What We Research in Social Sciences: Is Homo Oeconomicus Dead?

Kaire Põder ()
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Kaire Põder: Tallinn University of Technology

No 137, Working Papers from School of Economics and Business Administration, Tallinn University of Technology

Abstract: Transition is not just transition of formal institutions, convergence of price levels and living standards. The closure or the gap in formal institutions is probably less time demanding than the closure of ideological or mental gap, created in many fields in academy or social life. Social sciences have been erased during half a century and post-soviets still struggle for academic prestige of these areas. We have seen many misunderstandings concerning the interrelations, hierarchy and even object of study in social sciences. Superiority of economics is sometimes created by market signals, or superiority of some other discipline by “political signals”. Our aim is to show that in the body of social sciences economics is a normal science which can be defined by method, not by subject matter. We will introduce the alternative methodological approaches to rational choice and indicate their advantages and disadvantages. Mainly two questions are answered. First, is there some alternative methodology which has been more successful in producing efficient predictions and explanations of social affairs? Second, how methodological criticism has changed rational choice perspectives and can these changes be justified? Finally, changes in methodology of economics are discussed showing that there is no clear answer – how to parcel our social sciences?

Keywords: rational choice; methodology in economics; structuralism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B4 B5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp, nep-hpe, nep-pke, nep-soc and nep-sog
Date: 2006
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Published in Working Papers in Economics, School of Economics and Business Administration,Tallinn University of Technology (TUTWPE), Volume 18, Pages 5-22

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