Traditions in Economics : The Case of Scottish Political Economy 1

A number of commentators have recently identified a 'uniquely Scottish mode of thought in economics', or a particular 'Scottish political economy tradition'. In this paper the concept of tradition, defined as those features common to practitioners over a relatively long period, is investigated in relation to 'school', 'paradigm' and 'research programme'. An application of the concept to the Scottish Enlightenment period suggests that its use is in line with the philosophical approach of Adam Smith, and shows that the concept allows account to be taken of external institutional/historical influences in interpreting the history of economics. JEL Classifications: B0; B1; B4. * Department of Economics, Glasgow Caledonian University, Cowcaddens Road, Glasgow G4 0BA ** Department of Economics, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA. *** Department of Political Economy, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8RT. Contact: Sheila Dow Tel: 01786-467474; Fax: 01786-467469; e-mail: [email protected]