After a lengthy debate, the largest German-speaking economists' association decided on a new code of ethics on Wednesday evening.

"The result is very gratifying," commented the association's chairman Georg Weizsäcker on the decision.

In the end, the majority in favor of the new rules was “very clear”.

Tillmann Neuscheler

Editor in business.

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Before that, however, there was intense struggle for individual formulations for almost four hours. The members went through the individual rules one more time, point by point. "Everything that overshot the target and threatened to restrict academic freedom has been eliminated," said the economist Rüdiger Bachmann after the meeting. "In the end we reached a very good central - and thoroughly liberal - compromise."

While the previous code was limited to rules of conduct for scientific work, in future there will also be ethical rules for the everyday work of the around 4,000 members of the association.

For example, it was decided that economists should undertake not to create “a hostile environment” at their chairs and research institutes and not to harass anyone.

In addition, they should “strive for an inclusive work environment”.

Not without controversy

The reform was not without controversy within the association.

Some critics saw this as too much ingratiation to the “woken” zeitgeist that spilled over from America.

The critics were bothered by the originally intended formulation that harassment also includes “unnecessary, exaggerated or unjustified attention”.

This passage was deleted at the end.

"We removed all formulations that were too strongly geared towards the subjective concern of individuals," explains Bachmann. “It is not enough for an individual to feel personally attacked by a colleague. But it is a violation of our new code if other 'sensible people' see such an attack as an attack. "

Bachmann believes that the new code sets an example for a “better climate” in German-speaking economics. The step is important and overdue. “In fact, in economics we have a problem with a lack of diversity and a lack of inclusion. Women are disadvantaged in the publication process. This has been proven by studies. ”The Dortmund macroeconomist Philip Jung also praised the compromise: The board of directors had“ taken seriously the factual concerns that were reflected in the run-up, ”he writes on Twitter.  

In 2012 the Verein für Socialpolitik had given itself its own code of ethics for the first time.

The reason for the introduction of ethical rules were allegations against some American economists who had accepted fees from banks, companies, associations or hedge funds - without making the conflicts of interest for their research transparent to the outside world.

At that time, the Verein für Socialpolitik followed the example of the American Economic Association, which had recently issued a code of conduct.