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Look how far we have come

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2011

CHRISTOPHER CLAGUE*
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA

Abstract:

Economics has changed enormously since Professor Ha-Joon Chang burst onto the scene in the early 1990s. His critiques of mainstream economics are far more applicable to the discipline at that time than they are now. Whatever the shortcomings of the current literature on institutions and development, progress is not being held back by conceptual blinders imposed by economic orthodoxy. Game theory and behavioral economics have enriched the menu of models acceptable in the professional journals. More important, empirical standards have greatly advanced. Behavioral models are being confronted with computerized games and even with in-the-field experiments, especially in poor countries where recruiting experimental subjects is cheaper. The recent literature does not merely undermine traditional assumptions; it offers parsimonious interpretations that help us to understand the economy and the polity better than before.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The JOIE Foundation 2011

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