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Economists are born and raised, not made

Author

Listed:
  • Abel FRANCOIS

    (LEM, Université de Lille)

  • Laurent WEILL

    (LaRGE Research Center, Université de Strasbourg)

  • Nicolas EBER

    (LaRGE Research Center, Université de Strasbourg)

Abstract

What makes economics students different? There is a long-lasting debate on this issue discussing the selection process and the indoctrination effect of economics program. We use the unique framework of the French higher education system in which students could freely choose their discipline to provide new evidence on this question. We conduct a survey on a large group of students from one of the largest French universities at the very beginning of their program before any potential indoctrination. We confirm the self-selection effect: students self-selecting in economics have more economic-oriented attitudes and values than other students. Besides, they also prefer the market price solution to a scarce resource allocation problem. We also find evidence of a parental heritage mediation on the relationship between the program and the students’ values and, to a less extent, a student working experience mediation. Finally, we do not find clear evidence for indoctrination related to economic teaching, but we detect a general indoctrination towards more government intervention in all undergraduate programs.

Suggested Citation

  • Abel FRANCOIS & Laurent WEILL & Nicolas EBER, 2022. "Economists are born and raised, not made," Working Papers of LaRGE Research Center 2022-07, Laboratoire de Recherche en Gestion et Economie (LaRGE), Université de Strasbourg.
    • Handle: RePEc:lar:wpaper:2022-07
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    economists; economics education; values; selection; cultural transmission.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A12 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Other Disciplines
    • A13 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Social Values
    • A20 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - General
    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General

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