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Kevin Douglas Hoover

Professor of Economics
Economics
Box 90097, Durham, NC 27708-0097
07B Social Sciences, Box 90097, Durham, NC 27708

Overview


Professor Hoover's research interests include macroeconomics, monetary economics, the history of economics, and the philosophy and methodology of empirical economics. His recent work in economics has focused on the application of causal search methodologies for structural vector autoregression, the history of microfoundational programs in macroeconomics, and Roy Harrod's early work on dynamic macroeconomics. In philosophy, he has concentrated on issues related to causality, especially in economics, and on reductionism -- the philosophical counterpart to microfoundations. Recent publications include:
  • "Trygve Haavelmo's Experimental Methodology and Scenario Analysis in a Cointegrated Vector Autoregression" (Econometric Theory, 2015), 
  • "Reductionism in Economics:  Intentionality and Eschatological Justification in the Microfoundations of Macroeconomics" (Philosophy of Science 2015), 
  • "Mathematical Economics Comes to America:  Charles S. Peirce’s Engagement with Cournot’s Recherches sur les Principes Mathematiques de la Théorie des Richesses" (Journal of the History of Economic Thought, 2015), 
  • "The Genesis of Samuelson and Solow’s Price-Inflation Phillips Curve" (History of Economics Review, 2015), 
  • "Solow's Harrod: Transforming Cyclical Dynamics into a Model of Long-run Growth" (European Journal of the History of Economic Thought 2015), 
  • "In the Kingdom of Solovia:  The Rise of Growth Economics at MIT, 1956-1970" (History of Political Economy 2014), 
  • “Still Puzzling: Evaluating the Price Puzzle in an Empirically Identified Structural Vector Autoregression” (Empirical Economics, 2014),
  • "On the Reception of Haavelmo's Econometric Thought" (Journal of the History of Economic Thought, 2014) – winner of the History of Economics Society Best Paper Award in 2015.  

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Professor of Economics · 2006 - Present Economics, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Professor of Philosophy · 2006 - Present Philosophy, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

In the News


Published August 30, 2018
Duke Center Expands Commitment to the History of Economics

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Recent Publications


Who Runs the AEA?

Journal Article Journal of Economic Literature · September 1, 2023 The leadership structure of the American Economic Association is documented using a biographical database covering every officer and losing candidate for AEA offices from 1950 to 2019. The analysis focuses on institutional affiliations by education and emp ... Full text Cite

The struggle for the soul of macroeconomics

Journal Article Journal of Economic Methodology · January 1, 2023 Critics argued that the 2007–09 financial crisis was failure of macroeconomics, locating its source in the dynamic, stochastic general-equilibrium model and calling for fundamental re-orientation of the field. Critics exaggerated the role of DSGE models in ... Full text Cite
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Recent Grants


Models and Causal Structure in Econometric Analysis

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2010 - 2012

Teaching the History of Political Economy

ResearchFaculty Member · Awarded by National Endowment for the Humanities · 2009 - 2010

The Uses of Economics: History and Future (Conference)

ConferencePrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation · 2009 - 2010

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Education, Training & Certifications


University of Oxford (United Kingdom) · 1985 Ph.D.
University of Oxford (United Kingdom) · 1983 M.A.
University of Oxford (United Kingdom) · 1979 B.A.

External Links


Personal Website