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Building on multisited ethnographic case studies, this paper seeks to contrastively compare the demonstration and articulation formats of two social science expert cultures-- economics and anthropology--enrolled 'in the wild' of transnational environmental politics. How, the paper asks, do different social sciences come to be configured within, and do performative work upon, heterogeneous assemblages of global natures? In the first case US economists translate carbon markets into a world of Indian ecoprofessionals, across serious North-South conflicts in climate politics. In the second case a group of anthropologists, mobilized by Japanese bureaucratic elites, deploy their methods to assemble whaling cultures, as part of global biodiversity conflicts. Whereas the first case builds on existing arguments on the 'performativity of economics' (Callón), the second case expands this agenda, noting how the noneconomic social sciences (eg, anthropology) may also be consequential in enacting particular nature-cultures. Theoretically, the paper situates these inquiries at the intersection of science and technology studies (STS) and political anthropology, in addressing the question--important to environmental expertise and politics--of how 'local' (particular) and 'global' (universal) claims are linked in efficacious ways in 'other-than-Western' contexts? Here, the argument will be that, despite their differences, economic and anthropological performances of global natures share certain formal (aesthetic) similarities, related to credible expert demonstrations in transnational environmental contexts. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of this claim for STS self-reflection on its politics of methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interdisciplinary collaboration, particularly between natural and social sciences, is perceived as crucial to solving the significant challenges facing humanity. However, despite the need for such collaboration being expressed more frequently and intensely, it remains unclear to what degree such collaboration actually takes place, what trends and developments there are and which actors are involved. Previous studies, often based on bibliometric analysis of large bodies of literature, partly observed an increase in interdisciplinary collaboration in general, but in particular, the collaboration among distant fields was less explored. Other more qualitative studies found that interdisciplinary collaboration, particularly between natural and social scientists was not well developed, and obstacles abounded. To shed some light on the actual status and developments of this collaboration, we performed an analysis based on a sample of articles on groundwater research. We first identified journals and articles therein that potentially combined natural and social science aspects of groundwater research. Next, we analysed the disciplinary composition of their authors’ teams, cited references, titles and keywords, making use of our detailed personal expertise in groundwater research and its interdisciplinary aspects. We combined several indicators developed from this analysis into a final classification of the degree of multidisciplinarity of each article. Covering the period between 1990 and 2014, we found that the overall percentage of multidisciplinary articles was in the low single-digit range, with only slight increases over the past decades. The interdisciplinarity of individuals plays a major role compared to interdisciplinarity involving two or more researchers. If collaboration with natural sciences takes place, social science is represented most often by economists. As a side result, we found that journals publishing multidisciplinary research had lower impact factors on average, and multidisciplinary papers were cited much less than mono-disciplinary ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the experimental trade-off between the exercise of control over the actions of the experimental participants and the potential to provide understanding about human behavior. Control is a requirement of the experimental method to produce pertinent and intelligible results for scientific inquiry. But the more control is exercised the more the experimental results are the outcome of economists' actions. Economic experiments must therefore achieve a difficult balance. They must elicit intelligible behavior while ensuring that the actions of those taking part in the experiment are not determined by the design set-up and the rules of the experiment. The paper puts forward criteria for the analysis of the level of participation of experimental subjects in economics experiments and applies them to several experiments to illustrate the relevance of assessing the agency of experimental participants when deriving inferences about human behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present article contributes to the history of the concept of natural monopoly, focusing on the reconstruction of its origins. The paper considers various facets of natural monopoly: the expression itself; the singling out of the concrete situations to which it is applied; the inquiry into economies of scale; the consideration of their incompatibility with perfect competition; the drawing of the diagram; and the need for government intervention. In this paper each of the above features is separately examined from a historical perspective. Priorities and influences are then traced, and in particular it is found that the pivotal figure in this historical reconstruction is that of Edgeworth. The relation of the concept of natural monopoly with that of competition is also highlighted, as well as its policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: To answer the question “How to be an Ecological Economist”, we must start by defining the field of Ecological Economics. Mainstream Economics altogether lacks the concepts required to deal adequately with nature, justice and time. It was the absence of these three concepts in this otherwise great social science that led to the establishment of Ecological Economics. The interest in nature, justice and time is its defining characteristic. The main thesis of this paper is that our field is a fragile institution and that the professional existence of an ecological economist is no less fragile. However, this very fragility also represents freedom, scope for free thinking, conceptualising and research. Nevertheless, to be able to really use and in turn enjoy the full scope of this freedom, an ecological economist needs certain specific characteristics, in particular what is termed in the German philosophical tradition “Urteilskraft” and in English “power of judgement”. A description of these characteristics is developed in this paper, providing an answer to the question “How to be an ecological economist?” [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Overconfidence refers to the exaggerated beliefs that one might have about his own personal abilities. This phenomenon seems to be pervasive and it could help explaining several economic paradoxes. Still the profession has failed to produce conclusive evidence about overconfident behavior using market data. Most of the evidence that shows that people are overconfident comes from either psychological interviews, surveys or from experiments in economic laboratories. Although these method doubtless have their validity they are not free of criticism, and therefore economists probably do not take overconfidence as seriously as psychologists and behavioral economists suggest they should. I present a working paper version of an empirical test for overconfident behavior using data about individual conduct when searching for a job. Results are consistent with the presence of overconfident behavior. Note that this work constitutes only a first approach to the test. In particular, I will improve methodological aspects of my paper in a future version of my work so that I can get more robust results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rationality assumption that underlies mainstream economic theory has proved to be a useful approximation, despite the fact that systematic violations to its predictions can be found. That is, the assumption of rational behavior is useful in understanding the ways in which many successful economic institutions function, although it is also true that actual human behavior falls systematically short of perfect rationality. We consider a possible explanation of this apparent inconsistency, suggesting that mechanisms that rest on the rationality assumption are likely to be successful when they create an environment in which the behavior they try to facilitate leads to the best payoff for all agents on average, and most of the time. Review of basic learning research suggests that, under these conditions, people quickly learn to maximize expected return. This review also shows that there are many situations in which experience does not increase maximization. In many cases, experience leads people to underweight rare events. In addition, the current paper suggests that it is convenient to distinguish between two behavioral approaches to improve economic analyses. The first and more conventional approach among behavioral economists and psychologists interested in judgment and decision making, highlights violations of the rational model and proposes descriptive models that capture these violations. The second approach studies human learning to clarify the conditions under which people quickly learn to maximize expected return. The current review highlights one set of conditions of this type and shows how the understanding of these conditions can facilitate market design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Few economists speak of talk in considering human interaction. Deirdre McCloskey is one who does. The paper considers what it means to take talk seriously, its connection to moral philosophy, and to innovation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The extension of economics to topics that lie outside its classical domain is known as ‘economic imperialism’. But there are territories of social science that persist to be largely intractable using the postulates of economic theory: the anthropological subject of primitive societies represents one such territory. This paper describes and discusses the representation of primitive societies by economists from the proto-imperialist model of Smith to the imperialist Posner''s model. It maintains that (a) the economists’ attempt at interpretation is highly unsatisfactory and (b) it is possible to offer a different representation of the primitive societies, one more coherent with the anthropological and ethnographical data, and able to show the inadequacy and insubstantiality of many economic categories when applied to those societies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The paper reviews and assesses the negative and positive advice which has been offered by various fellow economists to heterodox economists in general, and Post-Keynesian economists in particular, in light of changes that have occurred within neoclassical economics and in light of the rising hegemony of mainstream economics in economics departments. Various strategies are considered, among which is more engagement with orthodox dissenters, but it is concluded that the majority of heterodox economists ought instead to engage more with other heterodox economists and possibly other social sciences, developing and expanding their own agenda around real-world problems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Adam Smith is one of the great founding figures of modern social science, in a larger sense than that conveyed by the popular perception of him as merely the founder of economics or political economy. He was aiming for a quite comprehensive social science, and while this grand project wasn't completed, substantial elements of it were. This paper is a reflection on Smith's conception of the sciences pertaining to human society and its relation to the modern demarcation of the social sciences. It affirms the integrity of political economy as a separable but not thereby 'autonomous' science, in Smith's understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper provides a selective survey of applications of control theory to the analysis of economic policy problems. We discuss applications of closed-loop control and of optimum control theory, including deterministic, stochastic and decentralized optimum control. Promising areas of mutual cooperation between control theorists and economists such as robust control and dynamic game theory are identified. A critical evaluation is given of different control theory approaches to an empirically useful theory of economic policy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper argues that the Pareto standard, by which policy changes are approved if they benefit at least one person and harms no one, is ethically questionable despite its nearly universal acceptance among economists and philosophers alike. As usually implemented, the Pareto standard bypasses actual consent, relying instead on hypothetical consent based on imputed measures of preferences or wellbeing. By so circumventing actual choice, the Pareto standard violates the respect for the dignity of autonomous agents, as emphasized by Immanuel Kant. If actual consent is obtained, however, the independent relevance of the Pareto standard is endangered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reader subscription pricing mechanism is the dominant method by which the publication of scholarly journals in economics is funded. This occurs despite the fact that the use of an author charge pricing mechanism, when used in conjunction with a reader charge pricing mechanism, is described in the neoclassical economics literature as a more efficient method for financing journals. The division between the actual financing of economics journals and the theoretical understanding of how journals should be financed highlights deficiencies within the neoclassical economists' understanding of the financing of scholarly journals. In this paper I discuss this divergence in theory and practice in how economists finance their scholarly communication process and the brief attempt by some neoclassical economists to bridge this divide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keynesian concepts of probability and uncertainty emphasize the basis of knowledge available to economic decision makers. Conditions of uncertainty, which involve missing evidence or doubtful arguments, are distinguished from probable risk. Beyond this, on the basis of the claim that the future is yet to be created, some authors argue for further distinctions among different kinds of uncertainty. The paper reviews this particular argument, distinguishing it from Keynesian uncertainty theory generally, and provides a critique of its implication that, due to innovation, objective distributions of possible events do not generally exist at the time of economic decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the debate between those advocating a computational and those advocating a dynamic definition of complexity, and how this relates to issues in econophysics. It then reviews the criticisms that have been raised about ways in which econophysics has been done, noting that many of these are now being dealt with. Finally, it argues that while an obvious way to resolve many of these matters is to have economists and physicists work together, the physicists should be sure to work with economists who understand the complexity critique of conventional economic theory and are thus not led astray into building models that have some of the problems of standard economics models that most econophysicists have striven to overcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years some of the best theoretical work on the political economy of political institutions and processes has begun surfacing outside the political science mainstream in high quality economics journals. This two-part article surveys these contributions from a recent five-year period. In Part I, the focus was on elections, voting and information aggregation, followed by treatments of parties, candidates and coalitions. In Part II, papers on economic performance and redistribution, constitutional design, and incentives, institutions and the quality of political elites are discussed. Part II concludes with a discussion of the methodological bases common to economics and political science, the way economists have used political science research, and some new themes and arbitrage opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This article overviews and illustrates the idea of rationality within traditional economic theory. It provides selected examples of a number of pertinent ideas of rationality from classical political economy and early and late neoclassical economics. Based on an exploratory historical analysis, the finding is that theoretical holism or socio-economic pluralism has declined in favor of (economic) reductionism in analyzing rationality. The article finds that the traditional (Enlightenment) conceptualization of rationality by the category of ‘reason’ (reasonable behavior) has weakened in relation to a utilitarian-economic definition by ‘utility’ or ‘profit’ maximization. Rationality has become a narrower, more reductive concept as economics has evolved. It began as a rich, holistic and complex socio-economic concept, then condensed into utilitarianism, shrank into instrumentalism and any pertinent psychological content had disappeared by WW II. Notably, the Benthamite reductive concept of rationalism as utilitarianism and in part hedonism has prevailed in early and late neoclassical economics. The paper also infers a sort of serendipitous detection of the operation of the non-rational ‘residual’ in socio-economic life as well as a paradox in the form of the irrationality of extreme rationality within traditional economics. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The paper offers a three-fold typology for comparing and assessing arguments about the political economy of international distributive justice. Economists use aggregative criteria, specifying economic fairness as a subset of efficient allocations. The political philosopher suggests moral side constraints to place on distributions, a category that encompasses much recent scholarship, including the Rawls-Nozick debate. The third approach addresses the deservingness of different claimants to resources and issues of fair compensation, often in the context of specifying legal rules. Though these traditions are not uniquely international in focus, it is that aspect that is addressed here, both with respect to theoretical relevance to international affairs and practical applications to international redistribution, including specific arguments such as aid to poor countries and reparations for damages. The attractiveness of each group of arguments depends on the issue at hand and the goals of the proponent. Each offers independent but not mutually exclusive principles that might provide the basis for an integrated approach to international distributive justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper outlines Marshall's use of Smith's writings in his own published work as an aspect of Marshall's citation practice and to demonstrate Marshall's great admiration for Smith as economist. Section 2 reviews the Smith citations in Marshall's Principles of Economics', section 3 those in Marshall's other published work. The conclusion notes that this citation practice matches Marshall's great admiration Smith the economist, because of Smith's great ability to blend fact and theory, for drawing measured conclusions and, above all, for constructing useful arguments in a field of imprecise knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article makes an analysis of Political Economy for Beginners , by Millicent Garrett Fawcett. It places the work within a "tradition" of pioneering economics writing by women such as Jane Marcet and Harriet Martineau, a tradition acknowledged by Fawcett. Fawcett's contribution to economics education and to economics has been, like that of her predecessors, underestimated. Her partnership with the blind Victorian economist, Henry Fawcett, follower of Mill, is outlined as is the commercial strategy for, and market evaluation of, the book. Although Millicent Garrett Fawcett lacked institutional support, validation for her work came from her closeness to Henry Fawcett. The nature and role of the Principles text, the development of such texts over time and the implications of such texts for textbook development also form part of the evaluation. Categories of analysis include textual organisation; the relationship to the Principles text; exemplification and an examination of the questions and puzzles that form a feature of the book. The paper concludes by examining the contexts within which judgements can be made about the work including similarities and contrasts with earlier writers in the genre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the rationality and ideologies of economics. It addresses the issues presented by Robert Heilbroner's views on the concept of rationality. This paper discusses the emergence of capitalism and economic theories. It further explains the role of rationality for the establishment of mainstream economy. Other issues included are the varieties of rationality, a critique on the rational-actor theory in evaluating individual behavior to explain social phenomena, and details the effect of ignorance.

The article presents the shared vision of Polanyi and Heilbroner. This paper focuses on the parallel ideas of economists Karl Polanyi and Robert Heilbroner. Their concept on the role of market system in the emergence of economics as a field of study is explained. More issues included are the requirements for the transformation of a pre-market society into a true market, Polanyi's influence to several economists, and relevance of the Polanyi/Heilbroner vision of the market system to the postcommunist countries transition to the market.

The article presents the worldly and the war economy. It discusses the views of Robert Heilbroner's book "The Worldly Philosophers." This paper focuses on issues that have an impact on economic development theories. It further discusses the contention of economists on the negative impact of wars on economy. The macroeconomic balance brought about by conditions during the Cold War, implications of warfare on the political economy of statist regimes, and effect of the proliferation of nuclear explosives by small states on the economics of war and empire.

The article presents a discussion of the theory of profit. This paper discusses the role of profit motive in capitalism. It gives an analysis on the views of economics according to Robert Heilbroner. The significance of the profit motive in the emergence of recurrent economic patterns is given. Other topics included here are capitalism from the point of views of neoclassical and post-Keynesian economists, commonalities of the two schools in the dynamics of capitalism, and suggestion on the proper assessment of capitalist visions in Heilbroner's work.

The article presents structuralist economics. It analyzes the views of economist Robert Heilbroner in his book "The Worldly Philosophers." This paper discusses the concept of structuralist economics with views on historical perspectives. The use of structuralist economics by noted economists and their impact are given in example. Other topics included here are the overview of structuralist models, divergence of structuralist and mainstream models in addressing economic issues, and methods of structuralist economics.

The article discusses whether economics can be considered as part of the field of natural sciences. Comments and the ideas presented by economist Robert Heilbroner in his book "The Worldly Philosopher," are given further explanation. It analyzes the issues behind the ideas of a socially responsible capitalism and the problems of a dualistic worldview of science. This paper focuses on the comparative analysis and concepts of the natural sciences in relation with the creation of a socialist economy.

The article presents an analysis of science and economics. It tries to motivate the vision of a scientific discipline in economics. The efforts of economist Robert Heilbroner in assessing the characteristic of economics as a scientific discipline is highlighted. This paper includes the following topics: background natural sciences and its methods, comparative analysis on the modes of empirical inquiry between the natural and social sciences, critique on social scientific investigation, and an assessment of Heilbroner's critique of contemporary economics.

Neoclassical economics is not simply a social science; it is a religion that not only describes how the world works but also prescribes how it ought to work. Dissent is not tolerated and those questioning the underlying basis of its theory are termed "anti-economists." The only thing missing tor economics to be a religion on the grand scale is a creation myth. This paper otters a parody of Genesis in which the market mechanism and perfect competition are seen as given to us by God. It also shows the areas in which neoclassical economics is subject to challenge but refuses to engage in debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is perhaps understandable that until the fall of the Soviet Union, the study of Marxism within the discipline of international relations was restricted largely to discussion of the state ideology Marxism-Leninism. The events of 1989, and the spectacular rise of the sub-discipline of international political economy in the context of globalisation, have, somewhat paradoxically, led to a resurgence of interest in critical, open forms of Marxism. Attempts to break away from the dogmatism of Marxism-Leninism whilst avoiding the complementary error of humanistic subjectivism have, of course, a long tradition in marxist thought.[1] Consistent with the 'open', critical tradition is the work produced by, amongst others, Luxemburg, Korsch, Bloch, Rubin, Pashukanis, Rosdolsky, the Italian tradition of 'autonomist' Marxism and the work of contributors to debates on value and the state held in the early years of the Conference of Socialist Economists.[2] This paper briefly outlines the contribution the 'CSE tradition' offers to the study of international relations and the fashionable analysis of globalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, all the social sciences have come under pressure to produce research that has public policy implications. But how implicated should those social sciences be when their policy advice leads to unexpected and perhaps detrimental outcomes? This paper explores this issue using the example of economics and private property rights in the Canadian Maritime fisheries. It compares and contrasts economic models of property rights with those in anthropology and law to show where and why economics has gone astray in its fish property rights models. It suggests that, having gone astray, economic policy advice on fisheries property systems is flawed. It concludes that economists should pay more attention to the role of their rhetoric in the construction of expectations and outcomes that make their recommendations seem the more reasonable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health economists see their practice as the application of economics to the field of human health. One of the forms that the practical application of health economics takes is the attempt to persuade professionals in health care to accept and implement economists' recommendations for changes in their practice. This paper examines one such attempt by means of a detailed textual analysis of 'The Essentials of Health Economics ', a major series of articles written for doctors by two leading health economists. The 'dilemma of application' faced by these authors is that if they are to persuade doctors to accept the positive benefits of economics, they must also persuade doctors to accept deficiencies in their current practice. This dilemma encourages the use of textual strategies such as 'avoiding confrontation' and 'criticism without offence'. This kind of rhetoric of application is seen to stem from the authors' skilful deployment of two distinct, though intertwined, programmes for health economics - namely, the 'strong' and the 'weak'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explanations of the persisting differences in the structure of men's and women's employment have long been debated in the social sciences. Sociological explanations have tended to stress the continuing significance of structural constraints on women's employment opportunities, which persist despite the removal of formal barriers. Neo-classical economists, in contrast, have emphasized the significance of individual choice, an argument which has been recently endorsed by Hakim who suggests that patterns of occupational segregation reflect the outcome of the choices made by different `types' of women. In this paper, a previous debate relating to the explanatory utility of men's `orientations to work' is used to argue that employment structures are the outcome of both choice and constraint, and that this is the case for women, as well as men. The argument is illustrated with evidence from cross-nationally comparative biographical inter- views carried out in five countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article highlights the concept of political economy coined by well-known socio-economist Horace Greeley. Historians of economic thought, in customarily appointing Henry C. Carey dean of the American School, have generally neglected the high spokesman of discontent, Horace Greeley, founder and editor of the "New York Tribune." Horace Greeley's life and political economy stand out as clearer expressions of a young America in its middle period transition. Greeley was an awakened figure of his time. Never the totally eccentric dreamer he is frequently considered, he found himself aware that narrow parochialisms were breaking up, and he aimed to conform society to the changes under way. He saw his country as the great chance for righting wrongs- and he wished to make it a proving ground for social experimentation. Thus, he devoted his life and his paper to teaching the people to seek freedom by building a wealthy nation in which resources should be correctly utilized and special privileges should be destroyed.

The article presents information on an unpremeditated symposium on the economic theory of Clarence E. Ayres. The article argues that Ayres and the Tower on the campus of the University of Texas are two of the dominant features of the academic landscape in the Southwest. Both have been centers of controversy, ranging in intensity from mild to boiling. It seems that few who have considered either have escaped partisan reaction for, or against. The article informs that this issue of the "Southwestern Social Science Quarterly" deals with four examinations of Ayresian economic theory, which range from bitter attack to capable defense, with a note of mildness in between. Together, they should give the reader a fairly complete view of this scholar's ideas. These papers were not solicited, and there was no idea of a symposium on Ayresian theory, when the first of the four, that by Jack Robertson was received. This paper was soon followed by that of Manuel Gottlieb. Both were highly recommended for publication by economists respected for their competence in the field.