IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/qualqt/v47y2013i1p577-580.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

“Instrumentalism” and Friedman’s methodology: a short objection

Author

Listed:
  • S. Subramanian

Abstract

‘Instrumentalist’ interpretations of economic theories have been held to provide justification for the rightness of being indifferent to the ‘realism’ or otherwise of the assumptions underlying a theory. In this view, what is important for an economist engaged in formulating policy is to have a theory which is capable of generating accurate predictions. This note asserts, with the help of a very simple example, that theories based on unrealistic assumptions are—precisely contrary to its claim—inimical to the interests of an instrumentalist view of theories. Tests of predictive accuracy can be narrow or broad. When narrow, the likelihood is high of there being a large number of theories passing the test—but this could also raise the chances of survival of (unrealistic) theories which may have unintended and undesirable policy outcomes. On the other hand, when the scope of the test of predictive accuracy is widened, the set of contending theories is likely to be small, with the survivors restricted to those based on ‘realistic’ assumptions. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2013

Suggested Citation

  • S. Subramanian, 2013. "“Instrumentalism” and Friedman’s methodology: a short objection," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 47(1), pages 577-580, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:qualqt:v:47:y:2013:i:1:p:577-580
    DOI: 10.1007/s11135-011-9480-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11135-011-9480-7
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11135-011-9480-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Boland, Lawrence A, 1979. "A Critique of Friedman's Critics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 17(2), pages 503-522, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sidney G. Winter, 2017. "Pursuing the evolutionary agenda in economics and management research," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 41(3), pages 721-747.
    2. McDonald, John, 2009. "Using least squares and tobit in second stage DEA efficiency analyses," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 197(2), pages 792-798, September.
    3. Uskali Mäki, 2004. "Realism and the Nature of Theory: A Lesson from J H von Thünen for Economists and Geographers," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 36(10), pages 1719-1736, October.
    4. Galbács Peter, 2021. "What did it take for Lucas to set up ‘useful’ analogue systems in monetary business cycle theory?," Economics and Business Review, Sciendo, vol. 7(3), pages 61-82, September.
    5. Zanotti, Gabriel J. & Cachanosky, Nicolás, 2015. "Implications Of Machlup’S Interpretation Of Mises’S Epistemology," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 37(1), pages 111-138, March.
    6. Lawrence A. Boland & Irene M. Gordon, 1992. "Criticizing positive accounting theory," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 9(1), pages 142-170, September.
    7. D Wade Hands, 2013. "GP08 is the New F53: Gul and Pesendorfer’s Methodological Essay from the Viewpoint of Blaug’s Popperian Methodology," Chapters, in: Marcel Boumans & Matthias Klaes (ed.), Mark Blaug: Rebel with Many Causes, chapter 17, pages 245-266, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. GC Harcourt, 2016. "Stanley Wong (23 July 1947–30 April 2016): A tribute," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 27(4), pages 559-561, December.
    9. Stanley C. W. Salvary, 2004. "Society, Science, And Economics: The Delicate Balance Between Ideology And Epistemology And The Concept Of Fairness," Method and Hist of Econ Thought 0412002, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Gérard Charreaux, 2008. "La recherche en finance d’entreprise:quel positionnement méthodologique ?," Revue Finance Contrôle Stratégie, revues.org, vol. 11(Special), pages 237-290, June.
    11. Stephan Klasen, 2008. "The Efficiency of Equity," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(2), pages 257-274.
    12. Brahmachari, Deborshi, 2016. "Neoclassical Economics as a Method of Scientific Research Program : A review of existing literature," MPRA Paper 75341, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. David Calnitsky & Asher Dupuy-Spencer, 2013. "The economic consequences of homo economicus: neoclassical economic theory and the fallacy of market optimality," The Journal of Philosophical Economics, Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, The Journal of Philosophical Economics, vol. 6(2), May.
    14. Antonio Quesada, 2005. "Competitive markets and “as if” methodology," Microeconomics 0504003, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Paul Pfleiderer, 2014. "Camaleones: el mal uso de modelos teóricos en finanzas y economía," Revista de Economía Institucional, Universidad Externado de Colombia - Facultad de Economía, vol. 16(31), pages 23-30, July-Dece.
    16. Peter Galbács, 2019. "Friedman’s instrumentalism in F53. A Weberian reading," The Journal of Philosophical Economics, Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, The Journal of Philosophical Economics, vol. 12(2), pages 31-53, May.
    17. Lawrence A. Boland, 1982. "Difficulties with the Element of Time and the 'Principles' of Economics or Some Lies My Teachers Told Me," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 8(1), pages 47-58, Jan-Mar.
    18. Rastegari, Shida, 1982. "Feed grains imports and pricing in the European Economic Community," ISU General Staff Papers 198201010800008476, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    19. Colin Rogers, 2000. "Discussion of 'Inflation, Disinflation and the Natural Rate of Unemployment: A Dynamic Framework for Policy Analysis'," RBA Annual Conference Volume (Discontinued), in: David Gruen & Sona Shrestha (ed.),The Australian Economy in the 1990s, Reserve Bank of Australia.
    20. van den Bergh, Jeroen C. J. M. & Ferrer-i-Carbonell, Ada & Munda, Giuseppe, 2000. "Alternative models of individual behaviour and implications for environmental policy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 43-61, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:qualqt:v:47:y:2013:i:1:p:577-580. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.