Representation and Structure in Economics

Hsiang-Ke Chao is Associate Professor of Economics at National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan

'Chao contrasts the received and the semantic views of theory in economics and comes down clearly in favour of the latter. He illustrates his arguments with discussion of demand theory, the consumption function, and the so-called LSE approach to econometrics'.- Christopher L. Gilbert, University of Trento (in Erasmus Journal for Philosophy and Economics, Vol. 3, Issue 3, Autumn 2010, pp. 136 - 141. http://ejpe.org/pdf/3-2-br-6.pdf 'The semantic or model-based approach is a philosophical view about the nature and function of scientific theories which has become increasingly popular in the methodology of economics. Some scholars have recently argued that this approach is able to provide fundamental insights to understand the role played by econometric models in connecting theoretical claims with empirical evidence (Davis 2000; Stigum 2003; Chao 2005). In his Representation and Structure in Economics, Hsiang-Ke Chao investigates further this issue by both offering a thorough discussion of the semantic approach and presenting accurate and illuminating case studies drawn from consumption studies'.- Alessio Moneta, Max Planck Institute of Economics; Journal of Economic Methodology, 17: 3, 338 - 343

• Preface 1. Introduction: Taking Structure Seriously 2. Structure and its Measurement in Econometrics 3. Theory, Structure, and Models: 4. Two Strands of Demand Analysis: 5. Trygve Haavelmo and Measuring the Structure of the Consumption Function 6. Milton Friedman and the Emergence of the Permanent Income Hypothesis 7. Professor Hendry’s Econometric Methodology Reconsidered Congruence and Structural Empiricism 8. A Structure of the Consumption Function 9. Conclusion Bibliography