Economics in Sweden
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Economics in Sweden Economics in Sweden contains the results of one of the most comprehensive attempts to evaluate research in economics ever under taken. A team of Swedish and international researchers, including Avinash K. Dixit, Seppo Honkapohja and Robert M. Solow, exam ined the structure of economics in Sweden and the results it produces. They identified postgraduate education as a key area, and their findings will be of particular relevance at a time when many countries are restructuring their graduate education programmes. Sweden has made a distinctive contribution to the development of economics and the book al,llo considers the extent to which it still contributes to an increasingly international discipline. The book will be of interest not only for its specific contributions but also for its insights into the evaluation procedure. Lars Engwall has been Professor of Business Administration at Uppsala University since 1981. He has extensive research experience in both Europe and the USA. Economics in Sweden An Evaluation of Swedish Research in Economics Edited by Lars Engwall !l I~ ~?io~f!;n~~:up (:) LONDON AND NEW YORK First published 1992 by Routledge Published 2017 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an inforrna business Copyright O 1992 Lars Engwall Typeset in 10/ 12 point Times by Witwell Ltd, Southport The Open Access version of this book, available at www.tandfebooks.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license. British library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978-0-415-07256-4 (hbk) library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Economics in Sweden : an evaluation of Swedish research in economics / Lars Engwall, ed. ; with contributions by A vinash K. Dixit ... [ et al.]. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and indexes. ISBN 0-415-07256-5 I. Economics-Research-Sweden-Evaluation. 2. Economics Sweden. I. Engwall, Lars, 1942- . II. Dixit, Avinash K. HB74.9.S8E26 1992 330'.09485-dc20 92-2786 CIP Publisher's Note The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original may be apparent Contents Figures and Tables lX Contributors Xll Abbreviations xv Part I Introduction and background studies Points of departure 3 Lars Engwall Background 3 A framework for the study 5 The evaluation process 8 The results of the evaluation II Evaluating the evaluation 16 2 Economics the Swedish way 1889-1989 19 Lars Jonung (assisted by Elving Gunnarsson) Introduction 19 The development of the market for professors 20 Becoming a professor 28 Intramural activities of the professors 33 Extramural activities of the professors 39 Foreign influences on Swedish professors 45 Final reflections 48 3 The economics of Swedish economics in the 1980s 49 Peter Stenkula and Lars Engwall The Swedish system for allocating research grants 49 Methodological issues 53 Faculty grants 54 External research grants 59 vi Contents Total resources to economics research 62 Conclusions 65 4 Recruiting a new generation 67 Eskil Wadensjo Introduction 61 The Swedish system of postgraduate education 68 The small number of theses 1 l An ageing population of Ph.D. students 80 Few women with Ph.D. degrees 83 Ph.D. degrees in economics awarded to Swedish citizens in the United States 84 The form and content of the theses 86 The faculty opponent 88 The topics of the theses 9 l The labour market for doctors of economics 94 Conclusions 102 5 Swedish economics on the international scene 104 O/le Persson, Peter Stern and Elving Gunnarsson Introduction 104 Data material 106 Publication activity and journal selection l 07 Relations with the intellectual heritage 116 Research profiles 118 Conclusions 125 Part Il The views of the international evaluation committee 6 Swedish economics in the 1980s 129 Avinash K. Dixit, Seppo Honkapohja and Robert M. Solow Swedish economics after the Stockholm school 129 Labour economics 130 Natural resources 133 Interregional economics 135 International economics 135 Public finance 138 Econometrics 139 Macro and monetary economics 140 Microeconomics 142 Conclusions 144 Contents vii 7 Organization of research 145 Avinash K. Dixit, Seppo Honkapohja and Robert M. Solow An overview 14S University departments 148 University-based research institutes l 5 l Non-university-based research institutes 1S3 Research funding 155 The general profile of research l 57 Conclusions 157 8 Postgraduate education in Sweden 1S9 Avinash K. Dixit, Seppo Honkapohja and Robert M. Solow Introduction 1S9 Scale 160 Incentives 164 Tradition 168 Conclusions 170 9 Recommendations 171 Avinash K. Dixit, Seppo Honkapohja and Robert M. Solow Summary of good and bad features of the system 171 Recommendations concerning organization of research 174 Recommendations concerning postgraduate training 180 Concluding remarks 18S Appendix A: Time schedule for the evaluation project 187 Appendix B: Professors of economics in Sweden 1741-1989 189 Elving Gunnarsson Introduction 189 Ancestors (1741-1889) 190 Modern age (1889-1989) 191 Appendix C: The role of institutions 196 l.Ars Jonung The Stockholm School of Economics 196 Lund University l 98 The Institute for International Economic Studies 199 viii Contents Appendix D: Doctoral theses in economics in Sweden 1895-1989 200 Eskil Wadensjo Introduction 200 Old Ph.D. degrees (1895-1973) 200 New Ph.D. degrees (1970-89) 211 Notes and references 233 Bibliography 261 Glossary 275 Index 278 Figures and Tables FIGURES I. I The stakeholders 7 1.2 The research system 7 1.3 Studies undertaken 10 1.4 Composition of the book 12 2.1 The number of chairs and departments of economics in Sweden 1889-1989 23 3.1 Distribution of faculty grants 1980-1 to 1989-90 (1989-90 prices) 56 3.2 Distribution of external grants between university cities 1980-1 to 1989-90 60 3.3 Distribution of external grants 1980-1 to 1989-90 (1989-90 prices) 61 3.4 Distribution of total research grants 1980-1 to 1989-90 (1989-90 prices) 65 4.1 Histogram over year of birth of those granted a Ph.D. in economics 1970-89 101 5.1 Percentage share of world output of articles written in English in economic journals 1973-89 - Sweden. West Germany and France, three-year weighted averages 108 7.1 The market for doctors of economics 145 7.2 Organization of research 147 TABLES 2.1 Occupants of chairs in economics 1889-1989 21 2.2 The establishment of departments with professors of economics 1889-1989 26 2.3 The four phases of economics in Sweden 1889-1989: x Figures and Tables a stylized overview 29 2.4 Age at the first appointment as professors in economics or related subjects in Sweden 1889-1989 34 2.5 Length of service as professor, 25 years or more 35 2.6 Number of newspaper articles published by Knut Wicksell, Gustav Cassel, Eli Heckscher and Bertil Ohlin 40 2. 7 Professors in economics as members of Parliament 41 2.8 The publication record of 37 Swedish professors in economics living in 1989 42 2.9 Percentage distribution of citations by language of source in Ekonomisk tidskrift and its successors: 1900, 1935, 1970 and 1988 44 3.1 Faculty grants 1980-1 to 1989-90 (KSEK) 55 3.2 Faculty grants to economics and all social sciences in 1980-1 to 1989-90 at 1989-90 prices (KSEK) 57 3.3 Relationship between total faculty grants, economics faculty grants and gross national product 58 3.4 External financing of economics research 1980-1 to 1989-90 (KSEK) 63 3.5 Total financing of economics research 1980-1 to 1989-90 (KSEK) 64 4.1 First-time registered postgraduate students in economics 1972-3 to 1989-90 72 4.2 Numbers obtaining Ph.D. degrees in economics by year of examination and university 73 4.3 Number of theses in economics 1895-1989 by type of degree and decade 74 4.4 Theses in economics 1895-1989 by type of degree and university 75 4.5 Average number of registered Ph.D. students and total number of students registered at least once as Ph.D. students in economics 76 4.6 Financial support for Ph.D. theses as indicated by prefaces to theses 79 4.7 Average age of those completing theses in economics 80 4.8 Candidates• age at examination over time (Age = a + b • time) 82 4.9 Median age of research students in economics 82 4.10 Median study time for a new Ph.D. degree in economics 1974-90 in number of terms (two terms per calendar year) 83 4.11 Theses in economics by type of degree and sex 84 4.12 Gender and age of Swedish citizens receiving Ph.D. Figures and Tables x1 degree in economics from the United States 85 4.13 Theses in economics by type of degree and language 88 4.14 New Ph.D. theses 1970-89 by language 88 4.15 Faculty opponent at oral defence of theses in economics according to type of degree and origin 90 4.16 Faculty opponent for Ph.D. oral defence in economics according to the new system 91 4.17 Theses (new Ph.D.) 1970-89 by subject and university 93 4.18 Theses in economics 1895-1989 by type of degree and ~~ ~ 4.19 Present occupation (November 1990) according to sector 95 4.20 Wage income and total earnings from employment in 1989 for those who have received a Ph.D. or Licentiate degree in economics in Sweden 1970-89 97 4.21 Earnings equations.