Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics

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The Role of the Economist in Economic Development

The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics

Tags Global Economy

07/30/2014Christopher CoynePeter J. Boettke

 

Volume 9, No. 2 (Summer 2006)

 

We have provided a reconsideration of the role of the economist in economic development. In doing so, we first considered the evolution of development economics to understand how the role of the economist has become what it is today. We argued that economists and policy makers alike overlook the role that indigenous institutions play in economic development. We concluded that the informal institutions, which underlie formal institutions, cannot be imposed from above but must develop from the ground up. Imposing formal institutions that do not align with the underlying  mētis will not be effective. We also provided a framework for understanding why the conventional view of the economist in economic development persists.

Authors:

Christopher Coyne

Christopher J. Coyne (born 1977) is the F.A. Harper Professor of Economics at George Mason University and the Associate Director of the F. A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Mercatus Center. He also serves as the Director of Graduate Studies for the Department of Economics at GMU.

Cite This Article

Coyne, Christopher J., and Peter J. Boettke. "The Role of the Economist in Economic Development." The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics 9, No. 2 (Summer 2006): 47–68.