A research framework for ecological macroeconomics

Ecological macroeconomics has been expanding as a sub-field within ecological economics in the last decade. Applying almost exclusively non-neoclassical, or 'heterodox', macroeconomic theory, ecological macroeconomic models incorporate biophysical stocks and flows. Yet, they are not well-suited to exploring the more transformative agendas proposed within ecological economics writ large. The challenges of doing so are prodigious, but that points to the need for research. With the ultimate goal of informing policy-oriented models, including scenario models, this paper proposes a framework for research along a 'research-to-application pipeline'. It argues the need for a common framework and suggests combining two well-established practices: from macroeconomics, the practice of characterising models by their accounting relationships, behavioural rules, and closures; and, from system dynamics modelling, the adoption of 'confidence-building procedures'. The proposed research-to-application pipeline creates a division of labour over the task of confidence building, with the accounts-behaviourclosure (or 'ABC') approach providing a common language. The paper refers to existing work and explicitly addresses the critical realist critique of model closure.