The primary aim of the paper is to place current methodological discussions on empirical modeling contrasting the 'theory first' versus the 'data first' perspectives in the context of a broader methodological framework with a view to constructively appraise them. In particular, the paper focuses...

The primary aim of the paper is to place current methodological discussions in macroeconometric modeling contrasting the 'theory first' versus the 'data first' perspectives in the context of a broader methodological framework with a view to constructively appraise them. In particular, the paper...

The problem of statistical model specification was initially raised by R.A. Fisher who understood it as an informed selection whose adequacy is testable a posteriori. This, however, raised the problem of how to blend substantive subject matter with statistical information in empirical modeling,...