Picking on Pike*y. On Social Status and Academic Standing. Sacha Raoult Aix- Marseille Université University of Chicago

Transcription

1 Picking on Pike*y On Social Status and Academic Standing Sacha Raoult Aix- Marseille Université University of Chicago

2 Preliminaries I assume you are familiar with PikeDy s book PosiGve reviews : Krugman, Solow CriGcal reviews : Eric Posner, Galbraith Meta- review : Fuchs, ChrisGan. "Thomas PikeDy s Book Capital in the Twenty- First Century, Karl Marx and the PoliGcal Economy of the Internet." Communica)on, Capitalism & Cri)que. Open Access Journal for a Global Sustainable Informa)on Society 12, no. 1 (2014): /1/14 SACHA RAOULT, PICKING ON PIKETTY (WORK IN PROGRESS) 2

3 Outline A. Informed Knowledge from Research in Other Areas: taking a posi)on on a polarizing ques)on in public policy research is itself associated with certain types of academic careers 1. What s a polarizing quesgon? 2. How do we analyze an academic career? B. Are academic reviews of PikeDy s Capital consistent with this? 1. SeparaGng polarizing and non- polarizing quesgons in PikeDy reviews. 2. Is taking a posigon on polarizing quesgons associated with a certain type of career? C. TentaGve explanagons of the recurring paderns 12/1/14 SACHA RAOULT, PICKING ON PIKETTY (WORK IN PROGRESS) 3

4 What s a polarizing ques>on in public policy? Hierarchizing opinions on a given subject along a single dimension The quesgon in not polarizing if the frequency of those opinions follow a Gaussian distribugon or a slice of a Gaussian distribugon Non- polarizing 12/1/14 SACHA RAOULT, PICKING ON PIKETTY (WORK IN PROGRESS) 5

5 What s a polarizing ques>on in public policy? Non- polarizing 12/1/14 SACHA RAOULT, PICKING ON PIKETTY (WORK IN PROGRESS) 6

6 What s a polarizing ques>on in public policy? Non- polarizing Polarizing 12/1/14 SACHA RAOULT, PICKING ON PIKETTY (WORK IN PROGRESS) 7

7 Example of a non- polarizing ques>on What's the weather like in Chicago? (according to Yahoo answers) What are the consequences of economic inequality? ( academic literature) best good mixed bad worst bad mixed none 2 Raoult, S. Research Conclusions and Social PosiGon of Academics in Public Policy Research, work- in- progress 12/1/14 SACHA RAOULT, PICKING ON PIKETTY (WORK IN PROGRESS) 9

8 Example of a polarizing ques>on Should we ban the burqa in UK? (according to Yahoo answers) Does the death penalty deter homicide? ( academic literature) no somegmes yes no mixed yes Raoult, S. Research Conclusions and Social PosiGon of Academics in Public Policy Research, work- in- progress 12/1/14 SACHA RAOULT, PICKING ON PIKETTY (WORK IN PROGRESS) 11

9 Pike*y book reviews Trends of growing inequality r > g Tax policies Journalists Non- polarizing (A) Non- polarizing (A) Non- polarizing (D) Academics Non- polarizing (A) Polarizing Non- polarizing (M) Others Polarizing Non- polarizing (M) Non- polarizing (M) 12/1/14 SACHA RAOULT, PICKING ON PIKETTY (WORK IN PROGRESS) 16

10 Polariza>on and social posi>ons of academics Status Polarizing Non- polarizing Death Penalty Guns and violence Actuarial Methods Polarizing Polarizing Polarizing SystemaGcally significant differences in career types Predictable padern No significant differences in career types ImmigraGon and crime Polarizing Crime Drop Non- polarizing EducaGon Inequality Non- polarizing Cons. Of Wealth Inequality Non- polarizing 12/1/14 SACHA RAOULT, PICKING ON PIKETTY (WORK IN PROGRESS) 18

11 Career maps 12/1/14 SACHA RAOULT, PICKING ON PIKETTY (WORK IN PROGRESS) 19

12 Scien>fic produc>on 12/1/14 SACHA RAOULT, PICKING ON PIKETTY (WORK IN PROGRESS) 20

13 Scien>fic produc>on 12/1/14 SACHA RAOULT, PICKING ON PIKETTY (WORK IN PROGRESS) 21

14 Financial and poli>cal rela>ons 12/1/14 SACHA RAOULT, PICKING ON PIKETTY (WORK IN PROGRESS) 22

15 Financial and poli>cal rela>ons 12/1/14 SACHA RAOULT, PICKING ON PIKETTY (WORK IN PROGRESS) 23

16 Media presence 12/1/14 SACHA RAOULT, PICKING ON PIKETTY (WORK IN PROGRESS) 24

17 Media presence 12/1/14 SACHA RAOULT, PICKING ON PIKETTY (WORK IN PROGRESS) 25

18 Polariza>on and social posi>ons of academics Status Polarizing Non- polarizing Death Penalty Guns and violence Actuarial Methods ImmigraGon and crime Crime Drop EducaGon Inequality Cons. Of Wealth Inequality Polarizing Polarizing Polarizing Polarizing Non- polarizing Non- polarizing Non- polarizing SystemaGcally significant differences in carreers types Progressives above conservagves «Mixed» will always track very closely the progressive or conservagve career type Some evidence of a further divide inside the progressive camp No significant differences in career types 12/1/14 SACHA RAOULT, PICKING ON PIKETTY (WORK IN PROGRESS) 26

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20 Financial and Poli>cal Support Contrary to what should be expected from the difference in careers, academics who disagreed with PikeDy s «r > g» tended to report more financial and poligcal support Ø Financing of own research by private grants Ø Financing of own research by public grants Ø ConsulGng for private firms Ø ReporGng for public commissions 12/1/14 SACHA RAOULT, PICKING ON PIKETTY (WORK IN PROGRESS) 29

21 Tenta>ve explana>ons Career as a proxy for demographics Career as an indicator of belonging to certain research communiges 12/1/14 SACHA RAOULT, PICKING ON PIKETTY (WORK IN PROGRESS) 30

22 In Pike*y case, differences in demographics are not significant Debate is almost exclusively male No significant difference in age, although disagreeing academics tend to be younger No significant differences in educagon, although disagreeing academics tend to have been educated in lower- ranked insgtugons 12/1/14 SACHA RAOULT, PICKING ON PIKETTY (WORK IN PROGRESS) 35

23 Career as an indicator of belonging to certain research communi>es q Debate in top schools tends to be more homogeous 12/1/14 SACHA RAOULT, PICKING ON PIKETTY (WORK IN PROGRESS) 36

24 Career as an indicator of belonging to certain research communi>es q About half of the PikeDy reviews emanate from the Top 40 schools q The strongest support for PikeDy comes from about half of this group q Disagreement with PikeDy comes from the other half of this group and from most of the other academics 12/1/14 SACHA RAOULT, PICKING ON PIKETTY (WORK IN PROGRESS) 37

25 Career as an indicator of belonging to certain research communi>es q In top schools, the debate tends to focus on the weight to give to certain «oversights» in PikeDy s work (U.S. supersalaries, assumpgons about savings), whether the author consider these oversights to be detrimental or not to PikeDy s main point 12/1/14 SACHA RAOULT, PICKING ON PIKETTY (WORK IN PROGRESS) 38

26 Career as an indicator of belonging to certain research communi>es q In top schools, the debate tend to focus on the weight to give to certain «oversights» in PikeDy s work (U.S. supersalaries, assumpgons about savings), whether the author consider these oversights to be detrimental or not to PikeDy s main point q In other places, authors tend to reject PikeDy s approach and offer an alternagve framework that they believe are beder fit for PikeDy s data 12/1/14 SACHA RAOULT, PICKING ON PIKETTY (WORK IN PROGRESS) 39

27 Sacha Raoult Aix- Marseille Université University of Chicago 12/1/14 SACHA RAOULT, PICKING ON PIKETTY (WORK IN PROGRESS) 40