On the scope of experiments in economics: comments on Siakantaris

The problem of ‘parallelism’ or external validitycan in principle be solved; I try to show how by means of twosimple examples. I also criticise attempts to dismiss experimentaleconomics that appeal to alleged ontological differences betweenthe natural and the social realm.     

Coase on the nature of economics

Recent writings on Coase's methodology largely focus on method,at the risk of underappreciating his substantive view of economics.That economics has as its subject matter the working of thereal world economic system is Coase's main methodological messageand is also the key to understanding Coase's other methodologicalconcerns. Coase's methodological position is illustrated inthis paper by comparing him with other economists in terms oftheir differing research programmes informed by their methodologicalstances. Along the way, this paper outlines the new institutionaleconomics, a research programme inspired by Coase's methodology.     

Simon's and Siegel's responses to the 'mixed strategy anomaly': a missed case in the sensitivity of economics to empirical evidence

In some of their papers published in the 1950s, Herbert Simonand Sidney Siegel responded to the so-called mixed strategyanomaly in ways which deserve more attention. They producednot only (i) immediate defences of the economic theory of theirown time, but also (ii) ideas and solutions that have laterturned out to be significant contributions to the developmentof the economic theory of choice and decision-making and theseparation of experimental economics from experimental psychology.These observations suggest that economics can be more responsiveto empirical anomalies than has been assumed. Furthermore, knowledgeof the desirable responsiveness to anomalies can provide meansof avoiding the non-desirable immunity to anomalies.     

The future of development economics: a methodological agenda

This paper discusses methodological differences between universalismand particularism in development economics by focusing on the‘East Asian Miracle’ debate. It proposes to builddevelopment economics as part of hetero-economics, not mono-economics,following Max Weber's methodology of social science, and suggestsdeveloping intermediate theories by abstracting directly fromgiven comparative settings. It also discusses the limitationsthat are inherent in this method, as well as ways to employthe method in actual analyses. This paper argues that the futuretask of development economics lies in recombining existing theoriesand developing new, complementing theories that will systematicallydelineate the diversity of developing countries.     

Monoculture versus diversity in competition economics

Economics rightfully represents the major basis for competitionpolicy. Next to generating knowledge about competition and itswelfare effects, the currently popular ‘more-economicapproach’ is charged with a number of additional hopesand expectations. While this article highlights the benefitsof economics-based competition policy, it takes a cautious stancetowards excessive expectations, in particular regarding theidea that a monocultural, ‘unified’ competitiontheory as an exact, objective and unerring scientific approachto antitrust could make normative assessment and generalisationssuperfluous. Diversity in competition economics is advocatedin two ways. First, competition economics is empirically characterisedby a considerable pluralism of theories and policy paradigms.Second, it is demonstrated that this diversity of theories istheoretically beneficial for future scientific progress. Asno ultimate competition theory can ever be expected., the ‘more-economicapproach’ must be extended in order to embrace diversity.     

Economists, value judgments, and climate change: A view from feminist economics

A number of recent discussions about ethical issues in climate change, as engaged in by economists, have focused on the value of the parameter representing the rate of time preference within models of optimal growth. This essay examines many economists' antipathy to serious discussion of ethical matters, and suggests that the avoidance of questions of intergenerational equity is related to another set of value judgments concerning the quality and objectivity of economic practice. Using insights from feminist philosophy of science and research on high reliability organizations, this essay argues that a more ethically transparent, real-world-oriented, and flexible economic practice would lead to more reliable and useful knowledge.     

Experimental analysis on the role of a large speculator in currency crises

Corsetti et al. (2004) demonstrate that the presence of a large speculator in the foreign exchange market makes the remaining traders more aggressive in their speculative attacks. We conduct an experiment designed to test their theoretical predictions and also use the experiment to analyze an additional aspect that has not been previously covered in the literature: namely, whether the entry of a large speculator and the exit of the same speculator have the same effect in magnitude on the probability of a successful speculative attack. We obtain two main findings. First, the results support the main conclusion of Corsetti et al. (2004) that the presence of a large speculator makes other small speculators more aggressive. Second, the results suggest that the effect of the entry of a large speculator on the probability of successful speculative attacks is larger than that of the exit of the same speculator.     

Water markets design and evidence from experimental economics

Market mechanisms are gaining increasing acceptance all over the world as a way of making more efficient use of scarce water resources. Designing regulatory frameworks that ensure both inter- and intra-temporal efficient allocations is a daunting task, especially if supply is stochastic and there is ample storage capacity. In addition to defining tradable rights, specific provisions must regulate the use of reservoirs. Commonly, water statutes include provisions that establish asymmetries regarding the allocation of water, and market restrictions that ban water trading across different users. In this article, we use data collected in a laboratory to test two specific market regulations included in the 1999 Water reform in Spain. First, junior right holders are not allowed to buy water from senior users. Second, the law does not explicitly define water rights over units left in reservoirs for the following season. Results suggest that trading restrictions among water right holders lead to welfare losses for senior users. It is shown that removing this restriction would increase senior right holders’ benefits, without reducing those of junior users. Results show that defining water rights over saved units across periods would increase the average stock levels of reservoirs, and reduce market price instability. The lessons learned from the Spanish experience are applicable to settings characterized by unstable natural water supply and the availability of large storage facilities.      

The challenge of understanding decisions in experimental studies of common pool resource governance

Common pool resource experiments in the laboratory and the field have provided insights that have contrasted to those derived from conventional non-cooperative game theory. Contrary to predictions from non-cooperative game theory, participants are sometimes willing to restrain voluntarily from over extracting resources and use costly punishment to sanction other participants. Something as simple as face-to-face communication has been shown to increase average earnings significantly. In the next generation of experiments, both in the laboratory and in the field, we need to extract more information that provides insight concerning why people make the decisions they make. More information is needed concerning attributes of individuals as well as the social and social-ecological context in which they interact that may give rise to such deviations from theoretical predictions. In the process of extracting more information from participants and the contexts in which they interact, we face several methodological and ethical challenges which we address in this paper.     

The nature of heterodox economics

Heterodoxy serves as an umbrella term to cover the coming togetherof separate projects or traditions. In answering the question,‘what distinguishes heterodoxy from the orthodoxy?’,the author argues that matters of ontology are central. In answeringthe question, ‘how are the various traditions that makeup the modern heterodoxy to be distinguished from each other?’,the author defends criteria other than varying commitments tospecific substantive theories, policy measures or techniques(or basic units) of analysis.     

女性主义经济学与中国经济学的本土化

经济学研究的是具体社会关系下人的理性行为以及人类行为造成的经济现象,因而具有强烈的人文性;而且,随着经济学研究领域的不断拓宽,人们已经开始引入了制度、文化等社会性因素,经济学的人文性已日益明显.正是基于这种人文性特征引发了人们对具体社会中人之理性的重新审视,以及对社会中人之行为的关注,并导致20世纪80年代之后女性主义经济学的勃兴;经济学领域的性别差异又进一步引发了社会性的思考,从而引发了对经济学本土化的探讨.事实上,不同社会文化下的经济学是有差异的,经济学本质上无法像自然科学那样科学化、客观化和通用化,而是具有强烈的本土化的色彩;而且,如果经济学理论没有本土化,就没有根植性,也就没有创新性,当然也就没有现代性和世界性.     

从经济学再到政治经济学:理解包容性增长

胡锦涛主席在亚太经合组织的两次会议上倡导包容性增长,其理论与现实意义深远。经济增长自经济学诞生以来就一直是经济研究的核心问题,经济学史上从政治经济学到经济学,再到最近新政治经济学的兴起实际上反映了人们对经济发展中的繁荣与公正、市场与政府的认知的深入过程。强调机会平等的包容性增长正是当下中国的政治经济学。从经济学发展过程审视政治与经济离合的演变有助于我们深入理解和研究包容性增长。     

Schumpeterian endogenous growth theory and evolutionary economics

In this paper, we aim to discuss whether Schumpeterian models of endogenous growth can accommodate Schumpeters vision of development through creative destruction. Taking a methodological approach, our focus is on individual decision-making, technology, general equilibrium and welfare, and steady state dynamics as the fundamental principles underlying endogenous growth theory. In particular, the Aghion-Howitt model of Schumpeterian growth in various extended versions is analyzed in the light of Schumpeters work. Therefore, we also try to root Schumpeters work in historical context. We find endogenous growth theory far from carrying Schumpeters idea of an evolutionary approach to change and development. Rather the emergence of numerous models of an evolutionary type can be observed to provide for the formal structure appropriate to keeping Schumpeters legacy alive.JEL Classification: B1, B2, B4, O3, O4Corespondence to: Thomas Kuhn     

Austrian themes,data, and sports economics

This paper uses data from Major League Baseball and themes from Moneyball by Michael Lewis to empirically illustrate Kirznerian entrepreneurship. While Kirzner envisioned competition in markets for profit, the sports economics literature shows that sporting competition has things in common with market competition. This is important because a strength of sports economics, namely, the abundant data, can help overcome a perceived weakness of Austrian economics, namely, the lack of empirical content. This paper describes and empirically confirms how certain front office decision makers of the Oakland Athletics were alert to opportunities that were being overlooked by other baseball executives.

Epistemology and the tasks of feminist economics

This paper examines the implications of current epistemological debates for the work of feminist economists. Feminist economists must acknowledge (in accordance with recent developments in the study of science) that (a) inquirers can never be certain whether claims about the world are true; (b) scientific inquiry is permeated with “internal” and “external” values; and (c) beliefs are affected by inquirers' social locations. But feminists should not, it argues, embrace the “relativist” stance of some postmodern thinkers, or reject the ideal of “truth,” or argue that beliefs are strictly determined by inquirers' identities and interests. It seeks to outline an epistemological “middle ground” for feminist economics, between the extremes of exaggerated claims of certainty and a disempowering relativism.     

The application of development economics: general principles and context specificity

The purpose of this paper is to consider the application ofdevelopment economics at the methodological level. In particular,given the shortcomings of both the modernist and postmodernistapproaches to development policy, we consider an alternativeapproach, drawing on critical realism, which combines the benefitsof generality with the benefits of attention to specificityof context. The approach is illustrated by showing how principlesin development economics addressing issues of globalisationand peripherality can serve to illuminate some of the causaltendencies at work in a developed economy such as Scotland.     

西方主流经济学的范式危机

长期以来倡导并践行西方主流经济学的美国发生了金融危机并影响着全球经济,更加凸显对当代西方主流经济学范式及其危机予以剖析的重要性。西方主流经济学的范式危机体现于"现象经济学"倾向、方法论的形式化、环境假定的绝对化、"价值中立"的先天不足,以及均衡分析和静态分析的有限性等方面。西方主流经济学的范式危机,预示着其进一步演化的转换方向。     

Theory creation and the methodological foundation of Post Keynesian economics

For the last 15 years there have been extensive discussionsabout the foundations of Post Keynesian economics. From thesediscussions, Post Keynesians have reached the consensus thattheir economics is based on a philosophical foundation of realismand critical realism. However, the methodological foundationof Post Keynesian economics, which refers to the methodologicalguidelines used for creating and developing theory, has receivedrelatively less discussion and development. The aim of thispaper is to stimulate discussion in this area by advocatingthat the method of grounded theory is consistent with criticalrealism and is a better and more developed set of guidelinesfor theory creation than the currently accepted alternatives.     

What topic modeling could reveal about the evolution of economics*

ABSTRACT

The paper presents the topic modeling technique known as Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), a form of text-mining aiming at discovering the hidden (latent) thematic structure in large archives of documents. By applying LDA to the full text of the economics articles stored in the JSTOR database, we show how to construct a map of the discipline over time, and illustrate the potentialities of the technique for the study of the shifting structure of economics in a time of (possible) fragmentation.