Dan Klein, Carrie Milton, and David Hedengren are starting a new project, namely a study of petitions signed by economists. Their list is here, can you add to it? This is part of a longer-term project to understand the behavior of economists and to treat us as rational, maximizing agents, not just disinterested truth-seekers.
I wonder why institutions bother to generate petitions signed by economists. Is it to influence the world? To signal which economists are on their side? To cultivate better connections with economists and create an excuse to contact them and affiliate with them? Something else?
I've signed petitions once or twice but in general I don't like doing it, in part because I don't understand the game I am playing in doing so.
I will never sign a petition that I haven’t read. I will also not sign a petition that I don’t 100% agree with. Time constraints for the former and unusual preferences on the latter means that I never sign petitions. I will more readily sign petitions needed to get political candidates (such as school board members) on the ballot. The bar there is lower for me, because signing just indicates that I think the candidate is worthy of being on the ballot.
Given the first two sentences of liberalarts’, I sign petitions to help get my name out there!:-)
These petitions can serve a specific purpose for the organization behind them. Notice that most of the petitions are by think tanks or similar university-affiliated groups. Putting a petition out in the public (often as an ad in a newspaper) brings attention to the organization. If the petition is at all controversial the organization’s scholars will find it easier to place op-eds and will likely be invited to appear on TV and radio.
The appearance of all the other names on the list just causes more controversy/lends credibility to the organization and the scholars it employs.
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