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Cambridge Journal of Economics 2005 29(6):997-1009; doi:10.1093/cje/bei086
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© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Cambridge Political Economy Society. All rights reserved.

Article

The Dahrendorf hypothesis and its implications for (the theory of) economic policy-making

Jan Schnellenbach*

* Philipps-University Marburg

Address for correspondence: Philipps-University Marburg, Faculty of Economics, Department for Public Finance, Am Plan 2, 35037 Marburg, Germany; email: schnellj{at}staff.uni-marburg.de

Abstract

The sociologist R. Dahrendorf has recently suggested that there is no and there ought to be no convergence of economic policies towards some common ideal model. On the contrary, he states that ‘diversity is [...] at the very heart of a world that has abandoned the need for closed, encompassing systems’. It is shown in this paper that the Dahrendorf hypothesis is difficult to reconcile with orthodox economic approaches to economic policy-making. A perspective on policy-making that introduces either fundamental uncertainty or endogenous policy preferences or both is, however, shown to be consistent with the Dahrendorf hypothesis.

Key Words: Diversity • Evolutionary political economy • Economic policy-making

JEL classifications: B52, D72, D78

Manuscript received January 7, 2004; final version received July 19, 2004.


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