Capacity Building in Economics Education and Research in Transition Economies [02/11/2003]
Pleskovich, B., Aslund, A., Bader, W., Campbell, R.
The development of the institutional capacity to create and evaluate economic policies remains a critical need – and constraint – in most transition economies if they are to complete the successful passage to fully functioning market economies. To take an active role in the transition process, economic policymakers, business leaders, government officials, and others need a thorough grounding in market-based economics. This requires strengthening economics education and providing support for qualified economists to teach economics at all levels and to carry out high-quality research and policy analysis. Although the education systems in a handful of countries have already risen to the challenge, in many other transition countries, the structure of educational and research institutes remains grounded in the Communist model.
Reforming Undergraduate Instruction in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine [01/11/2003]
Kovzik, A., Watts, M.
The authors deal with the restructuring of undergraduate economics instruction at Moscow State University (MSU) since 1989. They examine how closely the reforms at MSU are mirrored by changes at Belarus State University in Minsk and at Kiev State University. They also consider, and often offer an “insider’s” perspective on, several issues related to curriculum reform that go beyond what can be determined from published curriculum guides. Specifically, they consider such issues as the training and retraining of faculty members who teach courses in these departments, the use of translated Western textbooks versus locally developed textbooks, and problems that arise in departments where some faculty members teach Western economics but other continue to teach Soviet-style economics.
Results and Perspectives for the Development of the Academy of National Economy [31/10/2003]
Mau, V.
The paper analyses results and perspectives for the development of the Academy of National Economy under the Government of Russia Federation that celebrates its 25th anniversary. It considers three basic stages of the Academy’s development: soviet period (1977-1987), period of evolutionary changes (1988-1991), and period of rapid adaptation to the market environment (1992-2002).
Economics Education Reform in Belarus in Context of the Bologna Process [30/10/2003]
Kovalev, M.
The paper analyses some problems of economics education in Belarus along with the processes of high school reform in Europe (the Bologna Process). It considers a structure of economics education in Belarus per specialities and analyses the experience of the Belarusian State University in transition to two-tied education (BA/MA). The paper concludes that transition to two-tied economics education is inevitable, and that fast integration of scholars into the world scientific process is necessary.
Economics Departments in Eastern Germany: Reshaping of the Structure and Content [29/10/2003]
Richter, K.
This paper analyses the radical reshaping of economics education in former GDR after the unification of Germany, as seen by a scholar from Eastern Germany. As a result of the reshaping, there are no structures, no curriculums, no teaching staff (except for ones) left from the time, when economists from the USSR and GDR worked on common issues. Although this is a sad result for professors and employees of the economics departments who in general became unemployed, it is at the same time an instructive result: a systemic approach used as a basis of the reshaping of the departments of political economy of socialism can play a positive role in restructuring of the economics departments in other countries.
Formalism, Economics Education, and Economics [28/10/2003]
Tumilovich, M.
Formalism and its pernicious impact on economics is the central idea of this paper. The reliance of economists on formal methods has turned modern mainstream economics into a hidden branch of social mathematics and emasculated its economic content. Formalism has developed an abstract character of economic research and graduate education; the dominance in economics of a formal theorem-proof and technical model approach has led to the loss of relevance as a useful policy advice and lack of popularity among students. The origins of formalism and the reasons behind its popularity are considered in this paper. The general equilibrium theory of Gerard Debreu and Kenneth Arrow is exemplified to underscore a scant social value of a formalist knowledge. This paper might be seen as a plea to economists to rely less on formal proofs and more on empirical evidence.
How to Publish in Top Journals [27/10/2003]
Choi, K.
In response to popular demand, this brief note is provided for the benefit of all academic authors. The original intent was to produce a book of advice, but time is a scarce commodity and you may have to wait indefinitely for a book-length summary. This brief manual provides some useful suggestions for today’s authors. The goal is to “foster the greatest good to the greatest number of people”. If this note is useful to you, please tell your friends about it. If you follow most of these rules, the probability of obtaining tenure or promotion may increase significantly. If most authors acquired the basic skills mentioned here, they would then be competing in terms of the truth, goodness, and beauty of their ideas, not in terms of cosmetic skills. Please note that the advice contained here may not necessarily improve the chances that your research papers will be published.
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