Michel De Vroey, Professeur émérite à l’Université catholique de Louvain, “What Has Changed in Economics Over the Last Half-Century?”

PHARE vous invite à la conférence de Michel De Vroey, Professeur émérite à l’Université catholique de Louvain,  le 31 janvier 2025  
“What Has Changed in Economics Over the Last Half-Century?”

Horaire : 17h30 à 19h

Lieu : salle du 6ième étage - Maison des Sciences Economiques - 106 Boulevard de l’Hôpital, Paris 75013

Lien vers la session Zoom : https://pantheonsorbonne.zoom.us/j/99559829511?pwd=dX4dMd2crcLXaXpwDrB5…

La conférence s’appuiera sur un travail mené en collaboration avec Luca Pensieroso (Professeur, UCL) qui vise à discuter l'émergence et l'évolution du mainstream dans le champ de la science économique. Michel De Vroey et Luca Pensieroso s'intéressent en particulier au changement de contenu de ce mainstream des années 1980 à la période qui débute dans les années 1990 et entrent ainsi dans la discussion sur la réalité d'un tournant empirique en économie.

Abstract :

“Our paper aims to capture the critical elements of the evolution of economics over the last half-century. To achieve such an ambitious task, we proceeded in two ways. On the one hand, we engaged in a history-of-economics analysis. It led us to distinguish the following phases. At the turn of the 1970s, economics displayed several innovations and witnessed a methodological mix. During the 1970-1990, it underwent a microfoundational turn whereby several important fields of economics adopted the good practice standards prevailing in microeconomics.1 In the 1990s, it experienced an empirical turn associated with the rise of laboratory experiments, randomized control trials, and natural experiments with behavioral economics as the theoretical offspring of the first of these. On the other hand, we constructed three interlinked taxonomies: the ‘mainstream/nonmainstream’ taxonomy, the ‘theory/measurement, and the ‘explanandum of economics’ taxonomy, each peculiarly capturing the evolution of economics. These two research paths nurtured each other during the long-lasting gestation of our paper. It eventually dawned on us that their combination does a surprisingly good job of grasping what occurred in our field over the last half-century.”