Beliefs about Economics and Economic Policies: How Different Are Prospective Economists and Teachers at the Beginning of Their Studies?

Blum, Silvia; van Treeck, Till

doi:10.3790/schm.137.4.371

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Blum, S., van Treeck, T. Beliefs about Economics and Economic Policies: How Different Are Prospective Economists and Teachers at the Beginning of Their Studies?. Journal of Contextual Economics – Schmollers Jahrbuch, 137(4), 371-400. https://doi.org/10.3790/schm.137.4.371

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Beliefs about Economics and Economic Policies: How Different Are Prospective Economists and Teachers at the Beginning of Their Studies?

Blum, Silvia | van Treeck, Till

Journal of Contextual Economics – Schmollers Jahrbuch, Vol. 137 (2017), Iss. 4 : pp. 371–400

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Duncker & Humblot

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https://doi.org/10.3790/schm.137.4.371

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English

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Silvia Blum, Faculty of Mathematics, University of Duisburg-Essen, Thea-Leymannstraße 9, 45127 Essen, Germany.

Till van Treeck, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Duisburg-Essen, Lotharstr. 65, 47057 Duisburg, Germany.

Abstract

We present results from a survey of 1,399 first-year university students of economics and of courses designed for prospective teachers in Germany. We find strong self-selection effects in terms of students’ interests, their views about economics as a discipline and selected economic policy proposal: Students in political and social science education are systematically more sceptical of free-market policies. Regression analysis further suggests that economics and economics education students consistently place lesser emphasis on fairness in their acceptance judgments about policy proposals. Comparison with previous surveys suggest that indoctrination effects at university level may be stronger for economists than for teachers.

Section Title	Page	Action	Price
Silvia Blum / Till van Treeck: Beliefs about Economics and Economic Policies: How Different Are Prospective Economists and Teachers at the Beginning of Their Studies?	371
Abstract	371
1. Introduction	371
2. Current Controversies about Economics and Economics Education	374
3. Method	377
3.1 Survey Participants	377
3.2 Survey Design	379
4. Results	371
4.1 Socio-Demographic Characteristics and Political Preferences	371
Table 1: Socio-Demographic Characteristics	371
4.2 Students’ Fields of Interest	371
Table 2: Interest in Different Domains of Economics	371
4.3 Students’ Beliefs about Economics as a Discipline	371
Table 3: Beliefs about Economics as a Discipline	371
4.4 Students’ Attitudes about Economic Policies	371
4.4.1 Three Labour Market Measures	371
Table 4: Percentages of Agreement in Different Groups for Labour Market Regulations	371
4.4.2 Three Measures of Trade Liberalisation, Income Redistribution, and Fiscal Policy	371
Table 5: Percentages of Agreement in Different Groups for the Policy Proposal: “The European Union (EU) should seal the free trade agreement ‘TTIP’ with the United States”	371
Table 6: Percentages of Agreement in Different Groups for the Policy Proposal: “The government should reduce income inequality through increased redistribution”	371
Table 7: Percentages of Agreement in Different Groups for the Policy Proposal: “In times of high unemployment the government should raise the public expenditure, even if the deficit goes up as a consequence”	372
Table 8: Results of Linear Regression for Acceptance of the Policy Proposal: “The European Union (EU) should seal the free trade agreement TTIP with the United States”	372
Table 9: Results of Linear Regression for Acceptance of the Policy Proposal: “The government should reduce income inequality through increased redistribution”	372
Table 10: Results of Linear Regression for Acceptance of the Policy Proposal: “In times of high unemployment the government should raise the public expenditure, even if the deficit goes up as a consequence”	372
5. Discussion	372
Table 11: Comparison of Results for Beliefs about Economics with Fricke (2015)	372
References	372

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