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The Inadequacy of Mainstream Theories ofTrade Union Behaviour
Author(s) -
Fleetwood Steve
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
labour
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.403
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1467-9914
pISSN - 1121-7081
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9914.00103
Subject(s) - mainstream , perspective (graphical) , economics , positive economics , realism , point (geometry) , root cause , mainstream economics , public economics , epistemology , political science , operations management , law , computer science , mathematics , applied economics , philosophy , geometry , artificial intelligence
This paper identifies four criteria used by mainstream economists of trade unions to judge the adequacy of their various theories. Three of them, however, are hardly ever satisfied. The root cause of this failure is the method adopted by mainstream economic theory, namely deductivism . The perspective of critical realism is used to identify and explain the cause of this failure and to point towards an alternative method.