ABSTRACT
The question whether Evidential Pluralism can be fruitfully applied to economics has attracted some recent attention. Some are optimistic, while others are sceptical. In this chapter, we defend the application of Evidential Pluralism to economics. We begin by considering two examples: the link between the legalisation of abortion in the USA in the 1970s and the subsequent decline in the crime rates in the 1990s, and the link between unemployment and crime. These two examples highlight the roles of association studies and mechanistic studies in causal enquiry in economics. We argue that Evidential Pluralism can help us to understand the structure of causal enquiry in economics, and discuss in more detail the role of theory in economics. Finally, we address concerns about causal pluralism in economics.
