On 25 June 2026, the XII Euro-Asian Symposium on Economic Theory hosted a roundtable organised by the editorial team of AlterEconomics. The event brought together leading Russian institutionalist scholars, all sharing a common concern: to explore how narratives shape economic outcomes.
The session was co moderated by Prof. Volchik (Dr. of Economics), Head of the Department of Economic Theory at Southern Federal University, who also serves as Guest Editor of the AlterEconomics special issue (24(1), 2027); and Prof. Kirdina Chandler (Dr. of Sociology), Chief Editor of AlterEconomics, and Head of the Center for Institutional Evolutionary Economics at the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
The core argument that ran through the discussion was that the narrative approach offers a vital way to keep institutional economics intellectually alive and relevant. The speakers drew attention to a worrying trend: according to Google Trends, global interest in institutional economics has been declining since the start of the twenty first century. This observation prompted a lively debate about why the field has lost some of its appeal and what might be done to revive it.
A key reference point was the work of Nobel laureates Robert Shiller and George Akerlof, who have argued that narratives are not peripheral but central to economic dynamics. The roundtable participants accepted this premise but were careful to distinguish between how narratives are understood in the social sciences at large and how they are treated within narrative economics proper. They insisted that a clearer grasp of narratives is essential if we are to make sense of real world economic behaviour.
Definitions of narrative varied among the speakers. Some saw narratives as chains of causally linked events that impose a meaningful structure on facts; others stressed the moral dimension, arguing that it is the ethical charge of a story that gives it traction and direction.
Among the various branches of narrative economics, the institutional approach stood out as particularly promising. The researchers emphasised the growing value of quantitative narrative analysis, especially given recent advances in data processing. At the same time, they noted a new complication: much of today’s narrative content is generated by artificial intelligence, which makes interpretation more challenging and calls for fresh analytical tools.
The discussion also highlighted narratives as an under utilised data source for institutional economics. More than just vehicles for spreading ideas, narratives are seen as mirrors of existing institutions and social routines. A case in point was the analysis of Soviet era economic reforms: by examining how contemporaries told the story of the shift from planning to markets, researchers can uncover the institutional legacies and everyday practices that continue to shape development trajectories.
The roundtable ended with a forward looking session on the future of narrative economics. Participants called for deeper investigation into the feedback loops between narratives and social practices, as well as for more sophisticated quantitative methods. The potential of modern digital tools for collecting and processing narrative data was repeatedly stressed.
In short, the roundtable «Institutions and Narratives in Contemporary Economic Theory» proved a valuable platform for exchanging views and forging new research directions. It became clear that narratives are not merely epiphenomenal but actively mould economic perceptions, and that they may offer a powerful lens through which to decode the complexities of today’s society.
Notable contributions came from: Vyacheslav V. Volchik, Doctor of Economics (Southern Federal University); Svetlana G. Kirdina Chandler, Doctor of Sociology (Institute of Economics, RAS); Vitaly L. Tambovtsev, Doctor of Economics (Lomonosov Moscow State University); Petr A. Orekhovsky, Doctor of Economics (Institute of Economics, RAS); Andrey P. Zaostrovtsev, Candidate of Sciences (Economics) (HSE St. Petersburg); Andrey V. Vernikov, Doctor of Economics (Institute of Economics, RAS); and others.
Recordings of the presentations will be made available online shortly.