L'économie sur le divan (4/4) : L'économie de la rationalité

If there’s one method economists have neglected the most, it’s qualitative research. Whereas economists favour mathematical models and statistics, qualitative research seeks to understand the world through intensive investigation of particular circumstances, which usually entails interviewing people directly about their experiences. While this may sound simple to quantitative types the style, purpose, context, and interpretation of an interview can vary widely. Because of this variety, I have written a longer post than usual on this topic rather than doing it a disservice. Having said that, examples of qualitative research in economics are sadly scant enough that it doesn’t warrant multiple posts. In this post I will introduce qualitative research in general with nods to several applications including the study of firm behaviour, race, Austrian economics, and health economics. More than usual I will utilise block quotes, which I feel is in the spirit of the topic.

Richard Thaler recibió el Premio Nobel de Economia en el 2017. En esta conferencia, el economista español Pedro Rey Biel ofrece una conferencia introductoria sobre la economía del comportamiento y la teoría de Richard Thaler.

Il est observé depuis plusieurs années, et depuis le passage à l'euro en particulier, que la perception de l'inflation par les citoyens diffère de l'inflation mesurée par les statisticiens de l'INSEE. Cet article explique comment l'indicateur de l'inflation est construit et met en lumière les choix méthodologiques, nécessaires mais non-neutres, qui le sous-tend.

The authors discuss how identity affects economic outcomes by bringing together psychological and sociological perspectives and economics. For economic outcomes of a single individual, it might be interesting which kind of social groups this individual belongs to. This may influence individual daily decisions and hence economic outcomes. It can, however, not only affect individual economic outcomes but also economic outcomes of organizations, institutions and other groups. This paper describes these influences with respect to gender in the workplace, to the economics of poverty and social exclusion, and to the household division of labour.