理性选择、比较方法与国际政治经济学

Rational Choice, Comparative Studies and International Political Economy

国际政治经济学从国际关系中分离之后,汲取了经济学和比较政治学等诸多学科的研究方法,研究方法成为国际政治经济学区别于国际关系其他领域的重要特征,也是区分国际政治经济学"国际组织"学派和英国学派的重要标准。在国际政治经济学发展过程中常用的两种研究方法是理性选择和比较方法,后者通常可以划分为大样本统计和小样本案例分析。是否采用源自经济学的理性选择和使用大样本统计还是小样本案例分析成为目前国际政治经济学方法论争议的核心问题。国际政治经济学研究应当充分重视研究方法的掌握,作为西方国际政治经济学理论的"消费者",要实现同西方学者的对话,我们必须掌握相应的研究方法;研究方法服务于议题设定,任何方法都有其优势和局限性,应当根据自己议题需要谨慎地使用某种或者多种研究方法;应当关注经济学和比较政治学发展的新动向和新发展,这两个学科对国际政治经济学及其研究方法的影响还将继续。

As an established part of international relations, international political economy drew methods from many other disciplines, especially economics and comparative politics. Methodology became an important characteristic of international political economy which distinguished it from other sub-fields of international relations. The central debates of the methodology of international political economy include the use of rational choice techniques similar to those in economics and the comparative method including the value of large-N verses small-N. This essay argues methodology is crucial to IPE research; as the consumer of western IPE knowledge, for the sake of communicating with western counterparts, we should try to master research method. Research methods should serve for research design, and each method has its advantages and disadvantages. Thus, we should use one or several methods carefully for our own research. In addition, more attention should be paid to the latest development and progress of economics and comparative politics, which will keep affecting IPE studies in the future.