Customer Reviews

Foundations of Research in Economics: How Do Economists Do Economics? (Advances in Economic Methodology)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love this book -- it excels at its purpose, which is one I appreciate. It's also quite specialized, and likely will only have a narrow readership -- unfortunate, because it's a useful book, and good reading.

The book consists of a number of short essays written by successful academic economists on how they think economic research should be conducted. The editors seem to have given the contributors complete freedom in tackling the subject, and the result is a wide variety of approaches to the question. A few of my favorites are Ed Leamer on the importance of getting a proper balance between theory and empirical work, Andrew Schotter on the importance of theory, and Paul Krugman on the crucial need to understand previous work before you try developing something new. They may sound pretty dry here, but they are actually quite interesting, even entertaining (Krugman entitles his essay "How to be a Crazy Economist" and maintains the theme of informed craziness throughout).

The essays tend not to be technical, and while they should be of interest to the professional economist, they also are largely accessible to the informed layperson. I used this book in teaching research methodology courses at the master's level in Ukraine and the United States, and have used a few of the essays in undergraduate economics courses as well. They are generally well received by students, and I think they do a good job of explaining what it is academic economists do.

Personally, I can read the essays just for enjoyment -- kind of an intellectual snack food that isn't simply empty calories -- not crucial reading by any means, but containing enough of value that reading them "just for fun" seems easily justifiable.

Downsides? Economic methodology is a subject of rather narrow interest, and I think the market for this material is quite small. Also, if you need serious philosophical treatment of economic methodology, this book won't satisfy.

But given its purpose, it deserves five stars.