Why Should I Believe Your Applied Economics?

Scott Swinton

American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 2018, vol. 100, issue 2, 381-391

Abstract: In an era of rising skepticism about science, this article explores what agricultural and applied economists can do to advance knowledge. If knowledge is what is believed by the preponderance of a community, then the key to advancing knowledge is to build substantive arguments—ones that are persuasive. To evaluate the substantiveness of an argument, this article develops a framework based on validity, topic, and audience. Applying that framework to two highly-cited articles, this article concludes that validity is a necessary condition for a substantive argument, but relevance (of topic to audience) is the sufficient condition. Applied economists are well-positioned to build compelling, objective arguments by fitting appropriate theory and methods to relevant, important topics.

Date: 2018
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