Suchergebnisse

THE EDITOR HAS ASKED ME, AS AN ECONOMIST, TO RESPOND TO PROFESSOR MEAD'S ESSAY ON THE RELATION BETWEEN ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE IN THE STUDY OF PUBLIC POLICY. THIS REQUEST SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN PROMPTED BY PROFESSOR MEAD'S STATEMENT TO THE EDITOR THAT HIS ESSAY HAD NOT BEEN WELL RECEIVED BY THOSE ECONOMISTS WHO HAD READ IT. BUT I HAD NO SUCH NEGATIVE REACTION, SO WHATEVER DUEL THE EDITOR MIGHT HAVE ANTICIPATED WOULD RESULT WILL NOT TAKE PLACE. PROFESSOR MEAD'S CONTENTION THAT THE STUDY OF PUBLIC POLICY "HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE JOINT CONTRIBUTION OF ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE TO THE STUDY OF PUBLIC ISSUES," SEEMS EMINENTLY REASONABLE TO ME. INDEED, THE AUTHOR DO NOT SEE HOW IT COULD BE OTHERWISE, ONCE IT IS RECOGNIZED THAT ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE REST UPON THE SAME FOUNDATION. THIS FOUNDATION IS WHAT ECONOMISTS REFER TO AS SCARCITY, WHICH MEANS THAT THE WANTS PEOPLE HAVE EXCEED THE CAPACITY THAT EXISTS WITHIN A SOCIETY TO FULFILL THOSE WANTS. BECAUSE OF SCARCITY, SOME MEANS OF RESOLVING CONFLICTS AND REPRESSING WANTS ARISE IN ALL SOCIETIES, AS DO PATTERNS OF COOPERATION TO ENHANCE THE EXTENT TO WHICH WANTS CAN BE FULFILLED.

Identifies a number of challenges the social sciences will have to face in order to play a broader role in formulating international migration policies. This new role is subject to two major processes: globalisation and the universal acceptance of human rights. Both processes affect policy options, albeit from different perspectives. Recent research findings have confirmed that there is no direct link between poverty and South-North migration, despite the fact that many policy recommendations are based on this premise. Suggests that the contradiction between policy recommendations and research findings is due to the weight of economic theory in migration policy. (Original abstract - amended)

This article identifies a number of challenges that the social sciences will have to play a broader role in formulating international migration policies. This new role is subject to two major processes: globalization & the universal acceptance of human rights. Both processes affect policy options, albeit from different perspectives. Recent findings confirm that there is no direct link between poverty & South-North migration, despite the fact that many policy recommendations are based on this premise. The article suggests that the contradiction between policy recommendations & research findings is due to the weight of economic theory in migration policy. Yet economics does not take into account the complex nature of social, political, & cultural factors that also influence migrant motivations & migration processes. Recent efforts to formulate multidisciplinary theories should help devise more effective policies. Channels of communication will need to be improved between knowledge producers & policymakers. The article also recommends distinguishing between a conceptual & an instrumental use of knowledge. Adapted from the source document.