Cartwright, N. (2007) 'Counterfactuals in economics : a commentary.', in Causation and explanation. Cambridge: MIT Press, pp. 191-216.
Abstract
Counterfactuals are a hot topic in economics today, at least among economists concerned with methodology. I shall argue that on the whole this is a mistake. Usually the counterfactuals on offer are proposed as causal surrogates. But at best they provide a “sometimes” way for finding out about causal relations, not a stand-in for them. I say a “sometimes way” because they do so only in very special -- and rare -- kinds of systems. Otherwise they are irrelevant to establishing facts about causation. On the other hand, viewed just as straight counterfactuals, they are a washout as well. For they are rarely an answer to any genuine “What if…?” questions, questions of the kind we pose in planning and evaluation. For these two reasons I call the counterfactuals of recent interest in economics, impostor counterfactuals.
Item Type: | Book chapter |
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Full text: | (AM) Accepted Manuscript Download PDF (370Kb) |
Status: | Peer-reviewed |
Publisher Web site: | https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/causation-and-explanation |
Publisher statement: | Deposited with kind permission of the MIT Press for non-commercial, scholarly use only. This chapter was originally published in J.K. Campbell, M. O'Rourke, and H.S. Silverstein (Eds.), Causation and Explanation, © 2007 MIT, Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, (pp. 191-216). |
Date accepted: | No date available |
Date deposited: | 21 April 2016 |
Date of first online publication: | 2007 |
Date first made open access: | No date available |
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