Season 2, Ep.8 - Mohsen Javdani: Ideological Bias in Economic Perspectives
January 15, 2023
In this episode of the Fly Battle podcast, Alireza Mahmoudi talks with Professor Mohsen Javdani about his paper “Who said or what said? Estimating ideological bias in views among economists,” co-authored with Ha-Joon Chang. The paper provides empirical evidence that economists exhibit ideological bias in evaluating statements, contradicting their self-perceived objectivity.
Using a randomized experiment surveying over 2400 economists globally, Javdani and Chang find that source attribution significantly impacts reported agreement with economic claims. Statements from mainstream sources elicit greater concurrence than identical statements attributed to ideologically divergent economists. This points to unconscious ideological leanings influencing assessments.
Delving into the paper’s analysis, Alireza and Mohsen discuss how implicit biases related to research areas, backgrounds, and schools of thought shape economic thought. The conversation calls for a more transparent diversity of perspectives among economists to serve society’s vast interests. A compelling examination of how subjective bias penetrates the field of economics, challenging assumptions of neutrality.
Mohsen Javdani is an associate professor of economics at the School of Public Policy & Urban Studies at Simon Fraser University. He obtained his doctoral degree in economics from SFU in 2012.
Alireza Mahmoudi is a postgraduate student in behavioural science at the Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, Scotland. He is also a graduate in economics from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad.
Suggested Reading:
“Who Said or What Said? Estimating Ideological Bias in Views Among Economists,” (with Ha-Joon Chang, SOAS University of London), 2023, Cambridge Journal of Economics. (link)
“Visible Minorities and Job Mobility: Evidence from a Workplace Panel Survey,” 2020, Journal of Economic Inequality. (link)
“Labour Market Mobility and Early-Career Outcomes of Young Immigrant Men,” (With Andrew McGee, University of Alberta), 2018, IZA Journal of Development and Migration, 8(1):20. (link)
Sound: Alireza Mahmoudi
Music: Reza Nadri
Cover art: Pouya Fatoureh-chi
Content Editor: Alireza Mahmoudi
Produced by Yeganeh Khazaei in the Flybottle Podcast