Steven G. Medema | Scholars@Duke

Steven G. Medema
Research Professor of Economics

Steven Medema’s research focuses on the history of modern economics, though his writings range over subjects as diverse as the Ancient Greeks, Adam Smith, and British philosopher Henry Sidgwick. The thread that unites much of his research is the analysis of the interplay between markets and government in the history of economic ideas. His current project, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute for New Economic Thinking, examines the history of the Coase theorem and its influence in economics, law, and beyond. Professor Medema serves as an associate editor or editorial board member of several history of economics journals and was editor of the Journal of the History of Economic Thought from 1999 – 2008. He also serves as the Associate Director of the Center for the History of Political Economy at Duke.

Current Appointments & Affiliations

Research Professor of Economics, Economics, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2019

Contact Information

07F Social Sciences Bldg., Box 90097, Durham, NC 27708
Box 90097, Durham, NC 27708
steven.medema@duke.edu (919) 660-1802
Personal Website

Background
Education, Training, & Certifications
- Ph.D., Michigan State University 1989
- A.B., Calvin College 1985
Duke Appointment History
- Research Associate in the School of Law, Duke Law School, Duke University 2019 - 2020
Research
Selected Grants
- Challenging Law's Foundations: The Coase Theorem Controversy in Legal Analysis awarded by Institute for Humane Studies 2020 - 2021
Publications & Artistic Works
Selected Publications
- Books
  - Irwin, D. A., and S. G. Medema. Jacob Viner: Lectures in economics 301, 2017. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203788110.
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  - Medema, S. G. The "subtle processes of economic reasoning": Marshall, becker, and Theorizing about economic Man and other-regarding behavior. Vol. 33, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0743-415420150000033010.
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  - Medema, S. G. Paul Samuelson on the history of economic analysis: Selected essays, 2014.
  - Medema, S. G., and W. J. Samuels. The history of economic thought: A reader, second edition, 2013. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203568477.
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  - Medema, S. G. The hesitant hand: Taming self-interest in the history of economic ideas, 2009.
  - Medema, S. G. The hesitant hand: Taming self-interest in the history of economic ideas, 2009.
  - Medema, S. G. Alfred Marshall Meets Law and Economics: Rationality, Norms, and Theories as Tendency Statements. Vol. 9, 2006. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1529-2134(06)09009-0.
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  - Medema, S. G. J. DANIEL HAMMOND, NORMA JEANE MORTENSON, AND AMERICAN INSTITUTIONALISM: A VIEW FROM THE TOP ROW. Vol. 22, 2003. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0743-4154(03)22012-5.
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- Academic Articles
  - Medema, S. G. “The coase theorem at sixty.” Journal of Economic Literature 58, no. 4 (December 1, 2020): 1045–1128. https://doi.org/10.1257/JEL.20191060.
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  - Medema, S. G. “Embracing at arm's length: Ronald Coase's uneasy relationship with the Chicago school.” Oxford Economic Papers 72, no. 4 (October 1, 2020): 1072–90. https://doi.org/10.1093/oep/gpaa011.
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  - Maas, H., S. G. Medema, and M. Guidi. “Introduction to economics as a public science. Part II: Institutional settings.” Oeconomia 9, no. 3 (September 1, 2019): 427–32. https://doi.org/10.4000/oeconomia.7424.
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  - Medema, S. G. “The economist and the economist's audience.” Journal of the History of Economic Thought 41, no. 3 (September 1, 2019): 335–41. https://doi.org/10.1017/S105383721900018X.
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  - Maas, H., S. G. Medema, and M. Guidi. “Introduction to economics as a public science.” Oeconomia 9, no. 2 (June 1, 2019): 201–7. https://doi.org/10.4000/oeconomia.5784.
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  - Medema, S. G. “Economic rebel in retrospect.” Journal of Economic Methodology, January 9, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350178X.2014.973751.
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  - Medema, S. G. “Crossing the atlantic with calabresi and coase: Efficiency, distribution, and justice at the origins of economic analysis of law in Britain.” History of Economic Ideas 23, no. 3 (January 1, 2015): 61–87.
  - Medema, S. G. “'A magnificent business prospect' the Coase theorem, the extortion problem, and the creation of Coase theorem worlds.” Journal of Institutional Economics 11, no. 2 (January 1, 2015): 353–78. https://doi.org/10.1017/S174413741400023X.
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  - DeAngelo, G., and S. G. Medema. “Those crazy transaction costs: On the irrelevance of the equivalence between monetary damages and specific performance.” European Journal of Law and Economics 37, no. 2 (April 1, 2014): 269–75. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10657-011-9285-0.
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  - Medema, S. G. “Juris prudence: Calabresi's uneasy relationship with the coase theorem.” Law and Contemporary Problems 77, no. 2 (January 1, 2014): 65–95.
  - Medema, S. G. “1966 and all that: Codification, consolidation, creep, and controversy in the early history of the coase theorem.” Journal of the History of Economic Thought 36, no. 3 (January 1, 2014): 271–303. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1053837214000340.
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  - Medema, S. G. “Neither misunderstood nor ignored: The early reception of coase's wider challenge to the analysis of externalities.” History of Economic Ideas 22, no. 1 (January 1, 2014): 111–32.
  - Medema, S. G. “Economics and institutions lessons from the coase theorem.” Revue Economique 65, no. 2 (January 1, 2014): 243–61. https://doi.org/10.3917/reco.652.0243.
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  - Medema, S. G. “The curious treatment of the coase theorem in the environmental economics literature, 1960-1979.” Review of Environmental Economics and Policy 8, no. 1 (January 1, 2014): 39–57. https://doi.org/10.1093/reep/ret020.
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  - Medema, S. G. “The importance of being misunderstood: The Coase theorem and the legacy of 'The Problem of Social Cost'.” Journal of Natural Resources Policy Research 5, no. 4 (October 1, 2013): 249–53. https://doi.org/10.1080/19390459.2013.835122.
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  - Medema, S. G. “On why there is no Milton Friedman today: Sui Generis, Sui Temporis.” Econ Journal Watch 10, no. 2 (May 30, 2013): 197–204.
  - Medema, S. G. “Warren Samuels: A personal reminiscence.” History of Political Economy 44, no. 3 (September 26, 2012): 389–411. https://doi.org/10.1215/00182702-1717230.
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  - Backhouse, R. E., and S. G. Medema. “Economists and the analysis of government failure: Fallacies in the Chicago and Virginia interpretations of Cambridge welfare economics.” Cambridge Journal of Economics 36, no. 4 (July 1, 2012): 981–94. https://doi.org/10.1093/cje/ber047.
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  - Medema, S. G. “Public choice and the notion of creative communities.” History of Political Economy 43, no. 1 (March 10, 2011): 225–46. https://doi.org/10.1215/00182702-2010-049.
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  - Medema, S. G. “A case of mistaken identity: George Stigler, "The Problem of Social Cost," and the Coase theorem.” European Journal of Law and Economics 31, no. 1 (February 1, 2011): 11–38. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10657-010-9196-5.
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  - Backhouse, R. E., and S. G. Medema. “Robbins's essay and the axiomatization of economics.” Journal of the History of Economic Thought 31, no. 4 (December 1, 2009): 485–99. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1053837209990277.
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  - Medema, S. G. “History by the numbers: A comment on Carlson and diamond.” Journal of the History of Economic Thought 31, no. 4 (December 1, 2009): 543–47. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1053837209990319.
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  - Medema, S. G. “"the history of economics is what historians of economics do:" A reconsideration of research priorities in the history of economic thought.” Journal of the History of Economic Thought 31, no. 3 (September 1, 2009): 384–91. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1053837209990216.
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  - Backhouse, R. E., and S. G. Medema. “On the definition of economics.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 23, no. 1 (January 1, 2009): 221–33. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.23.1.221.
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  - Backhouse, R. E., and S. G. Medema. “Defining economics: The Long Road to Acceptance of the Robbins Definition.” Economica 76, no. SUPPL.1 (January 1, 2009): 805–20. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0335.2009.00789.x.
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  - Medema, S. G. “"Losing my religion": Sidgwick, theism, and the struggle for utilitarian ethics in economic analysis.” History of Political Economy 40, no. 5 (December 1, 2008): 189–211. https://doi.org/10.1215/00182702-2007-066.
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  - Medema, S. G. “The hesitant hand: Mill, Sidgwick, and the evolution of the theory of market failure.” History of Political Economy 39, no. 3 (September 1, 2007): 331–58. https://doi.org/10.1215/00182702-2007-014.
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  - Medema, S. G. “Sidgwick's utilitarian analysis of law: A bridge from Bentham to Becker?” American Law and Economics Review 9, no. 1 (March 1, 2007): 30–47. https://doi.org/10.1093/aler/ahm008.
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  - Medema, S. G. “On "big five and little five" [4].” Society 43, no. 6 (September 1, 2006): 6. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02698476.
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  - Samuels, W. J., and S. G. Medema. “Freeing Smith from the "Free market": On the misperception of Adam Smith on the economic role of government.” History of Political Economy 37, no. 2 (June 1, 2005): 219–26. https://doi.org/10.1215/00182702-37-2-219.
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  - Medema, S. G. “"Marginalizing" government: From la scienza delle finanze to Wicksell.” History of Political Economy 37, no. 1 (March 1, 2005): 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1215/00182702-37-1-1.
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  - Medema, S. G. “Setting the table.” History of Political Economy 37, no. SUPPL. (January 1, 2005): 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1215/00182702-37-suppl_1-1.
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  - Medema, S. G. “Public Choice and Deviance: A Comment.” American Journal of Economics and Sociology 63, no. 1 (January 1, 2004): 51–54. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1536-7150.2004.00273.x.
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  - Medema, S. G. “23. Pearson's origins of law and economics: The economists' new science of law, 1830-1930 and Fried's the progressive assault on laissez faire: Robert Hale and the first law and economics movement.” Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology 18, no. SUPPL: PART A (December 1, 2000): 353–64.
  - Medema, S. G., and R. O. Zerbe. “Educating Alice: Lessons from the Coase theorem.” Research in Law and Economics 19 (December 1, 2000): 69–112.
  - Medema, S. G., and W. J. Samuels. “John R. Commons's "The definition of price".” Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology 18, no. SUPPL: PART B (December 1, 2000): 301–8.
  - Medema, S. G. “"Related disciplines": The professionalization of public choice analysis.” History of Political Economy 32, no. SUPPL. (January 1, 2000): 322–23. https://doi.org/10.1215/00182702-32-suppl_1-289.
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  - Medema, S. G., and W. J. Samuels. “The economic role of government as, in part, a matter of selective perception, sentiment and valuation: The cases of Pigovian and Paretian welfare economics.” American Journal of Economics and Sociology 59, no. 1 (January 1, 2000): 87–108. https://doi.org/10.1111/1536-7150.00015.
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  - Balisciano, M. L., and S. G. Medema. “Positive science, normative man: Lionel Robbins and the political economy of art.” History of Political Economy 31, no. SUPPL. 1 (January 1, 1999): 282–84. https://doi.org/10.1215/00182702-31-supplement-256.
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  - Medema, S. G. “Symposium on the Coase Theorem: Legal Fiction: The Place of the Coase Theorem in Law and Economics.” Economics and Philosophy 15, no. 2 (January 1, 1999): 209–33. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266267100003989.
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  - Medema, S. G. “The trial of Homo economicus: What law and economics tells us about the development of economic imperialism.” History of Political Economy 29, no. SUPPL. (December 1, 1998): 140–42.
  - Aslanbeigui, N., and S. G. Medema. “Beyond the Dark Clouds: Pigou and Coase on Social Cost.” History of Political Economy 30, no. 4 (January 1, 1998): 600–625. https://doi.org/10.1215/00182702-30-4-601.
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  - Medema, S. G. “Wandering the road from pluralism to posner: The transformation of law and economics in the twentieth century.” History of Political Economy 30, no. SUPPL. 1 (January 1, 1998): 223–24. https://doi.org/10.1215/00182702-30-supplement-202.
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  - Medema, S. G. “Coase, costs, and coordination.” Journal of Economic Issues 30, no. 2 (January 1, 1996): 571–78. https://doi.org/10.1080/00213624.1996.11505821.
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  - Formby, J. P., S. G. Medema, and W. J. Smith. “Tax neutrality and social welfare in a comptutational general equilibrium framework.” Public Finance Review 23, no. 4 (January 1, 1995): 419–47. https://doi.org/10.1177/109114219502300401.
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  - MEDEMA, S. G. “Hanly on Coase: A Comment.” Journal of Applied Philosophy 11, no. 1 (January 1, 1994): 107–11. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5930.1994.tb00095.x.
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  - Ballard, C. L., and S. G. Medema. “The marginal efficiency effects of taxes and subsidies in the presence of externalities. A computational general equilibrium approach.” Journal of Public Economics 52, no. 2 (January 1, 1993): 199–216. https://doi.org/10.1016/0047-2727(93)90020-T.
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  - Medema, S. G. “Is there life beyond efficiency? Elements of a social law and economics.” Review of Social Economy 51, no. 2 (January 1, 1993): 138–53. https://doi.org/10.1080/00346769308616161.
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  - Medema, S. G. “Transactions, transaction costs, and vertical integration: A re-examination.” Review of Political Economy 4, no. 3 (January 1, 1992): 291–316. https://doi.org/10.1080/09538259200000021.
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  - Samuels, W. J., and S. G. Medema. “Gardiner C. Means's institutional and post-Keynesian economics.” Review of Political Economy 1, no. 2 (July 1, 1989): 163–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/09538258900000014.
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- Book Sections
  - Medema, S. G. “His influence in the Anglo-Saxon world.” In Antonio de Viti de Marco: A Story Worth Remembering, 115–18, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53493-4_10.
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  - Medema, S. G. “Ronald Coase and the legal-economic nexus.” In The Elgar Companion to Ronald H. Coase, 291–304, 2016.
  - Backhouse, R. E., and S. G. Medema. “Walras in the age of Marshall: An analysis of English-language journals, 1890-1939.” In Economics and Other Branches - In the Shade of the Oak Tree: Essays in Honour of Pascal Bridel, 69–86, 2015. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315653808.
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  - Medema, S. G. “Wandering the road from pluralism to posner: The transformation of law and economics in the twentieth century.” In Law and Economics: A Reader, 16–32, 2013.
  - Medema, S. G. “Chicago price theory and chicago law and economics: A tale of two transitions.” In Building Chicago Economics: New Perspectives on the History of America’s Most Powerful Economics Program, 151–79, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139004077.012.
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  - Backhouse, R. E., B. W. Bateman, and S. G. Medema. “The reception of Marshall in the United States.” In The Impact of Alfred Marshall’s Ideas: The Global Diffusion of His Work, 59–80, 2010.
  - Medema, S. “History of economic thought.” In The Heart of Teaching Economics: Lessons from Leading Minds, 139–60, 2010.
  - Medema, S. G. “Adam Smith and the Chicago school.” In The Elgar Companion to the Chicago School of Economics, 40–51, 2010. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781849806664.00010.
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  - Medema, S. G. “Richard A. Posner.” In The Elgar Companion to the Chicago School of Economics, 306–11, 2010. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781849806664.00034.
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  - Medema, S. G. “Chicago law and economics.” In The Elgar Companion to the Chicago School of Economics, 160–74, 2010. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781849806664.00018.
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  - Medema, S. G. “Ronald harry coase.” In The Elgar Companion to the Chicago School of Economics, 259–64, 2010. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781849806664.00025.
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  - Medema, S. G. “Pigou's “prima facie case”: Market failure in theory and practice.” In No Wealth but Life: Welfare Economics and the Welfare State in Britain, 1880-1945, 42–61, 2010. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511750649.004.
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  - Backhouse, R. R., B. B. Bateman, and S. S. Medema. “The reception of Marshall in the United States.” In The Impact of Alfred Marshall’s Ideas: The Global Diffusion of His Work, 59–80, 2008.
  - Medema, S. G. “The Economic Role of Government in the History of Economic Thought.” In A Companion to the History of Economic Thought, 428–44, 2007. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470999059.ch27.
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  - Mercuro, N., S. G. Medema, and W. J. Samuels. “Robert Lee Hale (1884-1969)-legal economist.” In The Elgar Companion to Law and Economics: Second Edition, 531–44, 2005.
  - Medema, S. G. “The government-property relation: Confessions of a classical liberal.” In The Fundamental Interrelationships between Government and Property, 145–51, 2003. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203484654.
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Teaching & Mentoring
Recent Courses
- ECON 310S: Economic Analysis of Law 2021
- ECON 311: History of Economic Thought 2021
- ECON 511: History of Economic Thought 2021
- HISTORY 307: History of Economic Thought 2021
- ECON 311: History of Economic Thought 2020
- ECON 390: Selected Topics in Economics 2020
- ECON 511: History of Economic Thought 2020
- HISTORY 307: History of Economic Thought 2020

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Education, Training, & Certifications

Duke Appointment History

Selected Grants

Selected Publications

Books

Academic Articles

Book Sections

Recent Courses