In Quest of Truth: The War of Methods in Economics

Vijayamohanan Pillai N.

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: The present paper discusses the ‘battle of methods’ in economics in its epistemic pursuit in the framework of a dialectics between science and art. The traditional distinction between deduction and induction has come to be characterized as a ‘theory-data confrontation’; while the former a priori approach has flourished in terms of mathematical economics, the inductive approach has fulfilled its mission through econometrics and experimental economics. The paper outlines the recent trends in econometrics and experimental economics in the context of empirical pursuit. We conclude the study, reiterating the contemporary consensus on the complementary roles of the two approaches: a theory-data confluence, not in a static, but in a dialectical framework.

Keywords: Economic Methodology; Deduction; Induction; Dialectics; Mathematics; Econometrics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B00 B16 B23 B41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008-05-25
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-exp, nep-hpe and nep-pke
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:8866

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