罗纳德·科斯的经济学方法论研究综述

A Literature Review on Ronald Coase's Methodology of Economics

罗纳德·科斯对经济学方法论的学术贡献逐渐引起学界关注。科斯本人对方法论问题的论述分散发表于不同时期,可分为两类、四个阶段,既表现出演化特点也有模糊和矛盾之处。学者研究科斯的方法论思想,主要围绕五个主题:与经验主义传统的关系、假设真实性的涵义、对待理论化和数学化的态度、具体分析技巧和研究工具的特征和实施步骤,以及与其他经济学家和学派的方法论比较等。进一步的研究需要明晰科斯的主要方法论术语,分析科斯方法论思想产生的根源及其在思想市场中的竞争力,从而给科斯方法论以明确的历史定位并预测其未来的发展走向。

Ronald Coase's academic contribution to the methodology of economics has drawn greater attention gradually. Coase's writing on the issue of methodology scattered in different periods, can be divided into two types and four stages, and showed both evolution characteristics and contradictions. Other scholars usually studied on the methodology of Coase's thoughts, mainly focusing on five themes: the relationship with the empiricism tradition, the meaning of the realism of assumptions, his position to theorization and mathematization in economics, the features and implementation of his analysis techniques and methods, and comparing his methodology with other economists or schools', etc. Further study advices include that making clear Coase's methodology terms, discussing the root causes of Coase's methodological ideas and its competitive power in the ideas market, etc, in order to locate it in the history of economic thoughts and predict its future development trend.