Systematically Biased Beliefs about Economics
Robust Evidence of Judgemental Anomalies from the Survey of Americans and Economists on the Economy
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9709909 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Bryan Caplan (George Mason University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2002 |
| Volume | 112 |
| Issue | 479 |
| Pages | 433-458 |
| Publication date | 2002-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Economic Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0013-0133 • E-ISSN: 1468-0297 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1111/1468-0297.00041 |
| OpenAlex | W1998595292 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 65 |
| References cited | 25 |
Differences between the general public"s "positive" economic views and economists" resemble other judgemental anomalies: Laypeople and experts "systematically" disagree. I analyse this puzzle using data from the Survey of Americans and Economists on the Economy. The paper first tests and decisively rejects the hypothesis that the differences solely reflect economists" self-serving bias. Then it examines whether economists" political ideology and party loyalties explain the disagreement; if anything, this slightly increases their magnitude. The effect of economic training clearly falls but remains large after adding education to the set of control variables. Apparent biases" robustness suggests that the anomaly is real. Copyright 2002 Royal Economic Society
Economics · Ideology · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Public choice · Robustness (evolution · Set (abstract data type · Statistics · Survey data collection · Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics · Economic Theory and Institutions · Law · Monetary Policy and Economic Impact
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| Unique citing works | 65 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2,95 |
| Citation span | 2004 - 2026 (23) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 63 |