Hierarchies of expertise and the early days of research at the World Bank

Laskaridis, Christina (2025) Hierarchies of expertise and the early days of research at the World Bank. Journal of Economic Methodology. ISSN 1350-178x

Text (Hierarchies of expertise and the early days of research at the World Bank) - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (788kB)

Abstract

While there has been no shortage of recent work that has tried to understand the power of economists and prevalence of economic mode of thinking, far less has been said about the instances where economists were unable to exert influence. While power struggles between economists have most often been the subject of investigation within the academe, the struggle for influence for different types of economic expertise within policy institutions is understudied. This paper examines the different understandings of debt repayment prospects that developed in the World Bank during its first twenty years of operation. The organisation’s internal structure reflected conflicts between different departments that left economists in the research department in the weaker position. Economists’ epistemic authority is intimately related to the organisation of expertise and the alignment to management’s objectives, as well as formality of economists’ tools.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2025 The Author
Divisions:	LSE
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HG Finance H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory
Date Deposited:	15 Apr 2025 13:15
Last Modified:	13 May 2025 09:21
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/127951

Actions (login required)

View Item