The Foundations of Positive and Normative Economics

The Foundations of Positive and Normative Economics PDF

Author: Andrew Caplin

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2010-06-25

Total Pages: 416

ISBN-13: 9780199890118

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The Foundations of Positive and Normative Economics: A Handbook is the first book in a new series by Andrew Caplin and Andrew Schotter. There is currently no guide available on the rapidly changing methodological frontiers of the field of economics. Economists have been introducing new theories and new sources of data at a remarkable rate in recent years, and there are widely divergent views both on how productive these expansions have been in the past, and how best to make progress in the future. The speed of these changes has left economists ill at ease, and has created a backlash against new methods. The series will debate these critical issues, allowing proponents of a particular research method to present proposals in a safe yet critical context, with alternatives being clarified. This first volume, written by some of the most prominent researchers in the discipline, reflects the challenges that are opened by new research opportunities. The goal of the current volume and the series it presages, is to formally open a dialog on methodology. The editors' conviction is that such a debate will rebound to the benefit of social science in general, and economics in particular. The issues under discussion strike to the very heart of the social scientific enterprise. This work is of tremendous importance to all who are interested in the contributions that academic research can make not only to our scientific understanding, but also to matters of policy.

Foundations of Economic Analysis of Law

Foundations of Economic Analysis of Law PDF

Author: Steven Shavell

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2009-07-01

Total Pages: 760

ISBN-13: 0674043499

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What effects do laws have? Do individuals drive more cautiously, clear ice from sidewalks more diligently, and commit fewer crimes because of the threat of legal sanctions? Do corporations pollute less, market safer products, and obey contracts to avoid suit? And given the effects of laws, which are socially best? Such questions about the influence and desirability of laws have been investigated by legal scholars and economists in a new, rigorous, and systematic manner since the 1970s. Their approach, which is called economic, is widely considered to be intellectually compelling and to have revolutionized thinking about the law. In this book Steven Shavell provides an in-depth analysis and synthesis of the economic approach to the building blocks of our legal system, namely, property law, tort law, contract law, and criminal law. He also examines the litigation process as well as welfare economics and morality. Aimed at a broad audience, this book requires neither a legal background nor technical economics or mathematics to understand it. Because of its breadth, analytical clarity, and general accessibility, it is likely to serve as a definitive work in the economic analysis of law.

Essays in Positive Economics

Essays in Positive Economics PDF

Author: Milton Friedman

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 1953

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 0226264033

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This paper is concerned primarily with certain methodological problems that arise in constructing the "distinct positive science" that John Neville Keynes called for, in particular, the problem how to decide whether a suggested hypothesis or theory should be tentatively accepted as part of the "body of systematized knowledge concerning what is."

The End of Value-Free Economics

The End of Value-Free Economics PDF

Author: Hilary Putnam

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2012-03-15

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 1136576819

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This book brings together key players in the current debate on positive and normative science and philosophy and value judgements in economics. Both editors have engaged in these debates throughout their careers from its early foundations; Putnam as a doctorial student of Hans Reichenbach at UCLA and Walsh a junior member of Lord Robbins’s department at the London School of Economics, both in the early 1950s. This book collects recent contributions from Martha Nussbaum, Amartya Sen and Partha Dasgupta, as well as a new chapter from the editors.

The Philosophy of Economics

The Philosophy of Economics PDF

Author: Daniel M. Hausman

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 11

ISBN-13: 0521883504

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This volume, explores the nature of economics as a science, including classic texts and newer essays.

Foundations of Organisational Economics

Foundations of Organisational Economics PDF

Author: Paul Walker

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021

Total Pages: 186

ISBN-13: 9781003128472

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"Foundations of Organisational Economics: Histories and Theories of the Firm and Production delves into a range of key topics to do with the history of the mainstream approach to the theory of production and the theory of the firm. This includes the frameworks used to analyse production, the division of labour and its application to the firm and the development of the neoclassical model of production. The first topic explored in the work is the change from a normative approach to a largely positive approach to the analysis of the theory of production, which occurred around the 17th century. The next topic is an examination of the relationship (or the lack of a relationship) between the division of labour and the theory of the firm. In the fourth chapter, the work goes on to focus on the development of the proto-neoclassical approach to production. Here, the development of the theories of monopoly, oligopoly and perfect competition are discussed as well as the theory of input utilisation. Chapter five looks at Marshall's idea of the representative firm, which was the main early neoclassical approach to the theory of industry-level production. The penultimate chapter considers the criticisms made of the neoclassical model between 1940 and 1970. This work is an illuminating reference for students and researchers of the history of economic thought, industrial organization, microeconomic theory, and organizational studies. Paul Walker is an Economist based in Christchurch, New Zealand. He received his PhD in Economics from the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. His research is mainly to do with the history of economic thought and the theory of the firm. He is author of "The Theory of the Firm: An Overview of the economic mainstream" and "A Brief Prehistory of the Theory of the Firm", both published by Routledge"--

A Short Course in Intermediate Microeconomics with Calculus

A Short Course in Intermediate Microeconomics with Calculus PDF

Author: Roberto Serrano

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2012-11-30

Total Pages: 397

ISBN-13: 1107017343

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This is a textbook for an intermediate level course in microeconomics that uses calculus throughout. Most of the competition either uses no calculus or relegates the math to footnotes and appendices. The text also focuses on theory rather than empirical data. To motivate the analysis, the authors include references to real events and firms, with no distracting separate boxes.

The Methodology of Positive Economics

The Methodology of Positive Economics PDF

Author: Uskali Mäki

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2009-05-28

Total Pages: 383

ISBN-13: 0521867010

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A team of world-renowned experts cast new light on Milton Friedman's 1953 essay 'The methodology of positive economics'.

Foundations of Economics

Foundations of Economics PDF

Author: Yanis Varoufakis

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2002-01-08

Total Pages: 426

ISBN-13: 1134682603

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Foundations of Economics breathes life into the discipline by linking key economic concepts with wider debates and issues. By bringing to light delightful mind-teasers, philosophical questions and intriguing politics in mainstream economics, it promises to enliven an otherwise dry course whilst inspiring students to do well. The book covers all the main economic concepts and addresses in detail three main areas: * consumption and choice * production and markets * government and the State. Each is discussed in terms of what the conventional textbook says, how these ideas developed in historical and philosophical terms and whether or not they make sense. Assumptions about economics as a discipline are challenged, and several pertinent students' anxieties ('Should I be studying economics?') are discussed.