Abstract
ABSTRACT In the aftermath of recent populist upheavals in Europe, nationalist economic policies challenge the overly positive view on economic integration and the reduction of trade barriers established by standard economic theory. For quite a long time the great majority of economists supported trade liberalisation policies, at least those actively engaged in policy advice or public debates. In this paper, we examine the elite economics discourse on trade policies during the last 20 years regarding specific characteristics of authors, affiliations, citation patterns, the overall attitude towards trade, as well as the methodological approach applied in these papers. Our analysis yields the following results: First, the hierarchical structure of economics also manifests in the debate about trade. Second, while we found some indications of a shift towards more empirically oriented work, quite often empirical data is solely used to calibrate models rather than to challenge potentially biased theoretical assumptions. Third, top economic discourses on trade are predominantly characterised by a normative bias in favour of trade-liberalisation-policies. Forth, we found that other-than-economic impacts and implications of trade policies (political, social and cultural as well as environmental issues) to a great extent either remain unmentioned or are rationalised by means of pure economic criteria.
Highlights
In the course of recent populist upheavals it has become obvious that trade policy as well as its political and social consequences and its impact on the world economy are controversial issues
We contribute to the debate whether and to what extent there can be identified an ‘empirical’ (Angrist et al 2017) or an ‘applied’ (Backhouse and Cherrier 2014) turn in economics during the last two decades
The third part illustrates our results on the overall trade discourse and divides into three sub-sections: a quantitative analysis of word frequencies and cited references, qualitative coding of abstracts according to their reference to trade implications, and the explicit and implicit normative evaluations of trade. 4.1 Authors and affiliations Analysing the authors and their institutional affiliations obtained from our sample strongly confirms previous results on the high stratification and concentration of the discipline in general
Summary
In the course of recent populist upheavals it has become obvious that trade policy as well as its political and social consequences and its impact on the world economy are controversial issues. The proponents of trade liberalization policies in turn emphasise a win-win situation that supposedly arises from trade liberalization as well as the inefficiency and overall welfare losses linked to protectionism. While this debate is strongly driven by political (and ideological) interests, our paper aims to explore the current debate in economic science. What kind of arguments are brought forward in favour of trade liberalization and to what extent are negative consequences (social, political and environmental impacts) of trade liberalization addressed? What is the current state of economic theory and research regarding the politically contested issue of trade policies? What kind of arguments are brought forward in favour of trade liberalization and to what extent are negative consequences (social, political and environmental impacts) of trade liberalization addressed? To what extent can we see an ‘empirical turn’ during the last 20 years? who are the dominant actors and institutions in elite economics trade debates and are there any indications for shifts in the debate in the course of the last two decades?
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