Econometrics and the philosophy of economics : theory-data confrontations in economics / Bernt P. Stigum.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Facts and Fiction in Econometrics -- The Construction of Social Reality -- The Social Construction of Reality -- Facts and Fiction in Econometrics -- Theorizing in Economics -- Theories and Models -- The Purport of an Economic Theory -- Rationality in Economics -- Topological Artifacts and Life in Large Economies -- Theory-Data Confrontations in Economics -- Rational Animals and Sample Populations -- The Theory Universe -- The Data Universe -- The Bridge Principles -- Data Analyses -- Frequentist Analogues of Priors and Posteriors / Tore Schweder, Nils Lid Hjort -- On the COLS and CGMM Moment Estimation Methods for Frontier Production Models / Harald E. Goldstein -- Congruence and Encompassing / Christophe Bontemps, Grayham E. Mizon -- New Developments in Automatic General-to-Specific Modeling / David F. Hendry, Hans-Martin Krolzig -- Empirical Relevance -- Conjectures, Theories, and Their Empirical Relevance -- Probability versus Capacity in Choice under Uncertainty -- Evaluation of Theories and Models / Clive W.J. Granger -- Diagnostics and Scientific Explanation -- Diagnoses and Defaults in Artificial Intelligence and Economics -- Section 20.3 from a Logical Point of View / Herman Ruge Jervell -- Explanations of an Empirical Puzzle: What Can Be Learned from a Test of the Rational Expectations Hypothesis? / Heather M. Anderson -- Scientific Explanation in Economics -- Scientific Explanation in Econometrics: A Case Study / Heather M. Anderson, Bernt P. Stigum, Geir Olve Storvik -- Contemporary Econometric Analyses.

"As most econometricians will readily agree, the data used in applied econometrics seldom provide accurate measurements for the pertinent theory's variables. Here, Bernt Stigum offers the first systematic and theoretically sound way of accounting for such inaccuracies. He and a distinguished group of contributors bridge econometrics and the philosophy of economics--two topics that seem worlds apart. They ask: How is a science of economics possible? The answer is elusive. Economic theory seems to be about abstract ideas or, it might be said, about toys in a toy community. How can a researcher with such tools learn anything about the social reality in which he or she lives? This book shows that an econometrician with the proper understanding of economic theory and the right kind of questions can gain knowledge about characteristic features of the social world. It addresses varied topics in both classical and Bayesian econometrics, offering ample evidence that its answer to the fundamental question is sound. The first book to comprehensively explore economic theory and econometrics simultaneously, Econometrics and the Philosophy of Economics represents an authoritative account of contemporary economic methodology. About a third of the chapters are authored or coauthored by Heather Anderson, Erik Biørn, Christophe Bontemps, Jeffrey A. Dubin, Harald E. Goldstein, Clive W.J. Granger, David F. Hendry, Herman Ruge-Jervell, Dale W. Jorgenson, Hans-Martin Krolzig, Nils Lid Hjort, Daniel L. McFadden, Grayham E. Mizon, Tore Schweder, Geir Storvik, and Herman K. van Dijk."--Publisher description.