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A History of the Histories of Econometrics

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  • Marcel Boumans
  • Ariane Dupont-Kieffer

Abstract

Econometricians have from the start considered historical knowledge of their own discipline as reflexive knowledge useful for delineating their discipline, that is, for setting its disciplinary boundaries with respect to its aims, its methods, and its scientific values. As such, the histories written by econometricians reflect the scientific image of their discipline in a given period. Each image of a period is drawn by denominating forerunners and founding fathers and uses the language of the dominant philosophy of science of that day. At the end of the nineteenth century, a scientific theory had to be mathematical; in the interbellum the image of science was that of logical positivism. In the 1970s and 1980s the dominant views were those of Karl Popper, Imre Lakatos, and Thomas Kuhn. Currently the scientific image in econometrics is the one of the Stanford school (Nancy Cartwright, Ian Hacking, and Patrick Suppes).

Suggested Citation

  • Marcel Boumans & Ariane Dupont-Kieffer, 2011. "A History of the Histories of Econometrics," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 43(5), pages 5-31, Supplemen.
    • Handle: RePEc:hop:hopeec:v:43:y:2011:i:5:p:5-31
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    Cited by:

    1. Robert W. Dimand, 2014. "James Tobin and Modern Monetary Theory," Center for the History of Political Economy Working Paper Series 2014-5, Center for the History of Political Economy.
    2. Robert W. Dimand, 2020. "Macroeconomic dynamics at the Cowles Commission from the 1930s to the 1950s," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(4), pages 564-581, July.
    3. n.d., 2015. "Glimpses of Henry Schultz in Mussolini?s 1934 Italy," HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT AND POLICY, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2015(2), pages 93-113.
    4. Belyanova, E. & Makasheva, N., 2020. "The constructivist project 'Econometrics-1930': Implementation of the impossible or realization of inevitable?," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 47(3), pages 158-177.
    5. Kolev, Stefan, 2021. "Ein Baltendeutscher bei den Preußen des Balkans: Oskar Anderson und das Sofioter Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (SWIFO)," HWWI Research Papers 198, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI).
    6. M.J. Boumans, 2018. "Survey on Recent Work in the History of Econometrics: A Witness Report," Working Papers 18-10, Utrecht School of Economics.
    7. repec:hal:journl:dumas-00906285 is not listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    econometrics; Karl Popper; Imre Lakatos; Thomas Kuhn; Nancy Cartwright; Ian Hacking; Patrick Suppes;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B23 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Econometrics; Quantitative and Mathematical Studies

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