The irrelevance of methodology and the art of the possible: Reading Sen and Hirschman

Economic methodologists have observed that economists do not practice what they think their methodology is. Two positions follow from this. One insists on the need for `better' practice in maintaining `scientific' standard, while the other takes the literary turn. Following the second route we argue that appraisal of economic theories cannot be done by applying a general `scientific method' apart from practice. Methodological conversations, which are shaped by various strategies taken by practitioners to persuade each other, can only be studied and improved by reading the most persuasive of the authors in the discipline. Writings of Albert Hirschman and Amartya Sen are chosen to be read following our approach.Methodology, positivism, rhetoric, methodological conversation, internal criticism

The rhetoric of disagreement in reform debates

This paper is about the discursive aspects of reform debates, more particularly about their rhetorical forms. In the debates on economic reforms in India, communities of scholars seem to have been talking past each other, each side equally convinced that it has the ‘Truth”. Persistent disagreement among economists on important public policy issues sounds disconcerting to others. We argue that an appreciation of the rhetoric (i.e. the art of persuasion) might help us understand the nature of disagreement in reform debates. Through a close reading of the literature on economic reforms in India we attempt to examine the rhetorical devices – logic, facts, metaphor and story – that the participants in the reform debates have been using to persuade their audience. JEL Classification : B40, P41 Key words : Economic Reforms, discourse, rhetoric, metaphor, Indi

The irrelevance of methodology and the art of the possible : reading Sen and Hirschman

Economic methodologists have observed that economists do not practice what they think their methodology is. Two positions follow from this. One insists on the need for ‘better’ practice in maintaining ‘scientific’ standard, while the other takes the literary turn. Following the second route we argue that appraisal of economic theories cannot be done by applying a general ‘scientific method’ apart from practice. Methodological conversations, which are shaped by various strategies taken by practitioners to persuade each other, can only be studied and improved by reading the most persuasive of the authors in the discipline. Writings of Albert Hirschman and Amartya Sen are chosen to be read following our approach. JEL Classification : B 41 Key Words : Methodology, positivism, rhetoric, methodological conversation, internal criticis

The concept and measurement of group inequality

The economist’s conceptualisation of inequality in terms of interpersonal distribution of income or wealth, and the tradition of measurement of inequality that follows from this conceptualisation have not paid adequate attention to the need for reckoning inequality across social groups. In this paper we show that certain simple statistical tools to analyse categorical data can be shown to have properties that conform to our normative judgement on group inequality. We then analyse the grouped data available from such sources as the NSSO to illuminate our understanding of group inequality in India. A broader goal of this paper is to combine the insights from the literature on axiomatic method of measuring inequality with the idea of inequality that is commonly shared by other social science disciplines like sociology and political science. JEL Classification: I31 Key Words: Inequality, measurement, social groups, odds ratio, India

Environmental valuation and its implications on the costs and benefits of a hydroelectric project in Kerala, India

Although significant developments have taken place in the area of valuation of the environment, the gap between theoretical principles and their operationalisation still remains. This paper makes an attempt to contribute towards bridging this gap. It explores the ways of ‘doing’ environmental valuation in practice in the specific context of a proposed hydroelectric project. Valuation is done within the overall framework of cost-benefit analysis. In the process, a number of methodological issues in environmental cost-benefit analysis have been dealt with. JEL Classification : H 43 Key words: Hydroelectric project, environment, valuation, discount rate, social costs and benefit

On the Possibility of a Weighting System for Functioning

Measuring well-being of an Individual based on his/her levels of functionings raises the following problem; Two vectors representing two individuals' achieved levels of functionings cannot be ranked unless one vector dominates the other, One solution is to combine the elements of vector into some scalar measure by introducing a set of relative weights. Starting from the premise that each individual in a society has his/her own judgment about relative weights for various functionings, an axiomatic approach has been developed to characterize a rule for aggregation of relative weights attached by all individuals in society. [Working Paper No. 270] in the society.functionings, individuals, axiomatic, judgement, individual, ranked

The Concept and Measurement of Group Inequality

The economist’s conceptualisation of inequality in terms of interpersonal distribution of income or wealth, and the tradition of measurement of inequality that follows from this conceptualisation have not paid adequate attention to the need for reckoning inequality across social groups. In this paper they show that certain simple statistical tools to analyse categorical data can be shown to have properties that conform to our normative judgement on group inequality. [Working Paper No. 315]Inequality, measurement, social groups, odds ratio, India

The rhetoric of disagreement in reform debates

This paper is about the discursive aspects of reform debates, more particularly about their rhetorical forms. In the debates on economic reforms in India, communities of scholars seem to have been talking past each other, each side equally convinced that it has the `Truth". Persistent disagreement among economists on important public policy issues sounds disconcerting to others. We argue that an appreciation of the rhetoric (i.e. the art of persuasion) might help us understand the nature of disagreement in reform debates. Through a close reading of the literature on economic reforms in India we attempt to examine the rhetorical devices - logic, facts, metaphor and story - that the participants in the reform debates have been using to persuade their audience.Economic Reforms, discourse, rhetoric, metaphor, India

The concept and measurement of group inequality

The economist's conceptualisation of inequality in terms of interpersonal distribution of income or wealth, and the tradition of measurement of inequality that follows from this conceptualisation have not paid adequate attention to the need for reckoning inequality across social groups. In this paper we show that certain simple statistical tools to analyse categorical data can be shown to have properties that conform to our normative judgement on group inequality. We then analyse the grouped data available from such sources as the NSSO to illuminate our understanding of group inequality in India. A broader goal of this paper is to combine the insights from the literature on axiomatic method of measuring inequality with the idea of inequality that is commonly shared by other social science disciplines like sociology and political science.Inequality, measurement, social groups, odds ratio, India