Scholarly Comments on Academic Economics

Preference Falsification in the Economics Profession

by

*William L. Davis* is Professor of Economics at the University of Tennessee at Martin where he has taught undergraduate and graduate courses for the last fifteen years and currently serves as the associate editor for the _Journal of Business and Economic

Abstract

In the economics profession there is a tension between the scholastic orientation and the public discourse orientation. The former affirms certain academic conventions among economists such as mathematical model building and statistical significance. The latter emphasizes communicating with lay people by addressing issues as they are understood in policy discourse. The results of a recent survey of economists indicate that most privately believe that the orientation is too scholastic. This paper explores the possibility that a large portion of the economics profession practices what Timur Kuran calls preference falsification—that is, individuals express or exhibit public preferences that are at odds with, or at least do not reflect, their private preferences. The survey results suggest that many economists at least weakly falsify their preferences about much of the profession’s conventions while actually having preferences to the contrary.

in Character Issues

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Volume (Issue)
1(2)
Pages
359-368
Published
JEL classification
A11, A14, B41
Keywords
Role of Economics, Role of Economists, Market for Economists, Sociology of Economics
Article PDF Downloads
5,054 (updated 31 Dec 2011)

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