List of important publications in economics
This is a list of important publications in economics, organized by field.
Some reasons why a particular publication might be regarded as important:
- Topic creator – A publication that created a new topic
- Breakthrough – A publication that changed scientific knowledge significantly
- Influence – A publication which has significantly influenced the world or has had a massive impact on the teaching of economics.
Among the most important list of publication in economics are:
- Adam Smith
- An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, 1776.
- Online version
Description: The book is usually considered to be the beginning of modern economics. It begins with a discussion of the Industrial Revolution. Later it critiques the mercantilism and a synthesis of the emerging economic thinking of his time. It is mostly known due to the idea of The Invisible Hand which is an often quoted phrase from the book. Its meaning is that people will unintentionally improve their community through pursuit of their own wants and needs. The Butcher, the Baker, and the Brewer provide goods and services to each other out of self-interest; the unplanned result of this division of labor is a better standard of living for all three.
Importance: Topic creator, Breakthrough, Influence, Introduction
- Karl Marx
- Das Kapital, 1867
- Capital, Volume I: The Process of Production of Capital
- Capital, Volume II: The Process of Circulation of Capital
- Capital, Volume III: The Process of Capitalist Production as a Whole
- Annotations, Explanations and Clarifications to Capital.
Description: Das Kapital is a political-economic treatise by Karl Marx. The book is a critical analysis of capitalism and of the political economy practices during his time. Marx bases his work on that of the classical economists like Adam Smith, David Ricardo, and even Benjamin Franklin. However, he applies these authors' ideas critically and carefully, so his book is more a critical synthesis than it follows the lead of any one thinker.
Importance: Breakthrough, Influence
- John Maynard Keynes
- General Theory of Employment Interest and Money, 1936
- Online version
Description: The General Theory of Employment Interest and Money is generally considered to be the masterwork of the English economist John Maynard Keynes. To a great extent it created the terminology of modern macro-economics. It was published in February 1936. The book ushered in a revolution, referred to as the "Keynesian Revolution", in the way economists and men in public affairs thought about the economy, and especially how they thought about the feasibility and wisdom of public sector management of the aggregate level of demand in the economy.
Importance: Topic creator, Breakthrough, Influence
- John Von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern
- Princeton University Press, 1944
Description: a book by the mathematician John von Neumann and economist Oskar Morgenstern. It contained a mathematical theory of economic and social organization, based on a theory of games of strategy.
This is now a classic work, upon which modern-day game theory is based. Game theory has since been widely used to analyze real-world phenomena from arms races to optimal policy choices of presidential candidates, from vaccination policy to major league baseball salary negotiations. It is today established, both throughout the social sciences and in a wide range of other sciences.
Importance:Topic creator, impact
A New Framework for Testing Rationality and Measuring Aggregate Shocks Using Panel Data
- Davies, A. and Lahiri, K.
- Journal of Econometrics 68: 205-227, 1995.
Description:
Importance:
'Cointegration and Error Correction: Representation, Estimation and Testing
Description:
Importance:
Handbook of Econometrics
- Griliches, Zvi and Intrigilator, M. D. (eds.)
- Handbook of Econometrics, Five volumes (Amsterdam: North-Holland), 1984.
Description:
Importance:
Analysis of Panel Data
- Hsiao, C.
- Econometric Society Monograph, 1986.
Description:
Importance:
Distribution of the Estimators for Autoregressive Time Series with a Unit Root
- Dickey, D. A. and Fuller, W. A
- Journal of the American Statistical Association 74: 427-431, 1979.
Description:
Importance:
Policy Evaluation: A Critique
- Lucas , Robert E. Junior
- in Brunner, K. and Meltzer, A. H. (eds.) The Phillips Curve and Labour Markets, Journal of Monetary Economics (Supplement), 1(xx), xx, pp. 19-46, 1976.
Description:
Importance:
Advances in Behavioral Economics
- Camerer, C., Loewenstein, G., and M. Rabin.
- Princeton (NJ), Princeton University Press, 2003
Description:
Importance: Definitive one-volume resource on the field.
Judgment Under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases
Description:
Importance:
Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk
Description:
Importance:
Behavioral Game Theory
- Camerer, C.F.
- Princeton (NJ), Princeton University Press, 2003.
Description: A new and insightfull handbook for advanced experimental and behavioral economics students.
Importance: Introduction
The Handbook of Experimental Economics
- Kagel, J. H. and Roth, A. E. (eds.)
- Princeton (NJ), Princeton University Press, 1995.
Description: The most influential experimental economics handbook.
Importance: Introduction, Influence
Capital asset pricing model
- William Forsyth Sharpe
- "Capital asset prices: A theory of market equilibrium under conditions of risk", Journal of Finance, 19 (3), 1964, 425-442
Description: Development of the Capital asset pricing model used to determine appropriate prices for assets.
Importance: Topic creator, Influence
The pricing of options and corporate liabilities
- Fischer Black and Myron Scholes
- "The Pricing of Options and Corporate Liabilities" Journal of Political Economy 81, 1973, 637-654.
Description: It developed the Black-Scholes model for determining the price of options, in particular stock options. The use of the Black-Scholes formula has become pervasive in financial markets, and has been extended by numerous refinements.
Importance: Influence
Description: The Theory of Moral Sentiments written by Adam Smith in 1759, is one of the most important works in the theory of capitalism. It provides the ethical, philosophical, psychological and methodological underpinnings to Smith's later works.
Importance: Topic creator, Influence
Decisions, Uncertainty, and the Brain: The Science of Neuroeconomics
- Glimcher, Paul
- MIT Press, 2003
Description: First book length treatment of the field.
Importance:
The theory of Industrial Organisation
- Tirole
Description:
Importance:
Industrial Organization
- Shy
Description:
Importance:
Industrial Organisation
- Pepal
Description:
Importance:
Industrial organisation - a strategic appraoch
- Churche/Ware
Description:
Importance:
Sunk costs and industry structure
- Sutton
Description:
Importance:
- Png, Ivan (2002), Managerial Economics, 2nd edition, Malden, MA: Blackwell.
- Png, Ivan (2005), Managerial Economics, Asia-Pacific edition, Singapore: Pearson Education Asia.
- Development macroeconomics - Pierre-Richard Agénor and Peter J. Montiel.
Description: Widely used text book.
Importance: Introduction
The Economics of Welfare
- Arthur Cecil Pigou
- The Economics of Welfare, 4th ed. 1932
- The Economics of Welfare
Description: Pigou was the one of the most influential economists that dealt with Welfare economics. He developed the idea of Pigovian tax.
Importance: Topic creator, Breakthrough, Influence
The Economics of Health and Health Care
- Folland S., Goodman AC. and Stano M.
- (4th edition). New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2001.
Description: The standard health economics textbook in most leading universities. It assumes some background knowledge in economics.
Importance: Introduction
Handbook of Health Economics
- Culyer AJ. and Newhouse JP. (eds)
- Volumes 1A and 1B. Elsevier: Amsterdam, 2000.
Description: The most comprehensive available collection of essays on contemporary health economics. Advanced readers will appreciate its mathematical rigor. Those who are seeking research or dissertation topics should find this two-volume set to be an invaluable resource.
Importance: