Sutter, D (Sutter, Daniel); Pjesky, R (Pjesky, Rex) Where would Adam Smith publish today? The near absence of math-free research in top journals ECON JOURNAL WATCH, 4 (2): 230-U5 MAY 2007

[Eugene Garfield]

E-mail Address: dssutter at utpa.edu; pjesky at nsuok.edu 

Author(s): Sutter, D (Sutter, Daniel); Pjesky, R (Pjesky, Rex) 

Title: Where would Adam Smith publish today? The near absence of math-free 
research in top journals 

Source: ECON JOURNAL WATCH, 4 (2): 230-U5 MAY 2007 

Language: English 

Document Type: Article 

Keywords Plus: ACADEMIC ECONOMICS; UPDATE 

Abstract: IF HE WERE AROUND TODAY, WOULD ADAM SMITH BE ABLE TO PUBLISH in 
top economics journals, assuming he would want to? Our investigation shows 
that he would have serious difficulty unless he mastered some mathematical 
techniques and modes of thinking.
Critics have accused top economics journals of being closed to math-free 
analysis and scholarship. If valid, such a closedness could significantly 
affect the economics profession. An inability to publish in prominent 
journals disadvantages kinds of thought and research that either do not 
much rely on math, or perhaps are compromised or degraded by math - for 
example, the kind of research that earned Nobel prizes for Myrdal, Hayek, 
Coase, Schelling, Buchanan, and that surely would have earned a prize for 
Keynes had he lived long enough. It appears that these pantheon economists 
in their prime today would be totally unable to place their classic works 
in top journals. Their contributions would fall to obscurity unless they 
could do the math, which they might well be able to do, and unless the 
substance and clarity would survive the make-over.
The math modes tend to advantage individuals with the requisite human 
capital, mentalities, and characters. The combination of the pyramidal 
structure of the discipline and majoritarian department politics might 
make the selection effects long lived (Klein 2005). And with tenure, 
decisions made today could have impacts for decades to come.
Economics is a field calling for exploration of how the accumulation of 
models, data, and other learning are best formulated and interpreted, and 
such exploration should involve diverse voices heterogeneous with respect 
to training. Few critics of formalism contend that there should not be any 
outlets or prestige for mathematical articles. Model building definitely 
has virtues, and regression analysis is obviously tremendously important, 
and we do not seek to denigrate these types of research. But scholars with 
a deep understanding of history, politics, policy analysis, law, and 
business, among other fields enrich the discipline. Such a heterogeneous 
cast of characters would produce diverse research. Economics is 
impoverished if only some types of learning reaches top journals and some 
of the diverse characters are permanently banished to the profession's 
back benches.
In evaluating such concerns, it is good to have evidence on whether the 
top journals are open to math-free research. Sometimes commentators see 
patterns that do not exist. Consider the "hot hand" phenomenon in 
basketball. Many fans and announcers believe that players will get hot and 
go on a rush where they can hardly miss a shot. But Gilovich, Vallone and 
Tversky (1985) found no support for the hot hand. Faulty perceptions may 
also underlie charges of media bias. Vallone, Ross and Lepper (1985) found 
that highly partisan viewers of news segments on Israeli-Palestinian 
relations perceived bias against their side in the coverage, but the bias 
was in subjects' selective recall-remembering parts of stories favorable 
to the other side and forgetting bits favorable to their side. Our 
investigation seeks to qualify the current percentage of math-free papers 
in top journals to inform further debate.
Several previous studies have examined the mathematical content of 
economics journals. Leontief (1982) found that over half of the papers in 
the American Economic Review between 1972 and 1981 contained mathematical 
models without data. Examining the 1980s, Morgan (1988) documented a 
similar pattern for the Economic journal and found that the percentage of 
math-free papers in the American Economic Review continued to fall. 
Examining four top general interest journals from 1963 through 1996, 
Coehlo and McClure (2005) found that mathematical research increased over 
time and that model-building crowded out empirical research. These papers 
focus on the balance of modeling and empirics. In the present paper, the 
primary distinction is that between math and "math-free" research. Math-
free research in this paper means verbal or graphical analysis, case study 
evidence, and empirical work which does not rely on multiple regression 
analysis. Thus math articles here include not only model building but also 
papers with regression tables. However, our research does speak to the 
balance of modeling and empirics. 

Addresses: Univ Texas Pan Amer, Dept Econ & Finance, Edinburg, TX 78541 
USA; Northeastern State Univ, Dept Accounting & Finance, Tahlequah, OK 
74464 USA 

Reprint Address: Sutter, D, Univ Texas Pan Amer, Dept Econ & Finance, 
Edinburg, TX 78541 USA. 

E-mail Address: dssutter at utpa.edu; pjesky at nsuok.edu 

Cited Reference Count: 10 

Times Cited: 1 

Publisher: INST SPONTANEOUS ORDER ECONOMICS 

Publisher Address: 9745 KINGS CROWN COURT #102, FAIRFAX, VA 22031 USA 

ISSN: 1933-527X 

29-char Source Abbrev.: ECON J WATCH 

ISO Source Abbrev.: Econ. J. Watch 

Source Item Page Count: 12 

ISI Document Delivery No.: 299KW 

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