Association for Heterodox Economics Submission to UK Science and Technology Parliamentary Select Committee on peer review

Freeman, Alan (2011): Association for Heterodox Economics Submission to UK Science and Technology Parliamentary Select Committee on peer review.

Abstract

The Association for Heterodox Economics (AHE) prepared a submission on Peer Review to the UK Parliament's Select Committee on Science and Technology.

The enquiry was announced on 27 January: Select Committee Announcement 32 (10-11) states that "The committee invites evidence on the operation and effectiveness of the peer review process used to examine and validate scientific results and papers prior to publication"

The AHE was and remains concerned that the Peer Review process in Economics (which considers itself a Science) is not conducive to quality but to the contrary imposes conformity and monotheoreticism, in distinction to other sciences, leading to adverse selection. I am placing our submission to the Select Committee, which I prepared, for the public record since, although it is in principle available through the UK parliamentary archives, this is relatively inaccessible. The paper is a valid scholarly document which was reviewed by the AHE and is fully referenced.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Pluralism;economics;peer review
• Subjects: A - General Economics and Teaching > A1 - General Economics > A11 - Role of Economics ; Role of Economists ; Market for Economists; A - General Economics and Teaching > A1 - General Economics > A13 - Relation of Economics to Social Values; B - History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches > B5 - Current Heterodox Approaches

References

Colander,D., Föllmer H., Haas, A.,Goldberg, M., Juselius, K.,Kirman, A., Lux,T. and Sloth,B. (2009).‘The Financial Crisis and the Systemic Failure of Academic Economics’,Kiel working paper 1489,Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

Denis, A. (2009) (ed). International Review of Economics Education, ‘Pluralism in Economics Education’, Volume 8, number 2. London: Economics Network.

Freeman, A. (2009) ‘The Economists of Tomorrow: the Case for a Pluralist Subject Benchmark Statement for Economics’. in Denis, A. (2009) (ed). International Review of Economics Education, ‘Pluralism in Economics Education’, Volume 8, number 2. London: Economics Network.

Freeman, A, (2010). "The Economists of Tomorrow," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 69(5), pages 1591-1613, November

Gillies, D (2010) Economics and Research Assessment Systems. Working Paper, University College London.

Hodgson, G., U. Mäki and D. McCLoskey (originators) (1992) ‘A Plea for a Pluralistic and Rigorous Economics’. The American Economic Review, 82(2).

IEO (2011). ‘IMF Performance in the Run-Up to the Financial and Economic Crisis: IMF Surveillance in 2004–07’. January 10, 2011.

Lee, F. (2007) ‘The Research Assessment Exercise, the state and the dominance of mainstream economics in British universities’, Cambridge Journal of Economics, vol. 31(2), pp. 309–25.

Lee, F. and Harley, S. (1998) ‘Peer Review,The Research Assessment Exercise and the Demise of Non-Mainstream Economics’. Capital and Class, (66), pp. 23–53.