Economic Modelling as Robustness Analysis

Abstract

We claim that the process of theoretical model refinement in economics is best characterised as robustness analysis: the systematic examination of the robustness of modelling results with respect to particular modelling assumptions. We argue that this practise has epistemic value by extending William Wimsatt’s account of robustness analysis as triangulation via independent means of determination. For economists robustness analysis is a crucial methodological strategy because their models are often based on idealisations and abstractions, and it is usually difficult to tell which idealisations are truly harmful. 1. Introduction 2. Making Sense of Robustness 3. Robustness in Economics 4. The Epistemic Import of Robustness Analysis 5. An Illustration: Geographical Economics Models 6. Independence of Derivations 7. Concluding Remarks

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