| Abstract: |
What role do personal values play in the practice of economists? By means of a
survey among economists working inside and outside academia in the
Netherlands, we present novel insights on their personal values, how these
differ from the average citizen, and how values impact their economic views
and their methodological choices. Three overarching values summarize the value
structure of economists: achievement, serving the public interest, and
conformity to rules. Subsequent tests are performed to see whether these
values affect (1) their opinion on economic propositions and (2) their
attitudes towards methodological principles in economics. For the majority of
economic propositions, personal values matter. Especially the value of serving
the public interest has a strong effect on their economic view. Furthermore,
it seems that economists who value achievement are the ones who are more
likely to embrace mainstream methodological principles: thinking predominantly
in terms of efficiency, rationality, and competition, believing that economic
knowledge is objective and transparently produced and in agreement with Milton
Friedman’s view on positive economics. Female economists are at some notable
points less convinced of market solutions and have more trust in the
government in serving the public interest. |