IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/jecmet/v14y2007i3p291-309.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Great expectations, mixed results and resilient beliefs: the troubles of empirical research in economic controversies

Author

Listed:
  • Pedro N. Teixeira

Abstract

Anyone who has followed an economic controversy will have encountered the expectation that empirical research could provide an important role in clarifying the issues at stake. However, this hardly ever seems to be the case. Using the example of the debate between human capital and screening theories to explain the correlation between education and earnings, this paper discusses some possible reasons for the lack of impact that empirical research has had in many economic debates. The aspects discussed relate to the way many economists approach empirical work, which may undermine its relevance and impact for economic debates.

Suggested Citation

  • Pedro N. Teixeira, 2007. "Great expectations, mixed results and resilient beliefs: the troubles of empirical research in economic controversies," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(3), pages 291-309.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jecmet:v:14:y:2007:i:3:p:291-309
    DOI: 10.1080/13501780701562468
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13501780701562468
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/13501780701562468?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. James Heckman & Edward Vytlacil, 2001. "Identifying The Role Of Cognitive Ability In Explaining The Level Of And Change In The Return To Schooling," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 83(1), pages 1-12, February.
    2. Roger E. Backhouse, 1997. "Truth and Progress in Economic Knowledge," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 766.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhimin Liu & Aftab Ahmed Memon & Woubshet Negussie & Haile Ketema, 2020. "Interpreting the Sustainable Development of Human Capital and the Sheepskin Effects in Returns to Higher Education: Empirical Evidence from Pakistan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-16, March.
    2. Christer Thrane, 2010. "Education and Earnings in the Tourism Industry – the Role of Sheepskin Effects," Tourism Economics, , vol. 16(3), pages 549-563, September.

    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. Gordon Hanson & Chen Liu & Craig McIntosh, 2017. "The Rise and Fall of U.S. Low-Skilled Immigration," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 48(1 (Spring), pages 83-168.
    2. Gareth D. Leeves, 2014. "Increasing returns to education and the impact on social capital," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(5), pages 449-470, October.
    3. Myck, Michal & Nici?ska, Anna & Morawski, Leszek, 2009. "Count Your Hours: Returns to Education in Poland," IZA Discussion Papers 4332, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Miguel A. Duran, 2007. "Mathematical Needs and Economic Interpretations," Contributions to Political Economy, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 26(1), pages 1-16.
    5. Sandra Silva & Aurora Teixeira, 2009. "On the divergence of evolutionary research paths in the past 50 years: a comprehensive bibliometric account," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 19(5), pages 605-642, October.
    6. Cid, Alejandro & Ferrés, Daniel, 2010. "The coexistence of Degree-Premium and High-Dropout Rates in the Uruguayan Secondary Education: an Incentives Problem," MPRA Paper 39912, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Strulik, Holger, 2018. "The return to education in terms of wealth and health," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 12(C), pages 1-14.
    8. David J. Deming, 2017. "The Growing Importance of Social Skills in the Labor Market," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 132(4), pages 1593-1640.
    9. Maria De Paola, 2011. "Easy grading practices and supply–demand factors: evidence from Italy," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 227-246, October.
    10. Galindo-Rueda, Fernando & Vignoles, Anna, 2002. "Class Ridden or Meritocratic? An Economic Analysis of Recent Changes in Britain," IZA Discussion Papers 677, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Blankart Charles B. & Koester Gerrit B., 2007. "Theoretischer und empirischer wissenschaftlicher Fortschritt / Theoretical and empirical scientific progress: Eine kritische Analyse des Buches von Alesina und Spolaore: „The Size of Nations“ / A crit," ORDO. Jahrbuch für die Ordnung von Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, De Gruyter, vol. 58(1), pages 167-180, January.
    12. Dong, Hao & Otsu, Taisuke & Taylor, Luke, 2022. "Estimation of varying coefficient models with measurement error," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 230(2), pages 388-415.
    13. Armin Falk & Fabian Kosse & Pia Pinger & Hannah Schildberg-Hörisch & Thomas Deckers, 2021. "Socioeconomic Status and Inequalities in Children’s IQ and Economic Preferences," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 129(9), pages 2504-2545.
    14. Calderón, María Cecilia & Hoddinott, John, 2011. "The Inter-Generational Transmission of Cognitive Abilities in Guatemala," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 3105, Inter-American Development Bank.
    15. Nikolov, Plamen & Jimi, Nusrat & Chang, Jerray, 2020. "The Importance of Cognitive Domains and the Returns to Schooling in South Africa: Evidence from Two Labor Surveys," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    16. Torberg Falch & Sofia Sandgren Massih, 2011. "The Effect Of Education On Cognitive Ability," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 49(3), pages 838-856, July.
    17. Daniel A. Kamhöfer & Hendrik Schmitz, 2013. "Analyzing Zero Returns to Education in Germany – Heterogeneous Eff ects and Skill Formation," Ruhr Economic Papers 0446, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    18. Eliasson, Kent, 2006. "The Role of Ability in Estimating the Returns to College Choice: New Swedish Evidence," Umeå Economic Studies 691, Umeå University, Department of Economics.
    19. Nicholas W Papageorge & Kevin Thom, 2020. "Genes, Education, and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 18(3), pages 1351-1399.
    20. D. Hodge, 1999. "The Monetary Approach: A Methodological Appraisal," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 67(4), pages 263-274, December.

    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:taf:jecmet:v:14:y:2007:i:3:p:291-309. 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RJEC20 .

    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.