REALISM, UNDERLABOURING AND INSTITUTIONS

Despite recent advances, economic methodology has found it difficult t o transcend certain positivist premisses and concerns. We argue that d evelopments in philosophy and social theory under the heading of criti cal realism are particularly significant with respect to overcoming th ese problems. To illustrate, we focus upon various themes that arise i n a recent collection concerned with economic methodology and institut ionalist economics, relating these themes to relevant aspects of this realist position. In so doing, we argue that an economic methodology r estricted to description and an institutionalism committed to some for m of methodological individualism are not only unnecessary but problem atic. (C) 1996 Academic Press Limited