The Superiority of Economists

Bibliographic Data

ID4029933
AuthorsMarion Fourcade (0000-0002-4821-9031, Marion Fourcade is Professor of Sociology, University of California, Berkeley, California, and Associate Fellow at the Max Planck-Sciences Po Center, Sciences Po, Paris, France.), E Ollion (0000-0003-3099-5240, Université de Strasbourg), Yann Algan (0000-0002-8120-5969, Yann Algan is Professor of Economics, Sciences Po, Paris, France. .)
Year2015
Volume29
Issue1
Pages89-114
Publication date2015-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of Economic Perspectives (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0895-3309 • E-ISSN: 1944-7965
PublisherAmerican Economic Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1257/jep.29.1.89
OpenAlexW2159141474
LanguageEN
Citations received277
References cited51

In this essay, we analyze the dominant position of economics within the network of the social sciences in the United States. We begin by documenting the relative insularity of economics, using bibliometric data. Next we analyze the tight management of the field from the top down, which gives economics its characteristic hierarchical structure. Economists also distinguish themselves from other social scientists through their much better material situation (many teach in business schools, have external consulting activities), their more individualist worldviews, and their confidence in their discipline's ability to fix the world's problems. Taken together, these traits constitute what we call the superiority of economists, where economists' objective supremacy is intimately linked with their subjective sense of authority and entitlement. While this superiority has certainly fueled economists' practical involvement and their considerable influence over the economy, it has also exposed them more to conflicts of interests, political critique, even derision

Entitlement (fair division · Methodological individualism · Position (finance · Economic Theory and Institutions

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