Introduction

Abstract

Economists such as Alvin Roth and Esther Duflo have recently argued that economics in the late twentieth century has evolved from (social) science to engineering. On the other hand, historians such as Mary Morgan and Michel Armatte have argued that the transformation of economics into an engineering science has been a century-long development. Turning away from the “economics as engineering” analogy, our introduction suggests an alternative approach to account for the presumed transformation of economics into an engineering science. We encourage the development of a history of “economics and engineering,” which depicts how these two types of knowledge—and the communities who produce them—have interacted in various institutional and national contexts. Drawing on the contributions to this 2020 annual supplement of HOPE, we show how these narratives may help change the historiography of twentieth-century economics.

The Development and Progress of Engineering Economics: A Retrospect and Prospect Based on Visual Analysis

“…Although scholars in the field have devoted themselves to the construction of theoretical models due to the rigorous social science attribute of economics, they have realized that the research in economics should not focus solely on academic discussions, but also on solving problems in reallife situations (Duarte & Giraud, 2020a). Correspondingly, engineering is concerned with the combination of theory and practice, that is, adopting the most appropriate compound methodology including scientific knowledge and accumulated experience to accomplish the best practice relying on the actual situation (Su & Colander, 2021).…”

“…Correspondingly, engineering is concerned with the combination of theory and practice, that is, adopting the most appropriate compound methodology including scientific knowledge and accumulated experience to accomplish the best practice relying on the actual situation (Su & Colander, 2021). Thus, engineering provides effective tools for better integrating the principles and policies of economics into the socioeconomic environment, while economics helps to clarify and realize the pursuit of profit in engineering practice (Duarte & Giraud, 2020a).…”