The institutions of economics and institutions in the economy in recent decades

• Grant number: 15/11822-7
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: October 01, 2015
• End date: September 30, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Economics
• Principal Investigator: David Dequech Filho
• Grantee: David Dequech Filho
• Host Institution: Instituto de Economia (IE). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This research proposes an institutional approach to economics and its relations to the its subject matter. The research will identifiy some mental and behavioral rules of contemporary mainstream economics as a whole and of the mainstream segment of two subdisciplines, namely, macroeconomics and financial economics. It will indicate social reasons behind the social sharing of these rules. This means that they are institutions (including socially shared mental models). More specifically, it will be argued that these rules are social norms and conventions. As social norms, they are internalized by several people, but they also imply the possibility of sanctions, which is recognized by various academics and leads some to conformity with these norms. As conventions, they are adopted at least in part because other people adopt (or are expected to adopt) them, and, without being dictated by the nature of the subject matter, they are not clearly superior to some alternative. After that, the research will examine the relations between these institutions of economics and institutions in the economy, considering the case of the U.S. in the period between the end of the 1970s and 2008. It will be shown that these relations are bi-directional. It will be argued that the reasons for agents and policy makers to share some mental rules and the types of influence that institutions have on these people are similar to those that apply to academic economists. Regarding the macroeconomy, conceptions of economic policy and of the role of the state will be highlighted, bu the influence of academia varies from goods markets to financial ones. In the economic sphere, mainstream economics has influenced rules concerning deregulation, the legitimation of innovations, and risk assessment. An influence flowing from the external reality to academic will also be pointed out. (AU)

Scientific publications

(7)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DEQUECH, DAVID. Conventions in Keynes's theory of goods markets: investment and production decisions. JOURNAL OF POST KEYNESIAN ECONOMICS, v. 45, n. 1, p. 23-pg., 2021-06-25. (15/11822-7)

DEQUECH, DAVID. Applying the Concept of Mainstream Economics outside the United States: General Remarks and the Case of Brazil as an Example of the Institutionalization of Pluralism. JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ISSUES, v. 52, n. 4, p. 904-924, 2018. (15/11822-7)

DEQUECH, DAVID. Some institutions (social norms and conventions) of contemporary mainstream economics, macroeconomics and financial economics. CAMBRIDGE JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS, v. 41, n. 6, p. 1627-1652, NOV 2017. (15/11822-7)

DEQUECH, DAVID. onventions in Keynes's theory of goods markets: investment and production decision. JOURNAL OF POST KEYNESIAN ECONOMICS, v. 45, n. 1, JUN 2021. (15/11822-7)

DEQUECH, DAVID. The Future of Heterodox Economics: An Institutional Perspective. JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ISSUES, v. 55, n. 3, p. 578-583, JUL 3 2021. (15/11822-7)

DEQUECH, DAVID. Institutions in the economy and some institutions of mainstream economics: From the late 1970s to the 2008 financial and economic crisis. JOURNAL OF POST KEYNESIAN ECONOMICS, v. 41, n. 3, p. 478-506, 2018. (15/11822-7)

DEQUECH, DAVID. Political Economy and Its Future: Conceptual and Institutional Issues. REVIEW OF POLITICAL ECONOMY, v. 35, n. 1, p. 18-pg., 2022-04-21. (15/11822-7)