How Can Sociology Help Economics?

Lire les trois gros livres du Capital vous fait peur? C'est normal, mais pas de panique. On discute avec Cédric Durand, économiste marxiste, de quelques notions à partir de la pensée de Marx.

Exploring Economics, an open-source e-learning platform, giving you the opportunity to discover & study a variety of economic theories, topics, and methods.

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.

"From the perspective of mainstream theory, the effectiveness of monetary policy in bringing down inflation depends on two very important equations: the aggregate demand equation and the infamous Phillips Curve. Without these, it becomes more difficult — or rather impossible — for central banks to carry out monetary policy and …

In this article, Jihen Chandoul discusses the importance of food sovereignty in Africa, reflecting on the continent’s early post independence movements for self sufficiency.