Abstract

Economists are still largely thought of as scientists who merely observe markets from the outside, like astronomers looking at the stars. Do Economists Make Markets? boldly challenges this view. It is the first book dedicated to the controversial question of whether economics is performative – of whether economics, in some cases, actually produces the phenomena it analyzes.

The book's case studies include financial derivatives markets, telecommunications-frequency auctions, individual transferable quotas in fisheries, strawberry auctions, and land reform in developing countries. These cases give substance to the notion of the performativity of economics in an accessible, nontechnical way. Some chapters defend the notion; others attack it vigorously. The book ends with an extended chapter in which Michel Callon, the idea's main formulator, reflects upon the debate and asks what it means to say economics is performative.

這本書探討經濟學家算不算用理論「創造」了市場。

實例個案包括法國士多啤梨的拍賣場、英美的電訊頻譜拍賣、計算期權價格的Black-Scholes理論、挪威的捕魚配額，與發展中國家的土地改革。

主線是「理論」與「現實」之間的知識論爭議。經濟學家幹的，不只利用「科學方法」描述客觀事實，而是一面建構知識體系，同步在塑造市場現實。

知與行、心和物，加上conditions of felicity（像權力與社會文化背景）和物質條件同時逐步結合，才會對現實市場發揮改變力量。這過程並非像Austin說的，單純用語言，變魔術似的憑空成就。

本書並試圖為performativity這種形上學的迴路反饋情況作細緻分類。十一章內容，包括多位作者的辯論，及由Michel Callon撰寫的總結。