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economic methodology

{{Short description|Subfield of economics}}

{{For|other methodological approaches|Heterodox economics}}

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Economic methodology is the study of methods, especially the scientific method, in relation to economics, including principles underlying economic reasoning.:Press + button to enlarge small-text links below.
   • Roger E. Backhouse, 2008. "methodology of economics", The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition. [http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_M000393&q=methodology&topicid=&result_number=1 Abstract.]
   • Lawrence A. Boland, 1987. "methodology", The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics, v. 3, pp. 455-56.
   • Daniel M. Hausman, 1989. "Economic Methodology in a Nutshell", Journal of Economic Perspectives, 3(2), pp. [http://manoa.hawaii.edu/ctahr/aheed/Carl/supplementary%20readings/Hausman_1989_Economic_Methodology_in_a_Nutshell.pdf 115-127.]
   • Kevin D. Hoover, 1995. "Review Article: Why Does Methodology Matter for Economics?" Economic Journal, 105(430), pp. [http://econ.duke.edu/~kdh9/Source%20Materials/Research/WhyMethodologyMatters.pdf 715-734.] In contemporary English, 'methodology' may reference theoretical or systematic aspects of a method (or several methods). Philosophy and economics also takes up methodology at the intersection of the two subjects.

Scope

{{prose |date=July 2012|section}}

General methodological issues include similarities and contrasts to the natural sciences and to other social sciences and, in particular, to:

  • the definition of economics• John Stuart Mill, 1844. "On the Definition of Political Economy; and on the Method of Investigation Proper to It", Essay V, in Essays on Some Unsettled Questions of Political Economy.
       • Roger E. Backhouse and Steven Medema, 2008. "economics, definition of", The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition. [http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_E000291&q=definitions&topicid=&result_number=5 Abstract.]
       • _____. 2009. "Retrospectives: On the Definition of Economics", Journal of Economic Perspectives, 23(1), pp. [http://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/jep.23.1.221 221–33] (close Bookmarks tab) [http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/jep.23.1.221 Abstract.]
  • the scope of economics as defined by its methodsJohn Neville Keynes, 1891. The Scope and Method of Political Economy. Annotated chapter [https://books.google.com/books?id=5GcVAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22Keynes%22+%22Scope+*+Method+*+Political%22&pg=PP20 links.] 4th ed., 1917 [1999]. Full [http://socserv.mcmaster.ca/econ/ugcm/3ll3/keynesjn/Scope.pdf#page=3 Contents.]

  • fundamental principles and operational significance of economic theory• John R. Hicks, 1939. Value and Capital: An Inquiry into Some Fundamental Principles of Economic Theory.
       • Terence W. Hutchison, 1938. The Significance and Basic Postulates of Economic Theory.
      • Martin Hollis and Edward J. Nell, 1975. Rational Economic Man, ch. 3,4,5 and 7. Cambridge University Press.
      • Paul A. Samuelson, 1947. Foundations of Economic Analysis.
       • Richard G. Lipsey, 2008. "positive economics". The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. 2nd Edition. [http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_P000130&q=positive%20economics&topicid=&result_number=1 Abstract.]
       • Lawrence A. Boland, 2008. "instrumentalism and operationalism", The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition. [http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_I000265&q=instrumentalism&topicid=&result_number=1 Abstract.]


   • _____, 2003. The Foundations of Economic Method, 2nd Edition. [https://books.google.com/books?id=q-Umw-h2T98C Description] and chapter [https://www.sfu.ca/~boland/book1pdf.htm links.]

  • methodological individualism versus holism in economics• Kaushik Basu, 2008. "methodological individualism", The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition. [http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_M000352&q=methodological%20individualism&topicid=&result_number=1 Abstract.]
      • Edward J. Nell, 1998. General Theory of Transformational Growth, Part I. Cambridge University Press.
       • Harold Kincaid, 2008. "individualism versus holism", The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition. [http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_I000277&q=methodological%20individualism&topicid=&result_number=2 Abstract.]
       • F.A. Hayek, 1948. Individualism and Economic Order. Chapter-preview [https://books.google.com/books?id=kr2YmpGamZIC&pg=PR7=GBS_ATB links.]
       • George J. Stigler and Paul A. Samuelson, 1963. "A Dialogue on the Proper Economic Role of the State." Selected Papers, [http://www.chicagobooth.edu/faculty/selectedpapers/sp7.pdf No. 7.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527140041/http://www.chicagobooth.edu/faculty/selectedpapers/sp7.pdf |date=2010-05-27 }} University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.
       • James M. Buchanan, 1990. "The Domain of Constitutional Economics", Constitutional Political Economy, 1(1), pp. [https://doi.org/10.1007%2FBF02393031 1]-18, adapted as "Constitutional Political Economy" in C. K. Rowley and F. Schneider, ed., 2004, The Encyclopedia of Public Choice, v. 2, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=YUVMr-aFYwYC&pg=PA60 60-67.]
       • Kenneth J. Arrow, 1994. "Methodological Individualism and Social Knowledge", American Economic Review, 84(2), pp. [http://socsci2.ucsd.edu/~aronatas/project/academic/Arrow%20on%20meth.%20indiv.pdf 1-9.]
       • Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein, 2008. Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness. Yale. [https://books.google.com/books?id=dSJQn8egXvUC&pg=PR7=FALSE Description] and [https://books.google.com/books?id=dSJQn8egXvUC&pg=PR7=FALSE preview.]
       • Shiozawa, Y. 2004 Evolutionary Economics in the 21st Century: A Manifest, Evolutionary and Institutional Economics Review, 1(1): 5-47.
  • the role of simplifying assumptions such as rational choice and profit maximizing in explaining or predicting phenomena• Lawrence A. Boland, 2008. "assumptions controversy", The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition. [http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_A000231&q=assumptions&topicid=&result_number=1 Abstract.]
       • Milton Friedman, 1953. "The Methodology of Positive Economics" in Essays in Positive Economics.
       • Paul A. Samuelson, 1963. "Problems of Methodology: Discussion", American Economic Review, 53(2) American Economic Review, pp. 231-236. Reprinted in J.C. Wood & R.N. Woods, ed., 1990, Milton Friedman: Critical Assessments, v. I, pp. 107-13. [https://books.google.com/books?id=goa--dQ_eHUC&pg=PA107 Preview.] Routledge.
       • Stanley Wong, 1973. "The 'F-Twist' and the Methodology of Paul Samuelson", American Economic Review, 63(3) p [https://www.jstor.org/pss/1914363 p. 312]-325. Reprinted in J.C. Wood & R.N. Woods, ed., Milton Friedman: Critical Assessments, v. II, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=t4-nLZRU_GAC&pg=PA224 224-43].
       • Shaun Hargreaves Heap, 2008. "economic man", The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition. [http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_E000020&q=rationality&topicid=&result_number=24 Abstract.]
       • Kenneth J. Arrow, [1987] 1989. "Economic theory and the hypothesis of rationality", in The New Palgrave: Utility and Probability, [https://books.google.com/books?id=EBCCa8HtfkUC&dq==q-64UY5FMB&pg=PA25 pp. 25-39.]
       • Duncan K. Foley, 2004. "Rationality and Ideology in Economics", Social Research, pp. 329-342. Pre-publication [http://homepage.newschool.edu/~foleyd/ratid.pdf version] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030811024005/http://homepage.newschool.edu/~foleyd/ratid.pdf |date=2003-08-11 }}.
       •

Thomas J. Sargent, 1994. Bounded Rationality in Macroeconomics, Oxford. [http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Economics/MacroeconomicTheory/?view=usa&ci=9780198288695 Description] and chapter-preview 1st-page [https://www.questia.com/library/book/bounded-rationality-in-macroeconomics-thomas-j-sargent-by-thomas-j-sargent.jsp links.]
   • Vernon L. Smith, 2008. Rationality in Economics: Constructivist and Ecological Forms, Cambridge. Description/contents [http://www.cambridge.org/gb/knowledge/isbn/item1174232/?site_locale=en_GB links] and [https://books.google.com/books?id=0E-aFJ09nPAC&pg=PR7= preview].

  • descriptive/positive, prescriptive/normative, and applied• David Colander (1992). "Retrospectives: The Lost Art of Economics", Journal of Economic Perspectives, 6(3), pp. [http://community.middlebury.edu/~colander/articles/retrospectives_lost_art.pdf 191-198].
       • John Neville Keynes, 1891. The Scope and Method of Political Economy. ch. I-II. Annotated chapter [https://books.google.com/books?id=5GcVAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22Keynes%22+%22Scope+*+Method+*+Political%22&pg=PP20 links.] 4th ed., 1917 [1999]. Full [http://socserv.mcmaster.ca/econ/ugcm/3ll3/keynesjn/Scope.pdf#page=3 Contents.]

uses of theory• Richard G. Lipsey, 2008. "positive economics". The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. 2nd Edition. [http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_P000130&q=positive%20economics&topicid=&result_number=1 Abstract.]
   • Amartya Sen, 1980. "Description as Choice", Oxford Economic Papers, N.S., 32(3), pp. [https://www.jstor.org/pss/2662796 353]-369. Reprinted in Sen, 1982, Choice, Welfare and Measurement, Oxford, Basil Blackwell. Chapter-preview link, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=u8GPYeT1qAUC&pg=PA432 432]-449.
   • John Neville Keynes, 1891. The Scope and Method of Political Economy. ch. I, III. Annotated chapter [https://books.google.com/books?id=5GcVAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22Keynes%22+%22Scope+*+Method+*+Political%22&pg=PP20 links.] 4th ed., 1917 [1999]. Full [http://socserv.mcmaster.ca/econ/ugcm/3ll3/keynesjn/Scope.pdf#page=3 Contents.]
   • Colin F. Camerer, 2003. Behavioral Game Theory: Experiments in Strategic Interaction, pp. 5-7 (scroll to at [http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/i7517.html 1.1 What Is Game Theory Good For?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514201411/http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/i7517.html |date=2011-05-14 }}).
   • Kenneth E. Boulding, 1969. "Economics as a Moral Science", American Economic Review, 59(1), pp. [https://www.jstor.org/pss/1811088?searchUrl=%2Fsici%3Fsici%3D0002-8282%281969%2959%253A1%253C%253E1.0.CO%253B2-X%26origin%3Drepec&Search=yes 1]–12.
   • A. B. Atkinson, 2009. "Economics as a Moral Science", Economica, 76(1), pp. [http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-0335.2009.00788.x/full 791–804].
   • "Economics as a Moral Science" session, 2011. American Economic Review, 101(3), article-abstract [http://www.economicsandethics.org/2011/06/economics-as-a-moral-science-in-american-economic-review.html links].

  • the scientific status• Lionel Robbins, 1932. An Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic Science.
       • Richard G. Lipsey, 2009. "Some Legacies of Robbins' An Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic Science", Economica, 76(302), pp. [http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-0335.2009.00792.x/pdf 845-56] (press + button).
       • Alexander Rosenberg (1983). "If Economics Isn't Science, What Is It?" Philosophical Forum, 14, pp. 296-314. Reprinted in M. Martin and L. C. McIntyre (1996), Readings in the Philosophy of Social Science, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=oUx60TFkLxoC&dq=false&pg=PA661 661-674.]
       • Douglas W. Hands, 1984. "What Economics Is Not: An Economist's Response to Rosenberg", Philosophy of Science, 51(3), p [https://www.jstor.org/pss/187496 p. 495]-503.
       • Daniel M. Hausman, 1992. The Inexact and Separate Science of Economics. [http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521415019 Description], to ch. 1 [http://assets.cambridge.org/97805214/25230/excerpt/9780521425230_excerpt.pdf link], [https://books.google.com/books?id=F7Vf3sb-ck4C preview], and reviews, 1st pages: [https://www.jstor.org/pss/2185742][https://www.jstor.org/pss/687635].     and expanding domain of economics• Edward P. Lazear, 2000. "Economic Imperialism", Quarterly Journal of Economics, 115(1), pp. [http://flash.lakeheadu.ca/~kyu/E5111/Lazear2000.pdf 99-146.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170730023344/http://flash.lakeheadu.ca/~kyu/E5111/Lazear2000.pdf |date=2017-07-30 }}
       • George J. Stigler, 1984. "Economics—The Imperial Science?" Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 86(3), p [https://www.jstor.org/pss/3439864 p. 301]-313.
       • Ben Fine, 2000. " Economics Imperialism and Intellectual Progress: The Present as History of Economic Thought?" History of Economics Review, 32, pp. [http://www.hetsa.org/pdf/32-A-2.pdf 10-36] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426014937/http://www.hetsa.org/pdf/32-A-2.pdf |date=2012-04-26 }}.
       • Jack Hirshleifer, 1985. "The Expanding Domain of Economics", American Economic Review, 75(6), pp. [http://www.econ.ucla.edu/people/papers/Hirshleifer/Hirshleifer175.pdf 53-68] (press +). Reprinted in Jack Hirshleifer, 2001, The Dark Side of the Force: Economic Foundations of Conflict Theory,

ch.14, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=C5uYCmjn0DoC&pg=PA306 306-] 42.
   • Gary S. Becker, 1976. The Economic Approach to Human Behavior. [http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/E/bo5954985.html Description] and [https://books.google.com/books?id=iwEOFKSKbMgC&pg=PA3=GBS_V2_SUMMARY_R preview].
   • _____, 1992. "The Economic Way of Looking at Life." Nobel Lecture [http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/1992/becker-lecture.pdf link], also in 1993, Journal of Political Economy, 101(3), pp. 383-409.

  • issues critical to the practice and progress of econometrics• Kevin D. Hoover, 2008. "causality in economics and econometrics", The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition. [http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_C000569&q=experimental%20methods%20in%20economics&topicid=&result_number=11 Abstract] and [http://econ.duke.edu/~kdh9/Source%20Materials/Research/Palgrave_Causality_Final.pdf galley proof.]
       • H. Wold 1954. "Causality and Econometrics", Econometrica, 22(2), p [https://www.jstor.org/pss/1907540 p. 162]-177.
       • C. W. J. Granger and P. Newbold, 1974. "Spurious Regressions in Econometrics", Journal of Econometrics, 2(2), pp. [http://www.climateaudit.info/pdf/others/granger.1974.pdf 111-120].
       • David F. Hendry, 1980. "Econometrics — Alchemy or Science?" Economica, N.S., 47(188), pp. [http://www.climateaudit.info/pdf/others/hendry.1980.pdf 387-406].
       • _____ 2001a. "Achievements and Challenges in Econometric Methodology", Journal of Econometrics, 100(1), pp. 7-10. [http://www-bcf.usc.edu/~chsiao/Hendry.pdf PDF, pp. 1-4] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304043548/http://www-bcf.usc.edu/~chsiao/Hendry.pdf |date=2016-03-04 }}.
       • _____, 2001b. Econometrics: Alchemy or Science Essays in Econometric Methodology, 2nd Edition. Oxford. [http://economics.ouls.ox.ac.uk/9462/ Description] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425051550/http://economics.ouls.ox.ac.uk/9462/ |date=2012-04-25 }} and [http://www.lib.muohio.edu/multifacet/record/mu3ugb3820922 contents.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518115537/http://www.lib.muohio.edu/multifacet/record/mu3ugb3820922 |date=2013-05-18 }} [http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~bhansen/papers/ej_96.pdf Review] in the Economic Journal.
       • Edward E. Leamer, 1983. "Let's Take the Con Out of Econometrics", American Economic Review, 73(1), pp. [http://www.international.ucla.edu/media/files/Leamer_article.pdf 31-43.]
       • Christopher A. Sims, 1980. "Macroeconomics and Reality", Econometrica,48, No. 1, pp. [http://www.terry.uga.edu/~last/classes/8130/readings/sims_1980.pdf 1-48] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402163650/http://www.terry.uga.edu/~last/classes/8130/readings/sims_1980.pdf |date=2012-04-02 }}.
       • Fischer Black, 1982. "The Trouble with Econometric Models", Financial Analysts Journal, 38(2), pp. [https://www.jstor.org/pss/4478530 29]-37. Reprinted in Black, 2009, Business Cycles and Equilibrium, Wiley. Updated version, pp. 135 [https://books.google.com/books?id=V8N48sPixrEC&pg=PA136 -] 150.
       • From Truman F. Bewley, ed., 1987. Advances in Econometrics: Fifth World Congress, Cambridge v. 2:
             Edward E. Leamer, "Econometric Metaphors", pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=5p4APIQhqd8C&pg=PA1=ONEPAGE 1-] 28.
             David F. Hendry. "Econometric Methodology: A Personal Perspective", pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=5p4APIQhqd8C&pg=PA29=ONEPAGE 29-] 42.
       • P.C.B. Phillips, 1988. "Reflections on Econometric Methodology", Economic Record, 64(4), pp. 344–359. [http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1475-4932.1988.tb02075.x/abstract Abstract.]
       • David F. Hendry, Edward E. Leamer, and Dale J. Poirier, 1990. "The ET Dialogue: A Conversation on Econometric Methodology", Econometric Theory, 6(2), pp. [https://www.jstor.org/pss/3532275 171]-261.
       • Deirdre N. McCloskey and Stephen T. Ziliak, 1996. "The Standard Error of Regressions", Journal of Economic Literature, 34(1), pp. [http://www.deirdremccloskey.com/docs/pdf/Article_189.pdf 97–114.]
       • Kevin D. Hoover and Mark V. Siegler, 2008. "Sound and Fury: McCloskey and Significance Testing in Economics", Journal of Economic Methodology, 15(1), pp. [http://econ.duke.edu/~kdh9/Source%20Materials/Research/Sound%20and%20Fury%20Published%20Version.pdf 1–37]; McCloskey and Ziliak, "Signifying Nothing:

Reply to ..." [http://www.deirdremccloskey.com/docs/hoover.pdf [preprint]] and Hoover and Siegler, [http://www.usp.br/feaecon/media/fck/File/P9_Hoover-Siegler_Rejoinder.pdf{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} "... Rejoinder to ...], pp. 39–68;
   • Edward J. Nell and Karim Errouaki, 2011. Rational Econometric Man,Part I and ch. 10. Edward Elgar.

  • the balance of empirical and philosophical approaches• Mark Blaug, 2007. "The Social Sciences: Economics", Postwar developments, Methodological considerations in contemporary economics, The New Encyclopædia Britannica, v. 27, pp. 346-47.
       • Edward J. Nell (2004) "Critical Realism and Transformational Growth." In Transforming Economics. Edited by P. Lewis. London: Routledge.76-95.
       • Frank H. Knight, 1924. "The Limitations of Scientific Method in Economics", in The Trend of Economics, R.G. Tugwell, ed., pp. 229-67. Reprinted in Frank H. Knight, 1935 [1997], The Ethics of Competition, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=wOIXxxywikIC&pg=PA97=GBS_V2_SUMMARY_R 97-] 139.
       •Daniel M. Hausman, 1983. "The Limits of Economic Science", in The Limits of Lawfulness: Studies on the Scope and Nature of Scientific Knowledge, N. Rescher, ed. Reprinted in D.M. Hausman, 1992, Essays on Philosophy and Economic Methodology, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=pM57-DJ2yDcC&pg=PA99=GBS_ATB 99-108.]


   • Ludwig von Mises, 1949. Human Action.
   • Bruce Caldwell, [1987] 2008. "positivism", The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition. [http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_P000131&q=empiricism&topicid=&result_number=1 Abstract.]

  • the role of experiments in economics• C.F. Bastable, [1925] 1987. "experimental methods in economics", i, The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics, v. 2, p. 241.
       • Vernon L. Smith, [1987] 2008a. "experimental methods in economics", The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition. [http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_E000186&q=Experimental%20economics&topicid=&result_number=2 Abstract.]
       • _____, 2008b. "experimental economics", The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition, [http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_E000277&q=experimental%20&topicid=&result_number=2 Abstract.]
       • Herman O. Wold (1969). "Econometrics as Pioneering in Nonexperimental Model Building", Econometrica, 37(3), p [https://www.jstor.org/pss/1912787 p. 369]-381.
  • the role of mathematics and mathematical economics in economics• W. Stanley Jevons, 1879. The Theory of Political Economy, 2nd ed., ch. I, "Introduction", pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=aYcBAAAAQAAJ&q=false&pg=PA1 1-29.]
       • Paul A. Samuelson, 1952. "Economic Theory and Mathematics — An Appraisal", American Economic Review, 42(2), pp. [http://cowles.econ.yale.edu/P/cp/p00b/p0061.pdf 56-66.]
       • D.W. Bushaw and R.W. Clower, 1957. Introduction to Mathematical Economics, pp. [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3513586;page=root;view=image;size=100;seq=11;num=vii vii-viii] and ch. 1, pp. [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3513586;page=root;view=image;size=100;seq=19;num=3 3-8.]
       • Gérard Debreu, ([1987] 2008). "mathematical economics", The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition. [http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_M000107&edition=current&q=Mathematical%20economics&topicid=&result_number=1 Abstract.] (First published with revisions from 1986, "Theoretic Models: Mathematical Form and Economic Content", Econometrica, 54(6), pp. [https://www.jstor.org/pss/1914299 1259]-1270.)
       • _____ 1991. "The Mathematization of Economic Theory", American Economic Review, 81(1), [http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/texts/method/debr91.htm pp. 1-7.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081231123418/http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/texts/method/debr91.htm |date=2008-12-31 }}
       • Robert W. Clower, 1994. "Economics as an Inductive Science", Southern Economic Journal, 60(4), pp. [http://cas.umkc.edu/ECON/economics/faculty/Lee/courses/502/reading/methcrit1.pdf 805-814.]
       • _____, 1995. "Axiomatics in Economics", Southern Economic Journal, 62(2), pp. [http://cas.umkc.edu/ECON/economics/faculty/Lee/courses/502/reading/gewecrit2.pdf 307-319.]
       • Mark Blaug, 2003. "The Formalist Revolution of the 1950s", Journal of the History of Economic Thought, 25(2), pp. 145-156. [http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=5802604 Abstract]. Reprinted in Warren J. Samuels, et al., ed., 2003, A Companion to the History of Economic Thought, Wiley, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=oEG74UiYP10C&pg=PA396 395-] 409.
       • _____,

1998. "Disturbing Currents in Modern Economics", Challenge, 41(3), pp. 11-34. [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1093/is_n3_v41/ai_20809839/ Reprint.]
   • Paul Krugman, 1998, "Two Cheers for Formalism", Economic Journal, 108(451), pp. [https://www.jstor.org/pss/2565846 1829]-1836.
   • Terence Hutchison, 2000. On the Methodology of Economics and the Formalist Revolution, Edward Elgar. [http://www.e-elgar.com/Print_product_detail.lasso?id=1719 Description] and [https://books.google.com/books?id=d-jZBhjpSC8C&pg=PP11= preview].
   • E. Roy Weintraub, 2008. "mathematics and economics", The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition. [http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_M000372&edition=current&q=&topicid=&result_number=1 Abstract].
   • _____, 2002. How Economics Became a Mathematical Science, Duke University Press. [http://www.dukeupress.edu/Catalog/ViewProduct.php?productid=6807&viewby=series&categoryid=47&sort=newest Description] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100729022635/http://www.dukeupress.edu/Catalog/ViewProduct.php?productid=6807&viewby=series&categoryid=47&sort=newest |date=2010-07-29 }}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=ntc_Fs36AoQC&pg=PR7 preview], and [http://www.nd.edu/~pmirowsk/pdf/Weintraub_review_Isis.pdf review] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928235616/http://www.nd.edu/~pmirowsk/pdf/Weintraub_review_Isis.pdf |date=2011-09-28 }} [https://www.jstor.org/pss/3132446 extract].
   • Kenneth J. Arrow, 1951. Social Choice and Individual Values.
   • Amartya K. Sen, 1970 [1984]. Collective Choice and Social Welfare {{ISBN|0-444-85127-5}}.
   • _____, 2008. "social choice", The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition. [http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_S000164&q=methodology&topicid=&result_number=40 Abstract.]

  • the writing• William Thomson, 1999. "The Young Person's Guide to Writing Economic Theory",

Journal of Economic Literature, 37(1), pp. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110615184729/http://web.cenet.org.cn/upfile/70156.pdf 157-183.]
   • _____, 2001. A Guide for the Young Economist: Writing and Speaking Effectively about Economics. Chapter-preview [https://books.google.com/books?id=GuDcMokIZaQC&pg=PR7 links.]
   • Eric Rasmusen, 2001. "Aphorisms on Writing, Speaking, and Listening", in E. Rasmusen, ed., Readings in Games and Information, pp. 389-420. [http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1033&context=rasmusen PDF.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150809113811/http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1033&context=rasmusen|date=2015-08-09}}
   • Donald McCloskey, 1985. "Economical Writing", Economic Inquiry, 23(2), pp. [http://business.nmsu.edu/~mhyman/M610_Articles/McCloskey_EconInquiry_1985.pdf 187-222.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512004537/http://business.nmsu.edu/~mhyman/M610_Articles/McCloskey_EconInquiry_1985.pdf|date=2011-05-12}}
   • David N. Laband and Christopher N. Taylor, 1992. "The Impact of Bad Writing in Economics", Economic Inquiry, 30(4), pp. 673-688. [http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1465-7295.1992.tb01289.x/abstract.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160519183825/https://books.google.com/books?id=GuDcMokIZaQC&printsec=find&pg=PR7|date=2016-05-19}} and rhetoric of economics• D.N. McCloskey, 1983. "The Rhetoric of Economics", Journal of Economic Literature, 21(2), pp. [http://www.deirdremccloskey.com/docs/pdf/Article_110.pdf 481-517.]
   • _____, [1985] 1998, 2nd ed. The Rhetoric of Economics. Chapter-preview [https://books.google.com/books?id=RDwsPG2KmXYC&pg=PR7=ONEPAGE links.]
   • Roger Backhouse, T. Dudley-Evans, and Willie Henderson, 1993. "Exploring the Language and Rhetoric of Economics", in Willie Henderson et al., Economics and Language, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=y7MOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA1=GBS_ATB 1-20] (preview)
   • John Kenneth Galbraith, 1962. "The Language of Economics", Fortune, LXVI(6), Dec. pp. 12-30, 169, 31. Excerpt at [CNN] [https://money.cnn.com/2006/05/17/news/newsmakers/galbraith_fortune_052906/index.htm "FORTUNE: John Kenneth Galbraith, excerpts from his writing"], May 17, 2006.

  • the relation between theory, observation, application, and methodology in contemporary economics.• Wassily Leontief, 1971. "Theoretical Assumptions and Nonobserved Facts", American Economic Review, 61(1), pp. 1-7. Reprinted in W. Leontief, 1977, Essays in Economics, v. 1, ch. III, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=OPGg2K2ZJ6MC&dq=%22Theoretical+Assumptions+and+Nonobserved+Facts%22&pg=PA24 24-34.]
       • Mark Blaug, 1992. The Methodology of Economics: Or How Economists Explain, 2nd ed., Cambridge. [http://www.cambridge.org/gb/knowledge/isbn/item1143239/?site_locale=en_GB Description] and [https://books.google.com/books?id=T4y7HyduGnIC&q=%22The+Methodology+of+Economics,+or+How+Economists+Explain%22 Preview.]
       • Roger Backhouse and Mark Blaug, 1994. New Directions in Economic Methodology, Routledge. Contents [https://books.google.com/books?id=T4y7HyduGnIC&pg=PR7 preview.]
       • P.A.G. van Bergeijk et al., 1997. Economic Science and Practice: The Roles of Academic Economists and Policy-Makers. [http://www.e-elgar.co.uk/bookentry_mainUS.lasso?id=1360 Description] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140416050849/http://www.e-elgar.co.uk/bookentry_mainUS.lasso?id=1360 |date=2014-04-16 }} & preview [https://books.google.com/books?id=nSdX1zjn1aYC&pg=PR5=FALSE links.]
       • D. Wade Hands, 2001. Without Rules: Economic Methodology and Contemporary Science Theory, Oxford. [https://books.google.com/books?id=FUZZAXGF7qsC&q=methodology+OR+methodological+economic Description] and contents [https://books.google.com/books?id=FUZZAXGF7qsC&pg=PR7 preview.]
       • Christopher A. Sims, 1996. "Macroeconomics and Methodology", Journal of Economic Perspectives, 10(1), pp. [http://wolfweb.unr.edu/homepage/pingle/Teaching/Sims%201996.pdf 105-120.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510022622/http://wolfweb.unr.edu/homepage/pingle/Teaching/Sims%201996.pdf |date=2011-05-10 }}
       • Kevin D. Hoover, 2001. The Methodology of Empirical Macroeconomics, Oxford. [https://books.google.com/books?id=lCG9PQqCf_UC Description] and [https://books.google.com/books?id=hkTjC7SlRTcC&pg=PR9 preview.]
       • Bruno S. Frey, 2001. "Why Economists Disregard Economic Methodology, Journal of Economic Methodology'', 8(1), pp. [http://www.bsfrey.ch/articles/352_01.pdf 41–47] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101105202620/http://www.bsfrey.ch/articles/352_01.pdf |date=2010-11-05 }}.

Economic methodology has gone from periodic reflections of economists on method to a distinct research field in economics since the 1970s. In one direction, it has expanded to the boundaries of philosophy, including the relation of economics to the philosophy of science and the theory of knowledge.Lawrence A. Boland, 2006. "[https://books.google.com/books?id=udfyv7humtoC&dq=false&pg=PA222 Seven Decades of Economic Methodology: A Popperian Perspective]", in Karl Popper: A Centenary Assessment, v. 3, ed. Ian Charles Jarvie et al., pp. 219 In another direction of philosophy and economics, additional subjects are treated including decision theory and ethics.• _____, [1994] 2006, [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZR_QJXfrfuEC&dq=F1FK11cwip&pg=PA3 Economic Analysis and Moral Philosophy], 2nd ed. New York, Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0521558506}}

See also

Notes

{{Reflist}}

References

  • John Bryan Davis, D. Wade Hands, Uskali Mäki (1998). Handbook of Economic Methodology, E. Elgar
  • Hands, D. Wade, ed. (1993). The Philosophy And Methodology Of Economics, Duke University
  • Hausman, Daniel M. (1984). [https://books.google.com/books?id=NqNGaJBahWoC&pg=PP1 The Philosophy of Economics: An Anthology]. New York: Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|052145929X}}
  • Boland, L. (1982) The Foundations of Economic Method, London: Geo. Allen & Unwin.
  • Boland, L. (1989) [https://books.google.com/books?id=jR0OAAAAQAAJ&dq=The%20Methodology%20of%20Economic%20Model%20Building&pg=PP1 The Methodology of Economic Model Building: Methodology after Samuelson], London: Routledge.
  • Boland, L. (1997) [https://books.google.com/books?id=Shmckd6oVSQC&dq=Economic%20Methodology&pg=PP1 Critical Economic Methodology: A Personal Odyssey], London: Routledge
  • Boland, L. (2003) The Foundations of Economic Method: A Popperian Perspective, London: Routledge
  • D.N. McCloskey (1983). [https://books.google.com/books?id=RDwsPG2KmXYC&dq=The%20Rhetoric%20of%20Economics&pg=PP1 The Rhetoric of Economics], Univ of Wisconsin Press, 1998
  • Daniel M. Hausman (1992). [https://books.google.com/books?id=pM57-DJ2yDcC&dq=Essays%20on%20Philosophy%20and%20Economic%20Methodology&pg=PP1 Essays on Philosophy and Economic Methodology], Cambridge University Press, 1992
  • Nell, E.J. and Errouaki, K. (2011) Rational Econometric Man. Edward Elgar.
  • Düppe, T. (2011). [http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1350178X.2011.580196#.UtawdbTe_6M How Economic Methodology Became a Separate Science], Journal of Economic Methodology, 18 (2): 163-176.

External links

  • [http://econpapers.repec.org/article/tafjecmet/ Journal of Economic Methodology] - page @ EconPapers
  • Daniel M. Hausman, [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/economics Philosophy of Economics] (with focus on methodology), Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  • Milton Friedman, [https://web.archive.org/web/20081118134352/http://mikael.cozic.free.fr/friedman53(extraits).pdf "The Methodology of Positive Economics"] (excerpts)

{{Economics}}

Category:Interdisciplinary subfields of economics