1995/05/01 by Jacques Dréze · 1 citation
Decision Sciences · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Auction Theory and Applications #Economic theories and models #Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth
paper · pdf · doi:10.1257/jep.9.2.111
openalex publication_date 1995/05/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
This paper presents a personal perspective on the field of public economics with emphasis on the interplay of theory and applications. In the early 1950s, theoretical developments grew out of practical applications. Yet, few economists succeed in creatively linking theory to real problems and our professional organization fails to promote adequately such contributions. The author also discusses briefly the success of public economics, its fragmentation into subfields, and its relation to macroeconomics. The writing of this paper was prompted by the author's participation in editing a volume of selected papers by William Vickrey, whose work is exemplary of the perspective presented here.