Economic knowledge and the scientization of policy advice

Area of Science:

• Social Sciences
• Economics
• Public Policy

Background:

• The influence of economic expertise in policy-making is a growing area of scholarly interest.
• Existing research has not sufficiently connected this trend to public policy and administration debates, particularly concerning policy advisory systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To bridge the gap between the study of economic expertise and public policy.
• To examine the evolving reliance on academic economic knowledge within Norwegian policy advisory bodies.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of appointments to Norwegian advisory commissions in economic policy over the past 45 years.
• Examination of citation patterns within these commissions to assess the use of economic literature.

Main Results:

• A significant increase in the number of academic economists appointed to policy commissions.
• A marked rise in citations of economic literature within these advisory bodies.
• An observable shift towards citing research from prestigious international economics publications.

Conclusions:

• The findings suggest a 'scientization' of policy advice in the economic field.
• There is an increasing dependence on academic economic expertise for policy analysis and argumentation.