ABSTRACT
Economics is - like the natural sciences - in search for structural relations hips (‘laws’) among observed phenomena. Seen from this perspective, economics can be regarded as a nomothetic discipline. It is increasingly realized however, that real-world phenomena may exhibit complex (i.e., non-linear dynamic) behavior. The study of such phenomena requires the use of sophisticated analytical tools. The variety of issues to be investigated is large, and hence the search for fine-tuned scientific methods may be time consuming and costly. In addition, sometimes studies are partly replicated, as it is often assumed that economic phenomena take place in a unique (non-repetitive) environment. In many cases, insufficient use is made of the stock of existing knowledge on common elements in previous research. Clearly, repetition of research is costly and inefficient. In the light of limited research budgets, several ways have been sought which may economize on the cost of scientific research, while still meeting the prior research objectives. One of the methods to increase research efficiency is to use cumulated knowledge from previous research experiments for a new, similar type of study. However, many pitfalls do exist, when such a research strategy is implemented. In this context, it is, for example, often forgotten that the straightforward application of physical laws (or their analogies in the social sciences) is limited to a well-defined situation. Also other factors restrict the transfer of earlier obtained results. Besides methodological concerns, also technical issues with respect to knowledge transfer may play an important role. For example, the application of a study undertaken in a different, but comparable environment may generate nonsatisfactory results and then the question is whether these types of problem
can be lifted or mitigated. Furthermore, not only the application of a model in comparable, but nevertheless distinct, environments may be problematic, but also the application of the same model to the same problem at another point in time or space can generate inadequate results. For instance, it is often forgotten that social science phenomena take place in an irreversibly evolving dynamic setting.
