The economics 'credibility revolution' has promoted the identification of causal relationships using difference-in-differences (DID), instrumental variables (IV), randomized control trials (RCT) and regression discontinuity design (RDD) methods. The extent to which a reader should trust claims...

The weak rationality principle is not an empirical statement but a heuristic rule for how to proceed in social sciences. It is a necessary ingredient of any 'understanding' social science in the Weberian sense. In this paper, first this principle and its role in economic theorizing are...

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

This contribution deals with the current problems of the stagnating European economy: a high level of debt, political instability and a lower level of ethics. The growth of the income gap in society is viewed as one of the most pressing problems. Reference is made to the ineffectiveness of...

This paper attempts to understand Asian Drama in the context of the development debates of its time, and in terms of the sensibilities that Gunnar Myrdal - the brilliant economic theorist and philosopher of knowledge, and Swedish politician - brought to the conceptualization of the problems and...

This paper examines the relationship between poverty dynamics, causal pluralism, and mixed method research approaches. It reviews the nature and significance of the shift from the analysis of poverty status to poverty dynamics, discusses different approaches to causal reasoning and causal...

Gunnar Myrdal published Asian Drama in 1968, a work which made important analytical contributions to our understanding of development but was deeply pessimistic about Asia's future prospects. Since then, contrary to Myrdal's expectations, Asia's development has been remarkable, although...

A popular view of models among economists and philosophers alike is that all models are false, but some are useful. Models are frequently treated as convenient fictions, idealizations, stories about credible worlds, or "near enough" to the truth. But such a understandings pose serious questions,...

In der ökonomischen Bildung wird die Wirtschaft aus quasi-naturwissenschaftlicher Perspektive gelehrt, ohne dass diese Perspektive selbst kaum je reflektiert würde. Aufgezeigt wird, wie aus dieser Perspektive heraus angehende Ökonomen angeleitet werden, sich von ihrer eigenen Erfahrungswelt...

Obwohl der Begriff "der Markt" (in der Einzahl) andauernd - sowohl in der Theorie als auch in Alltagsdiskurse - mit einer großen Selbstverständlichkeit verwendet wird, hat er eine Geschichte, die fast 100 Jahre zurückgeht. Diese Begrifflichkeit wurde erstmals in der Österreichischen Schule...