Peer Review, the Research Assessment Exercise and the Demise of Non-Mainstream Economics

Abstract

This article argues that the theoretical and methodological divisions within economics combined with the institutional arrangement of the Research Assessment Exercise and peer review has produced a state affairs which poses a serious risk to the future existence of non-mainstream economics. The conclusion of the article is that, due to the peer review-led Research Assessment Exercise which governs the disbursement of research monies for British universities, non-mainstream economics will be eliminated from British economic departments within ten years.