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

Beliefs about Economics and Economic Policies: How Different Are Prospective Economists and Teachers at the Beginning of Their Studies?
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Year:    2017

Author:    Blum, Silvia, van Treeck, Till

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

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.

Journal Article Details

Publisher Name:    Global Science Press

Language:    English

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

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

Published online:    2017-10

AMS Subject Headings:    Duncker & Humblot

Copyright:    COPYRIGHT: © Global Science Press

Pages:    30

Keywords:    A13 A20 A21 F5 H0

Author Details

Blum, Silvia

van Treeck, Till

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