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This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book describes interest in the ethics of economists and to advance a moral conception of the economic science. It focuses on the ethical behavior of economists and thus mainly concerned with deontology and professional economics ethics. The book discusses the education and training of the ‘ethical economist’: what it means to train and educate an ethical economist and what is needed for economics to become an ethical profession. It examines the ethics of econometric research and the categorical mistake made by some economists when considering that ethics is to be left for business, government and policymakers and not for the econometrician. The book presents the philosophical arguments for the removal of normativity and normative analysis from economics and what the implications of this issue are on the personal responsibility of economists.

Economists' role in society has always been an uneasy one, and in recent years the ethicality of the profession and its practitioners has been questioned more than ever. This collection of essays is the first to investigate the multifaceted nature of what forms economists' ethical and economic views.Bringing together work from international contributors, The Ethical Formation of Economists explores the ways in which economists are influenced in their training and career, examining how this can explain their individual ethical stances as economists. The book suggests that if we can better understand what is making economists think and act as they do, considering ethicality in the process, we might all be better placed to implement changes. The intent is not to exonerate economists from personal responsibility, but to highlight how considering the circumstances that have helped shape economists' views can help to address issues. It is argued that it is important to understand these influences, as without such insights, the demonization of economists is too easily adapted as a stance by society as well as too easily dismissed by economists. This book will be of great interest to those studying and researching in the fields of economics, ethics, philosophy and sociology. It also seeks to bring an ethical debate within and about economics and to cause change in the practical reasoning of economists.

This book makes a strong and coherent contribution to the discussion of the knowledge economy and of innovation, offering a range of theoretical insights from different disciplinary perspectives. The role of knowledge, knowledge development, and knowledge diffusion is discussed at the micro level of individuals and firms, but also at the level of groups of firms and sectors, as well as at the level of the economy at large. Dolfsma analyses knowledge development and diffusion as a thoroughly social process, depending on communicative structures to support cooperation. The author combines insights from economics and management with perspectives from sociology (network theory), anthropology (gift exchange), social psychology, science studies and information theory (scientometrics), using empirical analyses to demonstrate where knowledge impacts the dynamics of an economy.

In The Economist's Oath (2011), George DeMartino presents arguments in favour of the ethical reform of economics and what he sees as its usual style of policy formation and implementation. A central component of his argument is a harm-based thesis that points to the too often profoundly negative implications of economic intervention. He couples this with a character-based account of the normative basis of a needed revision of existing economic praxis. While the harm-based aspect of DeMartino’s thesis draws attention to the consequences of economists’ professional conduct, the character-based dimension considers its consistency with their personal moral outlooks. The harm-based aspect provides a normative reason to introduce a behavioural code into professional economic practice, while the emphasis on character is intended to prevent this reducing to mere rule following. I argue in this chapter that DeMartino cannot easily help himself to either of these positions. Harm and character-based views are found wanting when viewed in the light of certain structural features of a professional economic ethic. They produce only unproductive confrontation between this kind of proponent of professional economic ethics and (the many) economists who defend a restricted, technical conception of the profession. Alternative support for his thesis can be found, however, in the shape of Iris Marion Young's social connection theory of personal responsibility. Applied to economics, Young demands that economists adopt a perspective that incorporates an appreciation of the role of their discipline in shaping societal outcomes. It requires economists to take an extra-disciplinary perspective that takes into account its societal consequences. In this way, Young’s thesis offers a way to ground DeMartino’s arguments that avoids mere intellectual standoff. Her thesis also has important implications for the place of pluralist or meta-methodological thinking in economics. While many argue for the benefits of a pluralist perspective, Young's thesis offers a way to see it as a professional responsibility.