Enlarged empirical economics and the quest for validity : facing the ontological

Resumo

This article focuses on the impact that the recent widening of empirical economics has onthe quest for validity in this field. We begin by summarizing the continuous evolution from aprimarily deductive economics to a more empirical one, especially emphasizing the broaderexperimental and survey-based evidence. Although these developments pave the way for aneconomics with greater empirical support, they also bring into this field the same validityconcerns that mainstream economists naively thought to be avoidable (i. e., concerns with theexternal validity of experiments and with “test validity” issues largely addressed in other socialsciences). We show how, ultimately, such developments force economists to confront some seriouschallenges and limitations in the quest for validity arising from four ontological peculiarities ofthe social domain: 1) the awareness of the inquiry on the part of the subject being studied; 2) thelack of relevant structural homogeneity between individuals’ shared psychological properties; 3)actions holistic dependence on the individuals’ complete past; and 4) the variable and holisticnature of cultural, conventionally mediated forms of interaction. We finally argue that openlyacknowledging these problems would help economists to tone down their scientificity claimsand avoid pseudo-scientific practices like endorsing assumptions refuted by experience.