Methodology of Economics 2400-ZE5METa
1. Introduction - what is economic methodology?
Presentation of the course; review of syllabus; discussion of the reading assignments. Why is economic methodology important for economists?
I. What is science?
2. Short introduction to the philosophy of science
Facts, scientific explanation and scientific laws. The hypothetico-deductive method. Popper’s falsificationism. Kuhn’s paradigms and the methodology of scientific research programs of Lakatos..
3. Methodological tradition in economics - from Mill, through Friedman to Blaug
II. Economics as a science
4. The subject and method of economics
5. Theories and models
6. What constitutes progress in economics?
7. Is there empirical progress in economics?
8. Strengths and limitations of econometrics
9. Economic imperialism
III. Elements of the sociology of economics
10. Social conditioning of economics
11. Rhetoric and economics
IV. Other issues
12. The production of economic knowledge. Does economics really have an influence on policy?
13. Ethics and economics
14. Review of the course. What have we learned about economics?
15. Final exam
Type of course
Prerequisites (description)
Learning outcomes
After completion of the course the student should be able to:
- point out the crucial methodological problems of economics as a science
- analyze these problems with the help of economic and philosophical concepts
- form rational and critical arguments in current methodological debates in economics
- verify if threre is scientific progress in economic science
- rationally debate with persons criticising economics from the methodological perspective
Assessment criteria
One oral presentation during semester (50% of the final grade) and a final exam consisting of test and open questions (50% of the final grade).
Bibliography
1.Introduction
M. Blaug, "Metodologia ekonomii", PWN, Warszawa, 1995, rozdz. 1-2.
2. Short introduction to the philosophy of science)
M. Blaug, "Metodologia ekonomii", PWN, Warszawa, 1995, rozdz. 1-2.
D. Hausman, "Philosophy of Economics: An Anthology", 2nd ed., CUP, 1994, s. 4-28.
3. Methodological tradition in economics
M. Blaug, "Metodologia ekonomii", PWN, Warszawa, 1995, s. 97-111; 120-134; rozdz. 4.
D. W. Hands, "Reflection without Rules. Economic Methodology and Contemporary Science Theory", CUP, 2001, ss. 13-69.
4. The subject and method of economics
R. S. Goldfarb, T. C. Leonard (2002), "Economics at The Millennium", Social Science and Modern Society, vol. 40(1), s. 24-36.
5. Theories and models in economics
R. Sugden (2000), "Credible worlds: the status of theoretical models in economics", Journal of Economic Methodology, 7(1), pp. 1-31.
6. Progress in theoretical economics
R. E. Backhouse, "Truth and Progress in Economic Knowledge", Cheltenham, Edward Elgar, 1997, rozdziały 8-10.
7. Empirical progress in economics
M. Blaug (2002), "Ugly Currents in Modern Economics", [w:] U. Maki, "Fact and fiction in economics", Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, s. 35-56.
R. G. Lipsey (2001), "Successes and Failures in the Transformation of Economics"", Journal of Economic Methodology, vol. 8(2), s. 169-201.
8. Methodology and econometrics
R. E. Backhouse, "Truth and Progress in Economic Knowledge", Cheltenham, Edward Elgar, 1997, rozdziały 11-13.
9. Economics imperialism
E. P. Lazear (2000), "Economic Imperialism", The Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 115(1), s. 99-146.
10. Social context of economics
U. Maki (1993), "Social theories of science and the fate of institutionalism in economics", [w:] U. Maki, B. Gustafsson, C. Knudsen (red.), "Rationality, Institutions and Economic Methodology", London, Routledge, s. 76-109.
11. Rhetoric of economics
D. McCloskey (1983), "The Rhetoric of Economics", Journal of Economic Literature, vol. 21(2), s. 481-517.
12. Economics of economics
B. S. Frey (2000), Does Economics Have an Effect? Towards an Economics of Economics. Working Paper No. 36, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics, University of Zurich.
13. Ethics and economics
D. Hausman, McPherson M. S. (1994), “Economics, Rationality, and Ethics”, [w:] D. Hausman (red.), The Philosophy of Economics: An Anthology, 2nd ed., Cambridge, CUP, s. 252-277.
D. Hausman, McPherson M. S. (1996), “Introduction”, w: D. Hausman, McPherson M. S., Economic Analysis and Moral Philosophy, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, s. 9-16.
Additional information
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