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[Posted on behalf of Roger Backhouse and Jeff Biddle. -- RBE] 
 
THE HISTORY OF APPLIED ECONOMICS 
HOPE Conference, Duke University, 1999 
 
PRELIMINARY CALL FOR PAPERS/SUGGESTIONS/IDEAS 
http://www.eh.net/HisEcSoc/Conferences/HOPE99.shtml 
 
ORGANISERS 
Roger E. Backhouse (University of Birmingham, UK) 
Jeff Biddle (Michigan State University, USA) 
 
TIMETABLE 
 
1. Now!!! (November-December 1997): expressions of potential interest 
comprising brief descriptions of the type of paper you would be 
interested in offering. At this stage, suggestions of people who might 
offer papers would be extremely welcome. This is to give us an idea of 
the type of papers likely to be offered, to assist us in planning. 
 
2. Spring 1998: firm proposals of papers (precise date to be confirmed) 
which we would review for possible inclusion in the conference. 
 
3. June 19-22, 1998: session(s) at HES in Montreal. The format would 
depend on what we are offered, but our intention at this stage is that we 
would discuss the topic in general, this being followed by short 
presentations of work that will be developed for the conference in 1999. 
Though it is possible that some papers will have been accepted for the 
conference before this, we aim to keep some slots free to allow people 
who are inspired by these presentations to offer papers. 
 
4. End of 1998/January 1999: Drafts of papers submitted so that they can 
be circulated and read before the conference. 
 
5. March/April 1999 (exact date to be confirmed): Conference at Duke 
University. After this there will be a tight schedule for refereeing 
papers and revision of those papers accepted for the volume. 
 
THE THEME 
 
Histories of economic thought have generally focused on economic theory, 
notably theories of value and distribution, with an admixture of monetary 
economics, or, more recently, econometrics. The aim of this conference is 
to re-focus attention onto applied economics. We realise that there many 
possible definitions of applied economics, and that under any difeintion, 
economic literature will tend to fall along a continuum between very pure 
and very applied, so that any line drawn between pure and applied 
economics will be problematic. Indeed, issues that might be discussed at 
the conference include historical changes in the way the term "applied 
economics" has been conceived, and the causes and consequences of 
adopting different definitions of applied vs. pure economics. We are 
starting, however, with the following rough working definition of applied 
economics, on the understanding that papers may be proposed which 
challenge and cause us to alter it. 
 
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. 
 
Thus, "price theory" in general would not qualify, but the analysis of 
prices or wages in a specific market, or in a specific time period would. 
Analysis of an economic policy measure would count as applied only if the 
author seriously believed that the policy might be, or could 
realistically be implemented (thus excluding, for example, some of the 
theoretical literature on optimal tax systems). 
 
 
Topic areas and questions that could be addressed by proposed papers 
include the following: 
 
1. The concept of applied economics 
 
What is applied economics? Whence did the term originate? How has 
economists' understanding of the term changed over time? Is "applied 
economics" a historically contingent concept, or a historically 
contingent label for something that has existed for as long as economics 
has been around? 
 
Related to these are questions concerning the role of applied economics 
in the history of economic thought. How should histories of applied 
fields or applied work be written? How should we relate developments in 
theory (whether economic or econometric) to developments in applied 
economics? 
 
2. The emergence and decline of applied fields 
 
How do applied fields become established? 
 
What are the origins of various applied fields? Does an applied field 
coalesce around a new problem or phenomenon (railroads, colonization, 
decolonization, labor strife) and then gradually become integrated with 
the theoretical literature, as specialists look to general theory for 
useful tools? Or do the developers of a new theoretical tool see an 
obvious area for its application and then become more knowledgeable about 
the area in the process of making the application? 
 
What are the processes involved? At different times, have certain applied 
fields been "tool driven" or "application driven" (labour economics was 
at one time dominated by questions of labor unions, and at another time 
was driven the application of the theory of human capital and the theory 
of inter-temporal choice)? 
 
What difference does it make when an applied field emerges? 
 
3. Case studies within specific applied fields 
 
How are applied fields related to the "core"? What is the interaction 
between the economics that is being "applied", theoretical ideas and 
techniques developed within the applied field, techniques developed 
outside economics (perhaps data-collection methods; developments in 
government; or developments in other disciplines); data; external 
pressures? Do applied fields develop in ways that are different from the 
way general economic theory develops, or from each other, or does a 
common pattern emerge? 
 
4. Application of economics in government/business 
 
Applied economics includes not only "applied fields" within academic 
economics, but the use of economics outside academia. What happens to 
economic ideas when they are applied? Are ideas in the "core" of 
economics important? What ideas from academia are used in "real" economic 
decisions in government and business? How does the understanding of these 
ideas or concepts or techniques change when they are used in practical 
situations? How do economic ideas and the problems they are used to 
tackle interact? 
 
5. Possible types of case study  
 
a) Case studies of applied fields/problems. 
 
b) Case studies of economic ideas and how they have been applied/what has 
happened when they have been applied. 
 
c) Case studies of how ideas have been used in government and/or business. 
 
d) Case studies of individuals/groups of individuals/institutions that 
have sought to promote applied work or combine applied and theoretical 
work, where these shed light on the questions listed above. 
 
e) Comparative studies of any of the previous four types, across fields or  
countries. 
 
f) Studies of academic areas that were at one time considered fields of 
applied economics, or that were more closely allied with some core body 
of economics than they are today (perhaps marketing or industrial 
relations). 
 
6. Coverage 
 
The conference will focus predominantly on the twentieth century, though 
excursions into earlier periods may be necessary to provide perspective. 
Coverage should be international (though the US will clearly be 
important), and should cover a range of applied fields (though clearly 
only a small sample can in practice be covered). Different approaches can 
be adopted, including "traditional" history of economic thought, 
sociological studies, studies focusing on institutions, etc.  
 
SUBMITTING PROPOSALS/SUGGESTIONS 
 
Please send proposals to both of us. Email is preferred, and proposals 
can be in the text of a message or, if you are sending something longer, 
in an attached word processor file. We both use MS Word 6, so can read a 
variety of file formats (but not Word 7). Please send us: 
 
Your name, address, fax and email address (with any changes and dates if 
you are going to be moving). 
 
An outline of your idea for a paper/proposal. Though we would be 
delighted to receive detailed proposals, these can be very tentative at 
this stage. We will want at least a one or two page proposal before 
decisions are taken. 
 
An indication of whether you are likely to be available for the HES 
session in Montreal. 
 
 
Roger E. Backhouse 
Department of Economics 
University of Birmingham 
Edgbaston 
Birmingham 
B15 2TT      UK 
 
Fax: +44 121 414 7377 
Email: [log in to unmask] 
 
 
Jeff Biddle 
Department of Economics 
Michigan State University 
East Lansing 
Michigan 
MI 48824      USA 
 
Fax: +1 517 432-1068 
Email: [log in to unmask] 
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