrekson, Magnus, 2017. "Entrepreneurship and Institutions: A Bidirectional Relationship," Working Paper Series 1153, Research Institute of Industrial Economics, revised 05 May 2017.
    10. Nunn, Nathan, 2007. "Historical legacies: A model linking Africa's past to its current underdevelopment," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(1), pages 157-175, May.
    11. Magnus Henrekson & Jesper Roine, 2007. "Promoting Entrepreneurship in the Welfare State," Chapters, in: David B. Audretsch & Isabel Grilo & A. Roy Thurik (ed.), Handbook of Research on Entrepreneurship Policy, chapter 5, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    12. Gonzalez, Francisco M., 2007. "Effective property rights, conflict and growth," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 137(1), pages 127-139, November.
    13. Fischer, Ronald & Huerta, Diego, 2021. "Wealth inequality and the political economy of financial and labour regulations," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).
    14. Bruno S. Frey, "undated". "Knight Fever towards an Economics of Awards," IEW - Working Papers 239, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - University of Zurich.
    15. Fernando del Río, 2019. "Property Rights, Predation, and Productivity," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 121(3), pages 1154-1188, July.
    16. Danish Ahmed Siddiqui & Qazi Masood Ahmed, 2019. "Does Institutions Effect Growth in Pakistan? An Empirical investigation," Journal of Asian Development, Macrothink Institute, vol. 5(2), pages 1-24, April.
    17. Marek Litzman & Martin Machay, 2016. "Legal Regulations of Production Plans: Are They Unproductive?," Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, Mendel University Press, vol. 64(6), pages 2039-2046.
    18. Minh Tam Schlosky & Andrew Young, 2017. "Can foreign aid motivate institutional reform? An evaluation of the HIPC Initiative," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 6(2), pages 242-258, August.
    19. Sivropoulos-Valero, Anna Alexandra, 2021. "Education and economic growth," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 114434, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    20. Mina Baliamoune-Lutz, 2007. "Entrepreneurship, Reforms, and Development: Empirical Evidence," ICER Working Papers 38-2007, ICER - International Centre for Economic Research.
    21. Beck, T.H.L., 2010. "Legal Institutions and Economic Development," Other publications TiSEM 8aa07b48-ce55-4cf6-8754-7, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • A11 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Role of Economics; Role of Economists
    • A23 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - Graduate
    • B20 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - General

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:hhs:ratioi:0058. 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: Daniel Halvarsson or Dennis Jernkrook (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ratiose.html .

    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.