The general failure of economists to predict the financial crash of 2008 has given rise to a wide-ranging debate over the need for methodological reform. But has this debate been adequate to the task at hand? We introduce a framework for classifying methodological debates according to their...

Abstract The massive globalization of production led by large firms in industrialized countries, combined with the policy shift in developing countries toward export-oriented growth, has meant that economic development has increasingly become synonymous with “economic upgrading” within...

Abstract Vertical specialization is a measure of the import content of exports. Given the widely recognized importance of trade in tasks and global production networks, vertical specialization has recently gained the attention of international trade researchers and policy makers. In this note,...

This paper addresses the link between the generation of economic knowledge and economic policy conclusions. Focusing on the case of research in international trade, It establishes a taxonomy of rhetorical practices used to make such a link. The flexibility observed in these practices contrasts...

This paper shifts the focus of discussion on the 2008 financial crisis from the problems of the financial sector to its effects on the real economy. We step back from the immediate facts of the crisis to consider the reason for finance and its importance in firm innovation, both theoretically...