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[NOTE: The original call for papers appeared in November 1997 on the HES
list. This revised call is also available at
http://www.eh.net/ehnet/HisEcSoc/Conferences/HOPE99.shtml --RBE]
THE HISTORY OF APPLIED ECONOMICS
History of Political Economy Conference
Duke University, 26-28 March 1999
Second (final) Call for Papers
Why the history of applied economics?
Applied economics is important for at least three reasons. An
enormous amount of economics (maybe even the majority) is applied
economics, not theory. In addition, if economics is important
because of its relevance for government policy or business
decision making, applied economics is the most important part of
economics. Unless applied, theory and techniques are irrelevant.
But perhaps more important than either of these reasons is that,
as it has often been written, the history of economic thought has
been centered on economic theory. The underlying presumption is
that the evolution of theoretical concepts, particularly those
relating to questions of value and distribution, is central to
the history of the discipline, and that this evolution can be
analyzed in isolation from the applications of those concepts.
This conference is being organized on the assumption that this
presumption deserves to be challenged. It should certainly not be
taken for granted. [NOTE: This picture is clearly an over-
simplification, and is most characteristic of the period since
the marginal revolution. Accounts of classical and pre-classical
economics typically locate theoretical developments in policy
problems.]
What is applied economics?
This all raises the question of what the term applied economics
means. Our initial working definition is the following.
A piece of literature, or a field within economics, is considered
applied economics if its primary purpose is the analysis of a
specific real world phenomenon or set(s) of related phenomena, or
if it deals with existing or proposed policies of an organisation
or government; and if the authors are employing what they believe
to be, or identify as, economic theoretical tools or concepts.
In many cases the definition would appear to be clear-cut. 'The
demand for food in the Netherlands, 1950-1970' is an example of
applied economics, as is 'The use of microeconomic theory in
anti-trust cases', whilst Gerard Debreu's The Theory of Value
(1959) is an example of pure theory. To focus on such examples,
however, conceals fundamental conceptual ambiguities concerning
both what it is that is being applied and the nature of the
application that qualifies a piece of work as applied economics.
Is macroeconomics 'theory' or an application of microeconomic
theory? Is it necessary for applications to engage with data? Is
a Becker-type theoretical model of marriage and divorce applied
economics?
To clarify the issues involved, take the example of industrial
economics.
If economic theory is assumed to be about the real world, theory
makes statements about industries in general, and applied
industrial economics deals with specific industries. A model of
oligopolistic price setting would be theory, but one of the US
motor industry would be applied.
If theory is perceived not to be about the real world, but about
hypothetical worlds, or simply what one would observe if certain
conditions were satisfied, then a model of oligopolistic price-
setting might be seen as applied, telling us about a specific
problem oligopolistic markets.
If application is seen as involving a direct link with reality,
we could see a model of the US motor industry (even an empirical
model) as the theory which becomes applied only when conclusions
are implemented by policy-makers, or when confronted with
empirical data.
Answers to the question of where the dividing line between theory
and application is drawn are negotiated within the economics
community. To impose a specific, precise definition would
therefore be inappropriate in a historical inquiry. One of our
tasks is to explore the way in which the boundary has been
established, and how and why it has changed over time.
Fields and the application of techniques
Though the they overlap, it is useful to distinguish two aspects
of this boundary: the establishment and evolution of applied
fields, and the application of particular techniques, both
theoretical and empirical.
Applied fields
How have certain areas of inquiry in economics come to be defined
and institutionalized as 'applied fields', regarded as distinct
from some core body of knowledge that is presumably being
applied?
What happens to the applied fields once they are established?
What have been the relationships between various applied fields
and the 'core' of economics, as well as other disciplines?
Application of techniques
What has determined the application of techniques? Has the
availability of a technique prompted the application, or the
other way round?
Have techniques evolved in response to attempts to apply them,
and if so how? Alternatively, what feedback is there between
applications and the core of economic theory?
In both cases the aim is to explore links in both directions -
from theory to applications and from applications to theory. It
should not be presumed that the links run in only one direction.
Indeed, the nature of links may change over time, at one time
running from theory to application, and at other times from
application to theory, or it might be a process of continual
interaction.
Papers accepted so far
In response to the initial call for papers, the following have
been accepted (all titles are provisional).
Yngve Ramstad (University of Rhode Island) 'Paradigm conflict
between the California school and the Harvard School in 1950s
labor economics'
Stephen Meardon (Duke University) 'Economic geography and
economic policy in 20th-century North America'
Steven Medema (University of Denver) 'Public choice analysis as a
case study in the professionalization of economics'
Judy Klein (National Humanities Center and Mary Baldwin College)
'The normative economics of statistical quality control in WWII'
Robert S. Goldfarb (George Washington University) 'The
"rationality" of economic forecasts'
Warren Young (Bar Ilan University) 'Atomic energy costing in the
US and UK: economists versus scientists, engineers, bureaucrats,
and politicians'
Robert Dimand (Brock University) 'Strategic games from theory to
application'
Michael Bernstein (University of California, San Diego)
'Statecraft and its retainers: economics and public purpose in
20th century America'
Pedro Nuno Teixera (University of Porto, Portugal) 'The emergence
of a new economic branch: the economics of education, 1960-1995'
Bruce Kaufman (Georgia State University) 'Personnel management:
its roots in applied labor economics'
Call for papers
Anyone wishing to submit a proposal for one of the remaining
spaces should send us a 2-page proposal by July 31, 1998. This
can be sent to either Roger Backhouse ([log in to unmask];
fax +44 121 414 7377) or Jeff Biddle ([log in to unmask]; fax
+1 517 432-1068). Email is preferred. We can decode most attached
word processor files. We intend to make the final selection soon
after this date.
Obviously we are looking for papers that will complement those
already accepted. However, provided there are significant
complementarities, proposals on fields already covered are not
excluded.
Practicalities
The conference is provisionally scheduled for March 26-28, at
Thomas Center, Duke University. Though the date is (we hope) very
unlikely to change, it will be confirmed six months beforehand.
HOPE can cover local expenses (food and accommodation) but at
present we are not able to cover travel. We are still putting
requests in to foundations that might support the conference, but
have not yet been successful. If anyone has suggestions of places
that we might not have tried, these will be welcome. So for the
moment, we have to ask contributors to find support for their own
travel themselves.
After the conference, papers will be refereed, decisions made and
revisions undertaken to a very tight timetable. We are accepting
more papers than we anticipate being able to include in the HOPE
supplement, so acceptance is not guaranteed. Conferees may be
asked to act as referees on other papers at the conference.
Drafts of papers will be expected by February 1999 so that they
can be Xeroxed and circulated in advance.
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