Hsiang-Ke Chao

Mechanism and Causality in Biology and Economics

Acknowledgements.- Chapter 1. Towards the Methodological Turn in the Philosophy of Science Hsiang-Ke Chao, Szu-Ting Chen, and Roberta L. Millstein.- Part 1. Defining Mechanism and Causality.- Chapter 2. Mechanisms versus Causes in Biology and Medicine Lindley Darden.- Chapter 3. Identity, Structure, and Causal Representation in Scientific Models Kevin D. Hoover.- Part 2. Models and Representation.- Chapter 4. The Regrettable Lost of Mathematical Molding in Econometrics Marcel Boumans.- Chapter 5. Models of Mechanisms: The Case of the Replicator Dynamics Till Grune-Yanoff.- Chapter 6. Experimental Discovery, Data Model, and Mechanisms in Biology: An Example from Mendels Work Ruey-Lin Chen.- Part 3. Reconsidering Biological Mechanisms and Causality.- Chapter 7. Mechanisms and Laws: Clarifying the Debate Carl F. Craver and Marie I. Kaiser.- Chapter 8. Natural Selection and Causal Productivity: A Reply to Glennan Roberta L. Millstein.- Chapter 9. Is Natural Selection a Population-Level Causal Process? Rong-Lin Wang.- Part 4. Across Boundaries between Biology and Economics.- Chapter 10. Mechanisms and Extrapolation in the Abortion-Crime Controversy Daniel Steel.- Chapter 11. Causality, Impartiality and Evidence-Based Policy David Teira and Julian Reiss.- Chapter 12. Explaining the Explanations of 100 Million Missing Women Hsiang-Ke Chao and Szu-Ting Chen.Models of Mechanisms: The Case of the Replicator Dynamics Till Grune-Yanoff.- Chapter 6. Experimental Discovery, Data Model, and Mechanisms in Biology: An Example from Mendels Work Ruey-Lin Chen.- Part 3. Reconsidering Biological Mechanisms and Causality.- Chapter 7. Mechanisms and Laws: Clarifying the Debate Carl F. Craver and Marie I. Kaiser.- Chapter 8. Natural Selection and Causal Productivity: A Reply to Glennan Roberta L. Millstein.- Chapter 9. Is Natural Selection a Population-Level Causal Process? Rong-Lin Wang.- Part 4. Across Boundaries between Biology and Economics.- Chapter 10. Mechanisms and Extrapolation in the Abortion-Crime Controversy Daniel Steel.- Chapter 11. Causality, Impartiality and Evidence-Based Policy David Teira and Julian Reiss.- Chapter 12. Explaining the Explanations of 100 Million Missing Women Hsiang-Ke Chao and Szu-Ting Chen.

A structure of the consumption function

It is claimed in the structural realism in philosophy of science that scientists aim to preserve the true structure, represented by the equations in their models. We reinterpret structural realism as a doctrine involving representation. Proving the existence of a representation theorem secures the problem of lacking independent criteria for identification between structure and non‐structure. This paper argues that a similar realist view of structure can be found in the theory of consumption in which the Fisherian framework of intertemporal choices is regarded as the true structure of the consumption function. Unlike the passive strategy of inducing the structure contained in structural realism, economists define structure in terms of invariance under intervention. Such a definition serves as a crucial device to examine and develop models for the adequacy of representing the structure of the consumption functions. JEL Classification: B22, B41, C50, E21

A misconception of the semantic conception of econometrics

Davis argues that Suppes semantic conception provides a better understanding of the problem of theory‐data confrontations. Applying his semantic methodology to the LSE (London School of Economics) approach of econometrics, he concludes that the LSE approach fails to address the issue of bridging the theory‐data gap. This paper suggests two other versions of the semantic view of theories in the philosophy of science, due to Suppes and van Fraassen, and argues that the LSE approach can be construed under these two versions of the semantic view in terms of structure and representation.

Engines of Discovery: Jevons and Marshall on the Methods of Graphs and Diagrams

Abstract Diagrams are ubiquitous in economics and are uncontestably among the most used, if not the most important workhorses of economists, though they come in many forms. This essay examines the different uses of graphs and diagrams in the pioneering work of two Victorian economists, Stanley Jevons and Alfred Marshall. We stress the difference between their use as representations and as visual reasoning tools, a difference that became obscured in the twentieth century with the rise of econometrics.

Models and Credibility

This article argues that the credibility of both theoretical and empirical models in economics is best understood through their connection with the empirical aspects of the real world. The discussion herein demonstrates that the similarity between the model and the real world is not enough to justify a theoretical model’s explanatory power. The best way to secure the model’s credibility is to prove the existence of representation theorems.

Towards the Methodological Turn in the Philosophy of Science

This chapter provides an introduction to the study of the philosophical notions of mechanisms and causality in biology and economics. This chapter sets the stage for this volume in three ways. First, it gives a broad review of the recent changes and current state of the study of mechanisms and causality in the philosophy of science. Second, consistent with a recent trend in the philosophy of science to focus on scientific practices, it in turn implies the importance of studying the scientific methods employed by researchers. Finally, by way of providing an overview of each chapter in the volume, this chapter demonstrates that biology and economics are two fertile fields for the philosophy of science and shows how biological and economic mechanisms and causality can be synthesized.

Ta-Chung Liu's Exploratory Econometrics

This essay studies the contribution of Ta-Chung Liu to econometrics by focusing on the models and methods of Lius econometric practices from the 1950s to the 1970s. We document his development of an exploratory econometric approach, a development he effected by experimenting with tools and elements in the model-building process and which led him finally to accept the recursive methodology represented by Herman Wold. We also discuss Lius theoretical and empirical concerns for econometric models that spurred his involvement in a series of debates against the Cowles Commission approach in the 1960s and 1970s, and we discuss his legacy to contemporary econometrics.

Model-Based Knowledge and Credible Policy Analysis

This chapter elaborates the concept of credibility as a yardstick for the assessment of model-based policies. We further distinguish between epistemic and strategic credibility and show how this distinction helps us to understand the relation between models and the assessment of public policies. For policy assessment purposes, credibility depends mostly on extrapolation. Such extrapolations have a better chance of success if we draw on a causal mechanism, as structural models do. The sort of empiricism about causal interventions promoted, among others, by field trialists in economics has a lower chance of being epistemically credible. Furthermore, the reductive relationship between strategic credibility to epistemic credibility would lack of stability.

Explaining the Explanations of 100 Million Missing Women

This chapter studies the methodology in the missing-women debate among economists and biologists. One of the central philosophical and methodological issues at stake in the missing-women debate is natural and social scientists’ attempts for discovering the underlying causal structures and mechanisms. Although they encounter the same problem of inferring the mechanism and causal structure in face of available data, the discovering strategies vary. In this chapter, we will comparatively study the strategies of discovering causes and mechanisms in the case of missing women.