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The UK research assessment exercise and the narrowing of UK economics

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  • Lee, Frederic
  • Pham, Xuan
  • Gu, Gyun

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to delineate an empirically grounded, structure-causal going concern recursive model of UK economics that, in the context of the RAE and local department decision-making, explains the progressive elimination of heterodox economics, the progressive homogenization of mainstream economics from 1992 to the present, and the continued rise to dominance of a select group of departments, and indicates whether these ‘regularities’ will continue under the Research Excellence Framework selectivity exercise in 2014.

Suggested Citation

  • Lee, Frederic & Pham, Xuan & Gu, Gyun, 2012. "The UK research assessment exercise and the narrowing of UK economics," MPRA Paper 41842, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:41842
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sergio Da Silva, 2009. "Going parochial in the assessment of the Brazilian economics research output," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 29(4), pages 2832-2852.
    2. Frederic S. Lee, 2007. "The Research Assessment Exercise, the state and the dominance of mainstream economics in British universities," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 31(2), pages 309-325, March.
    3. Pantelis Kalaitzidakis & Theofanis P. Mamuneas & Thanasis Stengos, 2011. "An updated ranking of academic journals in economics," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(4), pages 1525-1538, November.
    4. George Emm Halkos & Nickolaos G. Tzeremes, 2011. "Measuring economic journals’ citation efficiency: a data envelopment analysis approach," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 88(3), pages 979-1001, September.
    5. Friedrich Schneider & Heinrich W. Ursprung, 2008. "The 2008 GEA Journal‐Ranking for the Economics Profession," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 9(4), pages 532-538, November.
    6. Frederic S. Lee, 2011. "The Pluralism Debate in Heterodox Economics," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 43(4), pages 540-551, December.
    7. Klaus Ritzberger, 2008. "A Ranking of Journals in Economics and Related Fields," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 9, pages 402-430, November.
    8. Freeman, Alan, 2008. "Submission from the Association for Heterodox Economics to the International Benchmarking Review on Research Assessment," MPRA Paper 52836, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Dec 2008.
    9. Ritzberger Klaus, 2008. "A Ranking of Journals in Economics and Related Fields," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 9(4), pages 402-430, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Pühringer, Stephan, 2016. "Still the queens of social sciences? (Post-)Crisis power balances of "public economists" in Germany," Working Paper Series Ök-22, Cusanus Hochschule für Gesellschaftsgestaltung, Institut für Ökonomie.
    2. Lakshmi, Geeta, 2018. "Gekko and black swans: Finance theory in UK undergraduate curricula," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 35-47.
    3. Lorenzo Ductor & Bauke Visser, 2023. "Concentration of power at the editorial boards of economics journals," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 189-238, April.
    4. Alberto Baccini & Giuseppe De Nicolao & Eugenio Petrovich, 2019. "Citation gaming induced by bibliometric evaluation: A country-level comparative analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(9), pages 1-16, September.
    5. Zoya Mladenova, 2017. "Reflections of the Global Crisis 2008-2009 upon Economic Theory: Attempt for Generalization," Economic Studies journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 4, pages 3-40.
    6. Carlo D’Ippoliti, 2015. "Frederic S. Lee and the Challenges for Heterodox Economics," Bulletin of Political Economy, Bulletin of Political Economy, vol. 9(1), pages 85-91, June.
    7. Arne HEISE, 2016. "‘Why has economics turned out this way?’ A socio-economic note on the explanation of monism in economics," The Journal of Philosophical Economics, Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, The Journal of Philosophical Economics, vol. 10(1), pages 81-101, November.
    8. William A. Jackson, 2018. "Strategic Pluralism and Monism in Heterodox Economics," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 50(2), pages 237-251, June.
    9. Tourish, Dennis & Willmott, Hugh, 2015. "In Defiance of Folly: Journal rankings, mindless measures and the ABS Guide," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 37-46.
    10. Corsi, Marcella & D’Ippoliti, Carlo & Zacchia, Giulia, 2019. "Diversity of backgrounds and ideas: The case of research evaluation in economics," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(9), pages 1-1.
    11. Lorenzo Ductor & Bauke Visser, 2021. "Concentration of power at the editorial boards of economics journals," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 21-044/VII, Tinbergen Institute.
    12. Bernard Chavance & Agnès Labrousse, 2018. "Institutions and ‘Science’: The Contest about Pluralism in Economics in France," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(2), pages 190-209, April.
    13. Stephan Puehringer & Laura Porak & Johanna Rath, 2021. "Talking about competition? Discursive shifts in the economic imaginary of competition in public debates," ICAE Working Papers 123, Johannes Kepler University, Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy.
    14. Ferenc Moksony & Rita Hegedűs & Melinda Császár, 2014. "Rankings, research styles, and publication cultures: a study of American sociology departments," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 101(3), pages 1715-1729, December.
    15. Giulia Zacchia, 2017. "Memoria di un'inguaribile combattente: Irma Adelman (In memoriam of an incurable resilient: Irma Adelman)," Moneta e Credito, Economia civile, vol. 70(279), pages 233-238.
    16. Heise, Arne, 2019. "Ideology and pluralism: A German view," ZÖSS-Discussion Papers 75, University of Hamburg, Centre for Economic and Sociological Studies (CESS/ZÖSS).
    17. Whitley, Richard, 2016. "Varieties of scientific knowledge and their contributions to dealing with policy problems: A response to Richard Nelson’s “The sciences are different and the differences matter”," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(9), pages 1702-1707.
    18. Buehling, Kilian, 2021. "Changing research topic trends as an effect of publication rankings – The case of German economists and the Handelsblatt Ranking," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 15(3).
    19. Banal-Estañol, Albert & Jofre-Bonet, Mireia & Iori, Giulia & Maynou, Laia & Tumminello, Michele & Vassallo, Pietro, 2023. "Performance-based research funding: Evidence from the largest natural experiment worldwide," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(6).
    20. Slavica Manic, PhD, 2014. "Has Economics Lost Its Own Identity?," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 4(9), pages 1190-1200, September.
    21. Johansson, Dan & Karlsson, Johan & Malm, Arvid, 2020. "Family business—A missing link in economics?," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 11(1).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    UK Economics; Research Assessment Exercise; Critical Realism;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B50 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - General
    • A14 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Sociology of Economics
    • A11 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Role of Economics; Role of Economists

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