ABSTRACT
This is true not only in the natural sciences but also in the social sciences, which are said to benefit tremendously from interdisciplinary approaches. These approaches may help overcome artificial boundaries and improve the overall quality of social science research. As Popper (1963) points out, “We are not students of some subject matter, but students of problems. And problems may cut right across the borders of any subject matter or discipline.” Sciences and society are confronted with problems that cannot be fully comprehended by a simple deterministic disciplinary view. The main issues nowadays have a high level of complexity that requires insights from multiple disciplines. Interdisciplinary research and education are mainly and traditionally inspired by the drive to solve complex questions and problems generated by scientific curiosity or by society. They guide researchers from different disciplines to meet and work at the interfaces and frontiers of those disciplines, and even cross such frontiers to create new disciplines. Obviously, not all subjects lend themselves to interdisciplinary research. International taxation, however, has always been a topic of interest in more than one discipline. Because taxes are introduced by law, legal scholars certainly have an interest in the issue. Taxes influence business decisions, so researchers in business administration examine it. Moreover, in turn, taxes have an impact on the economy. Hence, economists, too, have an interest in the subject. The growth of scientific and technical knowledge in recent decades has prompted researchers from various disciplines to address complex problems that require deep knowledge from different perspectives. The results obtained so far confirm the high level of productivity and effectiveness of research teams composed of partners with diverse expertise. On the one hand, the attempt to solve complex problems on the one hand may be considered the main factor that has led to the growth in the application of interdisciplinary research methods. On the other hand, increasing social interest in such research may be attributed to the following factors:
• It is argued that research performed in an interdisciplinary context is likely to be more creative and innovative. Mixing people with different backgrounds and/or ideas from different fields is likely to generate “breakthrough” and “innovative” research results.
