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Chapter1
Theoriginsofvalue-freeeconomics
Economictheorists,likeFrenchchefsinregardtofood,havedevelopedstylizedmodels
whoseingredientsarelimitedbysomeunwrittenrules.JustastraditionalFrenchcooking
doesnotuseseaweedorrawfish,soneoclassicalmodelsdonotmakeassumptions
derivedfrompsychology,anthropology,orsociology
(Akerlof,1984,p.2)
1.1.Introduction
Weareonthevergeofalparadigmshift’.Homoeconomicusandtheassumptions
ofneoclassicaleconomicshavebeencriticizedforalongtime.However,itseems
thatfundamentalchangestillhasnotcomeandneoclassicaleconomicsprevails
asadominantparadigm,despitereverseimperialism.Oneofthereasonsmay
bethatmanyeconomistsstillbelieveinpositive-normativedichotomyand
theythinkthateconomicsmustbevalue-free.Theeconomicapproachisthe
examplewherethisfaithcanlead.Becker’seconomicapproachisanalysed
astheembodimentandcapstoneofvalue-freeeconomics(Becker,1968,1974,
1976,1993;Becker,&Murphy,1988;Stigler,&Becker,1977).Itcanbeperceived
asthelensbywhicheconomistslookatreality.Manyeconomistsbelievein
lhardcore’assumptionsoftheeconomicapproach(maximizationofutility
andinstrumentalrationality).Becker’sapproachissoattractiveforeconomics,
becauseitisanextremelyeffectiveresearchprogrammethatcanabsorbevery
kindofcriticismsandithasmadeeconomicsthemostinfluentialsocialscience
(Lazear,2000;Maki,2009a;Maki,Walsh,&Pinto,2017).Theeconomicapproach
isanalysedinthecontextoflscientificresearchprogramme’(Lakatos,1980).
Theauthorexamineslhardcore’ofeconomicapproach(maximizationofutility,
instrumentalrationality),lprotectivebelt’andlheuristics.’Itischeckedwhether
economicapproachisldegenerativeprogramme.’Theconclusionsfromthis
analysiscanbeextrapolatedonvalue-freeeconomics,becauseintheauthor’s
opiniontheeconomicapproachinsomerespectscanbeperceivedasthe
embodimentofvalue-freeeconomics.
TheanalysisofBecker’seconomicapproachissocrucial,becauseitgivesone
thepossibilitytounderstandwhatisthelhardcore’ofneoclassical/value-
