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FIFTH ANNUAL EUROPEAN CONFERENCE ON 
THE HISTORY OF ECONOMICS (ECHE 99) 
Ecole normale superieure de Cachan 
Paris, France 
22-24 April 1999 
 
CALL FOR PAPERS 
(Available at http://www.univ-paris1.fr/CHPE/CFP1.html or through the list  
of conferences and symposia at http://www.univ-paris1.fr/CHPE/ )/ 
 
THE "EXPERIMENT" IN THE HISTORY OF ECONOMICS 
 
How important have experiments been in the history of economics? Most 
obviously, perhaps, recent decades have seen the rise of an "experimental 
economics," featuring controlled experiments in laboratory conditions: the 
laboratory has become a legitimate site for the production of economic 
knowledge. However, the concept of the experiment has been used in 
economic discourse in a host of other, perhaps less obvious, ways. For 
example, what role have "social experiments" played in the history of 
economics? Can the work of reformers such as Robert Owen be regarded as 
"experimental" and, if so how has experimentation here had a meaning 
different from, say, that of the laboratory? Might Bentham's Panopticon be 
regarded as an experiment of relevance to economics? Or what do we mean 
when we refer to a "thought experiment"? Was Hume's discussion of the 
price-specie flow mechanism, for instance, an example of such? Have there 
been others? Where does the boundary lie between theory and thought 
experiment? Yet again, some contemporary macroeconomists describe their 
work in simulation and calibration as a form of experimentation, a sense 
that is quite different from any of the those mentioned above. Might one 
speak of the emergence in economics of an experimental form of life 
underpinned by computing technology? More generally, how have the various 
meanings of experimentation in economics been tied to meanings in other 
disciplines? 
 
Far from constituting a complete list, the above are offered 
as mere stimulants, designed to provoke reflections on the theme of the 
"experiment," in all its multifarious forms, in the history of economics. 
Once again, the aim of the ECHE will be to feature a relatively small 
number of papers, written with an eye to originality, richness, and 
detail. 
 
To participate, please submit a proposal containing roughly 1000 
words and indicating clearly: 
(1) the original contribution of the paper; 
(2) in what sense the paper contributes to the theme of the 
conference. 
 
Proposals from doctoral students are welcome. The deadline for the 
submission of paper proposals is 15 August 1998. Notice of acceptance or 
rejection will be sent on 15 September 1998. Completed papers will be due 
on 15 February 1999. 
 
The organizing committee consists of: 
Jose Luis Cardoso (Technical University of Lisbon) 
Guido Erreygers (University of Antwerp) 
Philippe Fontaine (Ecole normale superieure de Cachan) 
Albert Jolink (Erasmus University Rotterdam) 
Robert Leonard (University of Quebec at Montreal) 
Michalis Psalidopoulos (Panteion University, Athens) 
 
All proposals and requests for information should be sent to: 
Philippe Fontaine 
GRID, Ecole normale superieure 
61, avenue du President Wilson 
94235 Cachan Cedex 
France 
Tel. : (+33) 1 47 40 24 50 
Fax : (+33) 1 47 40 23 48 
E-mail : [log in to unmask] 
 
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