Between Social Philosophy and Technical Execution: Policy Advice by Economic Scientists
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Between Social Philosophy and Technical Execution: Policy Advice by Economic Scientists
Freytag, Andreas | Schuhmann, Sebastian
Journal of Contextual Economics – Schmollers Jahrbuch, Online First : pp. 1–21
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Andreas Freytag, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Carl-Zeiss-Str. 3, 07743 Jena, Germany
Sebastian Schuhmann, Institut für angewandte Informatik, Goerdelerring 9, 04109 Leipzig, Germany
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Abstract
Until recently, policy advice has been mainly a field for specialists who are familiar with the political economy of their field, have a profound theoretical understanding, and are familiar with the pertinent empirical evidence. That said, they do not necessarily have to be excellent scientists themselves. A new member of the German Council of Economic Experts has recently doubted this model and pointed out that it is good that excellent scientists will now have more influence in policy debates in Germany. This is a reminder of the need to embed policy advice in science without losing touch with the real world. We address two main topics, first, the very relation between science and policy advice and, second, the impact of advice on the formulation of qualified economic policy. The discussion is guided by four leading questions: Is there ideal policy advice, and an ideal model? What is excellent research? Does excellent research guarantee excellent policy advice? Do paradigms play a role?