Matthias Aistleitner, Stephan Pühringer,
"The Social Field of Elite Trade Economists: A Quantitative Social Studies of Economics Perspective"
, in Oeconomia, Vol. 13, Nummer 2, Seite(n) 475-515, 2023
Original Titel:
The Social Field of Elite Trade Economists: A Quantitative Social Studies of Economics Perspective
Sprache des Titels:
Englisch
Original Kurzfassung:
The evolving research field of social studies of economics (SSE) has shown that economics as a profession has gained influence on public debate and political power in many countries and in different social contexts. The chan- nels of influence for economists are complex and widespread, i.e., there are multiple channels through which economists are able to influence public policy issues. In this article, we provide an in-depth analysis of a sample of the 85 most published authors of trade-related research in top economics journals to characterize the social field of elite economists and show how position in that field correlates with influence and power in and outside academia. More specifically, our data include information on their aca- demic careers, their professional social networks, and their involvement in a variety of possible intermediaries between academic economics and poli- cymaking (e.g., institutions such as think tanks or the media). We apply multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) and cluster analysis to show how different configurations of intra-academic capital are associated to policy- relevant extra-academic capital. The overall results of this analysis are threefold. First, the biographical analysis of elite trade economists reveals a remarkable degree of concentration of different forms of capital, which in- dicates a strong hierarchical order within the elite segment of trade econo- mists. Second, and in line with this, despite the overall unequal distribution of capital within this elite sample, different forms of intra-academic and extra-academic capitals become visible. Third, while the cluster analysis re- veals a main ?average core? of (trade-)policy-oriented economists, the group of economists with very high capital is separated into two smaller clusters: The ?ivory elite? cluster consists mainly of academic capital varia- bles, while the ?public econs? cluster is also composed of non-academic var- iables from the policy and media channels. So, even among elite trade econ- omists, it is only as small number, who really is successfully gaining politi- cal and societal impact.
Sprache der Kurzfassung:
Englisch
Journal:
Oeconomia
Volume:
13
Number:
2
Seitenreferenz:
475-515
Erscheinungsjahr:
2023
Anzahl der Seiten:
40
Reichweite:
international
Publikationstyp:
Aufsatz / Paper in sonstiger referierter Fachzeitschrift