The Economist as Surveyor

Physiocracy in the Fields

Bibliographic Data

ID4298290
AuthorsLoïc Charles (0000-0001-9698-3707), Christine Théré (0009-0001-7057-3379)
Year2012
Volume44
Issuesuppl_1
Pages71-89
Publication date2012-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueHistory of Political Economy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0018-2702 • E-ISSN: 1527-1919
PublisherDuke University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1215/00182702-1631788
OpenAlexW2078466783
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited10

In this article, we show that Quesnay, while himself devoted to a major analytical effort to create what was at the time, like today, assessed as an original and far-reaching social theory, was also very much concerned with the development of a systematic empirical inquiry of French economy and society. Our claim is that this program of observation was for Quesnay and the physiocrats no less important than their theoretical investigation. The results of the surveys and agricultural accounts they produced were integrated in some of the physiocrats' main theoretical works like the Philosophie rurale, in more or less stylized form. Some of Quesnay's aides were able to conduct land survey experiments that applied physiocratic knowledge to the measurement of concrete economic activities. In the 1760s, the integration of empirical and theoretical inquiries was sufficiently developed that one of Quesnay's closest disciples, Charles Richard de Butré, conceived of a plan for some sort of national accounting

Classical economics · Economics · Macroeconomics · Neoclassical economics · sort · Stylized fact · European Political History Analysis · Historical and Literary Studies · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · Mathematics

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