Model building has been the backbone of modern economic theory over the last 25 years, and the major methodological task for each model builder has been to establish the testability of each model developed. Too often, though, seemingly innocent modelling assumptions can make a model virtually impossible to test, even under ideal conditions, yet few economic theorists have examined the methodological requirements and problems of assuring testability in economics. Lawrence Boland considers how economists have applied Popper's views on the need for error-detection and testability theories in science. The methodological debates these theories have inspired are related to wider debates on empiricism and the truth status of models in the natural and social sciences. He concludes by arguing that the practice of model building in economics reflects the methodological prescriptions of Samuelson more than the falsification theory usually attributed to Popper. This book should be of interest to lecturers and students of economics.
- ISBN10 1306718465
- ISBN13 9781306718462
- Publish Date 3 May 2014 (first published 4 April 1991)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 17 February 2015
- Publish Country US
- Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
- Imprint Routledge
- Format eBook
- Pages 209
- Language English