Stylized fact

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A stylized fact is the stylized , i.e. abstracting, description reduced to essential basic structures of a social science phenomenon that is regarded as typical and repeatedly observed in various contexts . This can be, for example, a regularity of an economic size. Formulating, checking and explaining stylized facts is a frequently used method in economics . This is where the term originated in 1961, from where it has been increasingly used in other social sciences since the 1990s .

The sociologist Daniel Hirschman defines stylized facts as simple, empirical regularities that require explanation. They can represent connections or correlations, but are not themselves an explanation of a connection. He gives as examples u. a .:

  • Democracies rarely go to war with one another (see democratic peace ).
  • The development and modernization of states goes hand in hand with a decline in the death rate, then with a decline in the birth rate (see demographic transition ).

In science, stylized facts are located at the interface between description and theory: They go beyond purely empirical , collected data and, as an abstract assertion about regularity, at the same time indicate that there is something here that is worth explaining - using social science theories . Stylized facts assumed to be correct can be a touchstone for further hypotheses .

Macroeconomist Nicholas Kaldor introduced the term to scientific literature in 1961. In view of the mostly imprecise and incomplete statistical observations, Kaldor suggested taking a stylized view of these that roughly described the essential, relevant tendencies. Thus, despite the inadequate data, the scientist should be able to form hypotheses and models on the basis of facts summarized in this way or to be able to measure them against them. Kaldor suggested six stylized macroeconomic facts that models of long-term economic growth and capital accumulation should satisfy:

  1. economic production and labor productivity show a constant growth rate (see also Verdoorn law ),
  2. the use of capital per worker, i.e. capital intensity , grows,
  3. the economic return on capital remains constant, at least in developed, capitalist societies,
  4. the capital productivity remains constant,
  5. the wage share , d. H. the share of labor and capital income in national income remains the same,
  6. the growth rates of labor productivity and total output of different countries differ considerably.

Kaldor tried to use these stylized facts - which he assumed other economists would accept as valid - to prove that they were not included in neoclassical growth models, while the model he proposed was and therefore superior.

When scientists claim that certain hypotheses or theories satisfy certain stylized facts, they tend to assume that those stylized facts are viewed by most as an adequate characterization of the observations. Stylized facts are an important means of communication, they are often memorable and guide scholarly attention and discussion. The wording, which is often understandable even to laypeople, favors it to be taken up in political argumentation; however, there is a risk that there will be misunderstandings due to discrepancies between scientific and everyday use of terms, inaccuracies and incompleteness.

literature

  • Daniel Hirschman: Stylized Facts in the Social Sciences . In: Sociological Science . July 19, 2016, doi : 10.15195 / v3.a26 (Open Access).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Stylized Facts. In: The Law Dictionary - Featuring Black's Law Dictionary Free Online Legal Dictionary 2nd Ed. Retrieved August 30, 2017 .
  2. ^ Gustav A. Horn : stylized facts. In: Gabler Wirtschaftslexikon. Retrieved August 30, 2017 .
  3. ^ A b c Daniel Hirschman: Stylized Facts in the Social Sciences . In: Sociological Science . July 19, 2016, doi : 10.15195 / v3.a26 .
  4. ↑ Leticia Arroyo Abad and Kareem Khalifa: What are stylized facts? In: Journal of Economic Methodology . 2015, doi : 10.1080 / 1350178X.2015.1024878 .
  5. ↑ a b c Lawrence A. Boland: stylized facts . In: Steven N. Durlauf and Lawrence E. Blume (Eds.): The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics . 2008, doi : 10.1057 / 9780230226203.1644 .
  6. ^ Nicholas Kaldor: Capital Accumulation and Economic Growth . Macmillan, 1961, pp. 177-179 , doi : 10.1007 / 978-1-349-08452-4_10 .
  7. ↑ See also Alfred Maussner and Rainer Klump: Growth theory . Springer, 2013, ISBN 978-3-642-61473-6 , A.1 Stylized facts of growth theory, p. 1-2 .