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Survey of Economists |
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A questionnaire-based survey about future issues within economic sustainability research has been carried out within Germany. The survey is directed at those 'circles' of economists that are seen as being particularly influential in economic literature.
Please note that the results have not been derived from a group of participants that could be seen as being representative for all economists in Germany. Therefore, the results should not be interpreted independently of the participant clusters we identify.
Key results of the survey of economists are (for more details, see survey report [in German only]):
- Two clusters have been identified with clear characteristics linked to the two dominating schools of thought in
the economics literature on sustainability development: Ecological Economics and Neoclassical Economics
(for more details, see literature survey [in German only]).
- Both clusters share the opinion that sustainable development will provide important issues of economic research in
the future. The also agree -to a slightly smaller degree - that economics should play an important role in sustainability
research.
- Out of a given selection of possible future research issues (see questionnaire [in Germany only]),
the following are ranked highest by the participants:
- empirical and applied research,
- scientific policy advice,
- basic conceptual research,
- integration with other disciplines such as other social sciences and environmental sciences,
- environmental, development, growth, distributional, social and evolutionary economics.
- In addition, about a quarter of all participants suggested [in an open format] a broad variety of future topics, sub- or mixed disciplines, methods and other aspects of sustainability research. Out of these issues, the following categories have been identified as being most important in the participants' opinion:
- (economic) ethical-philosophical topics,
- methodological-analytical approaches to operationalizing sustainability,
- institutional and political-economic approaches to implementing the sustainability idea,
- global and regional (economic) perspectives,
- questions of innovation and learning,
- social- and labour economic aspects from a gender perspective, and
approaches for action on the business level.
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