From methodological mix to theoretical mainstream, then to the Empirical Turnaround: half a century of evolution in economics

Due to health reasons affecting speaker Michel De Vroey, the event is CANCELLED and postponed to a later date.

HiPhiS Lecture (History & Philosophy of Science) by Michel De Vroey, Economist and historian of economic thought, Professor Emeritus at the Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium). Free admission.

HiPhiS - Séminaire inter-universitaire d'Histoire et Philosophie des Sciences
Cycle 2024: Question(s) d'échelle? Crossed perspectives.

Created in 2009 and supported by the Montpellier universities and the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme de Montpellier, HiPhiS is a high-level inter-university popularization seminar on contemporary science, which aims to draw the attention of the entire university community (teachers and students) to the interdisciplinary interest and philosophical stakes of the research carried out in the teams and laboratories of our universities, as well as in the international scientific community.

The HiPhiS 2024 cycle is supported by the Pôle Research UM MIPS (Mathématiques Informatique Physique Systèmes).

HiPhiS contacts: Delphine Bellis / Laurent Boiteau / Viviane Durand-Guerrier

Summary

This historical synthesis is organized around three taxonomies. The first is a triad (Theory without Measurement, Theory and Measurement, Measurement without Theory) that we associate with three articulated periods (i) from 1945 to 1970, then(ii) up to the 1990s, and finally (iii) up to the present day. The second taxonomy contrasts works according to whether or not they meet the conditions of mainstream (understood as being methodologically founded). The third taxonomy contrasts two understandings of the object of economic theory: the study of the functioning of the market economy vs. the study of decision-making in the economic field. As these theses are put to the test of empirical verification, the results of this exercise appear to us to be positive overall.