This is a list of important publications in

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

, organized by field. Some basic 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.

Political economy and economics

''
The Wealth of Nations ''An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations'', usually referred to by its shortened title ''The Wealth of Nations'', is a book by the Scottish people, Scottish economist and moral philosophy, moral philosopher Adam Smith; ...
''

Adam Smith Adam Smith (baptised 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the field of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as the "father of economics"——— or ...

* An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, 1776. * Read it on Wikisource Description: The book is usually considered to be the beginning of modern

. It begins with a discussion of the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

. Later it critiques the

mercantilism Mercantilism is a economic nationalism, nationalist economic policy that is designed to maximize the exports and minimize the imports of an economy. It seeks to maximize the accumulation of resources within the country and use those resources ...

and a synthesis of the emerging economic thinking of his time. It is best known for the idea of the

invisible hand The invisible hand is a metaphor inspired by the Scottish economist and moral philosopher Adam Smith that describes the incentives which free markets sometimes create for self-interested people to accidentally act in the public interest, even ...

, although this idea is only mentioned once in the book. Smith was critical of the "vile maxim" of the "masters of mankind", all for themselves and nothing for other people. 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

''
Principles of Political Economy and Taxation '' the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation'' (19 April 1817) is a book by David Ricardo on economics. The book concludes that land rent grows as population increases. It also presents the theory of comparative advantage, the theory that ...
''

David Ricardo David Ricardo (18 April 1772 – 11 September 1823) was a British political economist, politician, and member of Parliament. He is recognized as one of the most influential classical economists, alongside figures such as Thomas Malthus, Ada ...

* On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, 1817. Description: Elaborates, clarifies and corrects previous theories, and adds important new concepts Importance: Breakthrough, influence (esp on Marx), broadened scientific foundations of economics

''
Das Kapital ''Capital: A Critique of Political Economy'' (), also known as ''Capital'' or (), is the most significant work by Karl Marx and the cornerstone of Marxian economics, published in three volumes in 1867, 1885, and 1894. The culmination of his ...
''

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

* Das Kapital, 1867 * Das Kapital ''on Wikisource''
Annotations, Explanations and Clarifications to Capital
Description: A political-economic treatise by

. Marx wrote this critical analysis of

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

and of the

political economy Political or comparative economy is a branch of political science and economics studying economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and national economies) and their governance by political systems (e.g. law, institutions, and government). Wi ...

from the perspective of historical materialism, the view that history can be understood as a sequence of modes of production in which exploiting classes extract an economic surplus from exploited classes. Importance: Breakthrough, Influence

''
Progress and Poverty ''Progress and Poverty: An Inquiry into the Cause of Industrial Depressions and of Increase of Want with Increase of Wealth: The Remedy'' is an 1879 book by social theorist and economist Henry George. It is a treatise on the questions of why pov ...
''

Henry George Henry George (September 2, 1839 – October 29, 1897) was an American political economist, Social philosophy, social philosopher and journalist. His writing was immensely popular in 19th-century America and sparked several reform movements of ...

Progress and Poverty ''Progress and Poverty: An Inquiry into the Cause of Industrial Depressions and of Increase of Want with Increase of Wealth: The Remedy'' is an 1879 book by social theorist and economist Henry George. It is a treatise on the questions of why pov ...

, 1879. * Progress and Poverty ''on Wikisource'' Description: Describes how poverty in the midst of plenty results from unequal rights to use natural resources, and declining wages in the face of increasing labor productivity results from the Law of Rent. Advocated

Georgism Georgism, in modern times also called Geoism, and known historically as the single tax movement, is an economic ideology holding that people should own the value that they produce themselves, while the economic rent derived from land—includ ...

, specifically a

land value tax A land value tax (LVT) is a levy on the value of land (economics), land without regard to buildings, personal property and other land improvement, improvements upon it. Some economists favor LVT, arguing it does not cause economic efficiency, ec ...

. Importance: Influence, Breakthrough...

Principles of Economics (Menger)

* Carl Menger, 1871. '' Principles of Economics'', trans. from German, 1981.
Link to German version
''Influence'': Credited with co-founding of

marginal utility Marginal utility, in mainstream economics, describes the change in ''utility'' (pleasure or satisfaction resulting from the consumption) of one unit of a good or service. Marginal utility can be positive, negative, or zero. Negative marginal utilit ...

analysis and the

Austrian School of economics The Austrian school is a heterodox school of economic thought that advocates strict adherence to methodological individualism, the concept that social phenomena result primarily from the motivations and actions of individuals along with their ...

Principles of Economics (Marshall)

Alfred Marshall Alfred Marshall (26 July 1842 – 13 July 1924) was an English economist and one of the most influential economists of his time. His book ''Principles of Economics (Marshall), Principles of Economics'' (1890) was the dominant economic textboo ...

, 1890. '' Principles of Economics'', 8th ed., 1920. ''Influence'': Standard text for generations of economics students.

Economics

* Paul A. Samuelson, 1948. ''Economics: An Introductory Analysis'' * _____ and William D. Nordhaus ''

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

'', 19th ed. McGraw-Hill. Importance:: Influential multi-level, best-selling principles textbook that popularized

neoclassical synthesis The neoclassical synthesis (NCS), or neoclassical–Keynesian synthesis Mankiw, N. Gregory. "The Macroeconomist as Scientist and Engineer". '' The Journal of Economic Perspectives''. Vol. 20, No. 4 (Fall, 2006), p. 35. is an academic movement a ...

Keynesian economics Keynesian economics ( ; sometimes Keynesianism, named after British economist John Maynard Keynes) are the various macroeconomics, macroeconomic theories and Economic model, models of how aggregate demand (total spending in the economy) strongl ...

and

neoclassical economics Neoclassical economics is an approach to economics in which the production, consumption, and valuation (pricing) of goods and services are observed as driven by the supply and demand model. According to this line of thought, the value of a go ...

Microeconomics

'' Value and Capital''

* John R. Hicks * Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1939, 1946, 2nd ed. Description: See Importance. Importance: The book ''built'' on ordinal utility and mainstreamed the now-standard distinction between the substitution effect and the income effect for an individual in demand theory in the 2-good case. It generalized analysis to the case of one good and all other goods, that is, the '' composite good''. It aggregated individuals and businesses through demand and supply across the economy. It anticipated the

aggregation problem In economics, an ''aggregate'' is a summary measure. It replaces a vector that is composed of many real numbers by a single real number, or a scalar. Consequently, there occur various problems that are inherent in the formulations that use aggr ...

, most acutely for the stock of capital goods. It introduced

general equilibrium theory In economics, general equilibrium theory attempts to explain the behavior of supply, demand, and prices in a whole economy with several or many interacting markets, by seeking to prove that the interaction of demand and supply will result in an ov ...

to an English-speaking audience, refined the theory, and for the first time attempted a rigorous statement of stability conditions for general equilibrium.

Macroeconomics

Among the most important list of publication in macroeconomics are:

'' General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money''

John Maynard Keynes John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes ( ; 5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946), was an English economist and philosopher whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. Originall ...

, '' General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money'', 1936 Description: In this book, Keynes put forward a theory based upon the notion of

aggregate demand In economics, aggregate demand (AD) or domestic final demand (DFD) is the total demand for final goods and services in an economy at a given time. It is often called effective demand, though at other times this term is distinguished. This is the ...

to explain variations in the overall level of economic activity, such as were observed in the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. The total income in a society is defined by the sum of consumption and investment; and in a state of unemployment and unused production capacity, one can only enhance employment and total income by first increasing expenditures for either consumption or investment. Importance: Topic creator, Breakthrough, Influence

'' A Monetary History of the United States''

Milton Friedman Milton Friedman (; July 31, 1912 – November 16, 2006) was an American economist and statistician who received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and ...

and

Anna Schwartz Anna Jacobson Schwartz (pronounced ; November 11, 1915 – June 21, 2012) was an American economist who worked at the National Bureau of Economic Research in New York City and a writer for ''The New York Times''. Paul Krugman has said that Sch ...

, '' A Monetary History of the United States'', 1963 Description: Friedman and Schwartz used changes in monetary aggregates to explain business cycle fluctuations in the United States economy. Importance: Influence

Game theory

Theory of Games and Economic Behavior

John von Neumann John von Neumann ( ; ; December 28, 1903 – February 8, 1957) was a Hungarian and American mathematician, physicist, computer scientist and engineer. Von Neumann had perhaps the widest coverage of any mathematician of his time, in ...

and

Oskar Morgenstern Oskar Morgenstern (; January 24, 1902 – July 26, 1977) was a German-born economist. In collaboration with mathematician John von Neumann, he is credited with founding the field of game theory and its application to social sciences and strategic ...

* Princeton University Press, 1944 Description: The book by the

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

and

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

. 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 Game theory is the study of mathematical models of strategic interactions. It has applications in many fields of social science, and is used extensively in economics, logic, systems science and computer science. Initially, game theory addressed ...

is based. Game theory has since been widely used to analyze real-world phenomena from

arms race An arms race occurs when two or more groups compete in military superiority. It consists of a competition between two or more State (polity), states to have superior armed forces, concerning production of weapons, the growth of a military, and ...

s 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, Influence

Mathematical economics

Foundations of Economic Analysis ''Foundations of Economic Analysis'' is a book by Paul A. Samuelson published in 1947 (Enlarged ed., 1983) by Harvard University Press. It is based on Samuelson's 1941 doctoral dissertation at Harvard University. The book sought to demonstrate a ...

* Paul A. Samuelson * Harvard University Press (1947, Enlarged ed. 1983) The book showed how operationally meaningful theorems can be described with a small number of analogous methods, thus providing "a general theory of economic theories." It moved mathematics out of the appendices (as in John R. Hicks's Value and Capital) and helped change how standard economic analysis across subjects could be done with the same mathematical methods. Importance and Influence: Accelerated change in standard methods

Econometrics

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

* Granger, Clive William James and Engle, R. F. * Econometrica, 55(2), March, pp. 251–276, 1987. 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: Describes the Dickey–Fuller test. Importance:

The Standard Error of Regressions

* Deirdre McCloskey and Stephen T. Ziliak2004 follow-up study
/ref> *

Journal of Economic Literature The ''Journal of Economic Literature'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal, published by the American Economic Association, that surveys the academic literature in economics. It was established by Arthur Smithies in 1963 as the ''Journal of Econo ...

34: 97–114, 1996. Description: Emphasizes the difference between

statistical significance In statistical hypothesis testing, a result has statistical significance when a result at least as "extreme" would be very infrequent if the null hypothesis were true. More precisely, a study's defined significance level, denoted by \alpha, is the ...

and economic significance, and shows that the understanding is not clear in a review of papers from ''The American Economic Review''. Importance: Raised the caution against "asterisk economics" in econometrics to another level. See McCloskey critique.

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:

Labor Economics

Human Capital Human capital or human assets is a concept used by economists to designate personal attributes considered useful in the production process. It encompasses employee knowledge, skills, know-how, good health, and education. Human capital has a subs ...
: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis, with Special Reference to Education

* Gary S. Becker * Chicago (IL), University of Chicago Press, 1964. Description: Extensive study about the theoretical inclusion and empirical importance of education in production. Importance: Classic study of how investment in an individual's education and training is similar to business investments.

Schooling, Experience, and Earnings

Jacob Mincer Jacob Mincer (July 15, 1922 – August 20, 2006), was a father of modern labor economics. He was Joseph L. Buttenwieser Professor of Economics and Social Relations at Columbia University for most of his active life. Biography Born in Tomaszó ...

* Human Behavior & Social Institutions No. 2, ERIC, 1974. Description: Empirical investigation of the labor market returns to education. Importance: Popularizing the empirical research in that subfield. Coining the so-called "Mincer equation".

Behavioral economics

Advances in Behavioral Economics

* Camerer, C., Loewenstein, G., and M. Rabin. * Princeton (NJ), Princeton University Press, 2003 Description: Definitive one-volume resource on the field. Importance: Introduction

Judgment Under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases

* Tversky, A., and D. Kahneman. * Science 185: 1124–31, 1974 Description: Importance:

Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk

* Kahneman, D., and A. Tversky. * Econometrica 47: 263–91, 1979. Description: In this article,

Prospect theory Prospect theory is a theory of behavioral economics, judgment and decision making that was developed by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky in 1979. The theory was cited in the decision to award Kahneman the 2002 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics. ...

, a descriptive theory of choices under uncertainty, is introduced, bringing together ideas from psychology ( framing and probability weighting) and economics (

expected utility The expected utility hypothesis is a foundational assumption in mathematical economics concerning decision making under uncertainty. It postulates that rational agents maximize utility, meaning the subjective desirability of their actions. Ratio ...

). Importance: Topic creator, Breakthrough

Irrational Behavior and Economic Theory

* Becker, G. Becker, G. (1962). "Irrational Behavior and Economic Theory", ''Journal of Political Economy'', 70(1), 1–13. (Accessed: June 8, 2021). * Journal of Political Economy 70: 1-13, 1962. Description: In this paper, Becker demonstrates that neoclassical economic demand curves follow simply from the fact that compensated price changes in the goods available to consumers with fixed budget sets cause corresponding shifts in the consumption opportunity sets of those consumers and thus do not require any assumptions about the rationality of market participants to justify their use. Importance: Potentially debunks any economic policy or market level analysis implications of the field of behavioral economics.

Experimental economics

Experimental Economics: Rethinking the Rules

* Nicholas Bardsley, Robin Cubitt, Graham Loomes, Peter Moffatt, Chris Starmer & Robert Sugden * Princeton (NJ), Princeton University Press, 2005. Description: A first structured and methodical survey of economic methods, with a focus on methodology. Importance: Consolidation of the field, methodological issues.

Behavioral Game Theory

* Camerer, C.F. * Princeton (NJ), Princeton University Press, 2003. Description: A 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 experimental economics handbook. Importance: Introduction, Influence

Finance

Portfolio Theory

Harry Markowitz Harry Max Markowitz (August 24, 1927 – June 22, 2023) was an American economist who received the 1989 John von Neumann Theory Prize and the 1990 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. Markowitz was a professor of finance at the Rady Scho ...

* "Portfolio Selection", Journal of Finance, 7 (1), 1952, 77–91. Description: Development of the

utility In economics, utility is a measure of a certain person's satisfaction from a certain state of the world. Over time, the term has been used with at least two meanings. * In a normative context, utility refers to a goal or objective that we wish ...

framework which shows an optimum can be reached using a portfolio of investments. In effect the first real proof that you should not put all your eggs in one basket. Importance: Precursor to most

modern portfolio theory Modern portfolio theory (MPT), or mean-variance analysis, is a mathematical framework for assembling a portfolio of assets such that the expected return is maximized for a given level of risk. It is a formalization and extension of Diversificatio ...

work in finance.

Capital asset pricing model

* William F. 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 In finance, the capital asset pricing model (CAPM) is a model used to determine a theoretically appropriate required rate of return of an asset, to make decisions about adding assets to a Diversification (finance), well-diversified Portfolio (f ...

used to determine appropriate prices for

asset In financial accounting, an asset is any resource owned or controlled by a business or an economic entity. It is anything (tangible or intangible) that can be used to produce positive economic value. Assets represent value of ownership that can b ...

s. Importance: Topic creator, Influence

The pricing of options and corporate liabilities

Fischer Black Fischer Sheffey Black (January 11, 1938 – August 30, 1995) was an American economist, best known as one of the authors of the Black–Scholes equation. Working variously at the University of Chicago, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, ...

and

Myron Scholes Myron Samuel Scholes ( ; born July 1, 1941) is a Canadian– American financial economist. Scholes is the Frank E. Buck Professor of Finance, Emeritus, at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, and co-ori ...

* "The Pricing of Options and Corporate Liabilities" ''

Journal of Political Economy The ''Journal of Political Economy'' is a monthly peer-reviewed academic journal published by the University of Chicago Press. Established by James Laurence Laughlin in 1892, it covers both theoretical and empirical economics. In the past, the ...

'' 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 A financial market is a market in which people trade financial securities and derivatives at low transaction costs. Some of the securities include stocks and bonds, raw materials and precious metals, which are known in the financial marke ...

, and has been extended by numerous refinements. Importance: Breakthrough, Influence

Socioeconomics

Ecological economics

The Entropy Law and the Economic Process (1971, Harvard University Press) by Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen. Steady-State Economics (2nd edition, 1991, Island Press) by Herman Daly Natural Capitalism, Paul Hawken Small Is Beautiful, E.F. Schumacher

Consumer theory

''Economics and Consumer Behavior'', Deaton & Muellbauer, Cambridge.

Production theory

Industrial organization

The theory of Industrial Organisation

* Tirole, Jean Description: Importance:

Sunk costs and industry structure

*Sutton Description: Importance:

Managerial economics

* Png, Ivan (2002)
''Managerial Economics''
2nd edition, Malden, MA: Blackwell. * Png, Ivan (2005)

Asia-Pacific edition, Singapore: Pearson Education Asia.

Development economics

* The Theory of Economic Growth (1955) Arthur Lewis Description: First modern development economics textbook Importance: Introduction * Development microeconomics (1999) Pranab Bardhan and Christopher Udry, Oxford Description: Widely used textbook. Importance: Introduction * Development macroeconomics – Pierre-Richard Agénor and Peter J. Montiel. Description: Widely used textbook. Importance: Introduction
Development Economics through the Decades: A Critical Look at 30 Years of the World Development Report
(2009) – Shahid Yusuf. Description: examines the last 30 years of development economics, viewed through the World Bank's World Development Reports. * The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for our time (2005) Jeffrey Sachs

Welfare economics

The Economics of Welfare

Arthur Cecil Pigou Arthur Cecil Pigou (; 18 November 1877 – 7 March 1959) was an English economist. As a teacher and builder of the School of Economics at the University of Cambridge, he trained and influenced many Cambridge economists who went on to take chair ...

* The Economics of Welfare, 4th ed. 1932 Description: Pigou was one of the most influential economists that dealt with

Welfare economics Welfare economics is a field of economics that applies microeconomic techniques to evaluate the overall well-being (welfare) of a society. The principles of welfare economics are often used to inform public economics, which focuses on the ...

. He developed the idea of Pigovian tax. Importance: Topic creator, breakthrough, influence

Collective Choice and Social Welfare

Amartya Sen Amartya Kumar Sen (; born 3 November 1933) is an Indian economist and philosopher. Sen has taught and worked in England and the United States since 1972. In 1998, Sen received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions ...

* ''Collective Choice and Social Welfare'', 1970 Description: Inspired renewed interest in basic welfare issues, mentioned in Sen's Nobel citation Importance: Influence

Health economics

Uncertainty and the Welfare Economics of Medical Care

Kenneth Arrow Kenneth Joseph Arrow (August 23, 1921 – February 21, 2017) was an American economist, mathematician and political theorist. He received the John Bates Clark Medal in 1957, and the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1972, along with ...

* American Economic Review 53(5): 941–973, 1963 Description: Explores the "specific differentia of medical care as the object of normative economics", demonstrating that the consideration of uncertainty is key to understanding markets in health care. Importance: Generally considered a seminal work of enduring significance; key to the foundation of health economics as a field of study.

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. * Culyer AJ., McGuire TG. and Barros PP. (Eds) Volume 2. Elsevier: Amsterdam, 2011. 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.

Institutional economics

* * * * *

Law and economics

Posner, Richard A. "Economic Analysis of Law." (1973)

References

External links

UTS working paper series

{{Authority control Publications In Economics