The Importance of Research in Economics

Economics Research is a subcategory of Social Sciences, and it is vital for undertaking more sound economic policies for boosting a stable and non-inflationary growth, for coping with various risks under a dynamic and rapid integration of our economies and for improving the wealth of people.  Economics research should aim at reaching an optimal balance between the significance to the economic policy or financial stability and their quality and timely availability. Academic economic research should manifest the same quality as research in physics, chemistry or medicine, but be positioned on assisting the decision-making process. Otherwise, their added value is overwhelmingly reduced.

Economics is the study of how people choose to use their scarce resources (including time and talent people have available, the land, buildings, equipment, and other tools on hand, and the knowledge of how to combine them) to create useful products and services in several alternative goals.  Important choices involve how much time to devote to work, to school, and to leisure, how many dollars to spend and how many to save, how to combine resources to produce goods, and how to vote and shape the level of taxes and the role of government.

The role of a researcher in economics is to facilitate input to the decision-making process, expand the knowledge of economic field, make a support for the understanding of how people make choices, interpret the tendencies in markets and develop new models to enhance the wealth of a society. In order to do this the economist must have have competences in comprehensive and multi-dimensional information, analyses and statistics.

In short, economics research fields include the study of labor, land, and investments, of money, income, and production, and of taxes and government expenditures.  Economists seek to measure well-being, to learn how well-being may increase overtime, and to evaluate the well-being of the rich and the poor.

The following is an adapted list of the fields within Economics from the Journal of Economic Literature.

• Econometricians develop methods to measure economic phenomena. They apply the scientific method by formulating hypotheses, gathering evidence, and judging whether the evidence is consistent with the hypotheses. For example game theory which analyzes how one player chooses strategies in light of knowledge of the possible strategies a rival might choose.

• International Economists study trade among nations and the flow of finance across international borders.Globalization and the deficit in the any country balance of payments with other countries are current concerns. 

• Health, Education, and Welfare: Economists focus on the markets and government policies that directly shape access to health care while others focus on schools and educational policies and still others consider the economic circumstances of the poor and evaluate alternative government programs to improve the well-being of the poor. 

• Business Administration and Business Economics, Marketing, Accounting: Business economists study decisions made by firms. How do firms maximize profit? What prices should they set and how much should they produce? What is the role of incentives within the firm, of entrepreneurship, and leadership? 

• Economic Systems: Analysts in this field compare the capital market system to the various forms of socialism and the transition from centrally planned to more market-based economic systems. Economists sometimes address issues in specific countries like Peru, China, Cuba, or Poland.