EMBAR

Author:
Tirth Bahadur Chalaune
MPhil/PhD Scholar, TU, Nepal

DOI: doi.org/10.58924/rjhss.v3.iss5.p5

Published Date: 27-Oct, 2024

Keywords: Lakatos,Scientific Research Programmes, Economics, Scientific Progress, Economic Methodology

Abstract:
This paper examines the contribution ofImre Lakatos’s Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes (MSRP) to economic methodology. Lakatos proposed that scientific progress occurs through competing research programmes consisting of ahard core of fundamental assumptions and aprotective belt of auxiliary hypotheses. The study explores key concepts of MSRP, including positive and negative heuristics, progressive and degenerative research programmes, problem shifts, and the role of anomalies in scientific development. It highlights how economists have applied Lakatos’s framework to analyze major schools of thought such as neoclassical, Keynesian, and Monetarist economics. The paper argues that Lakatos’s methodology provides a useful structure for understanding the evolution, evaluation, and continuity of economic theories by emphasizing theoretical development, empirical testing, and the generation of novel predictions. Although the approach has faced criticism regarding the identification of hard cores and the measurement of scientific progress in economics, it remains influential in assessing the strengths and weaknesses of competing economic research programmes. Overall, the Lakatosian framework offers valuable insights into the dynamics of theory development and methodological appraisal within economics.

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