Abstract
The words «model» and «modeling» are found increasingly in economics and indeed in science in general. Therefore, it is important that we consider here some of the most important characteristics of these words and concepts and introduce the reader to how they are used in energy studies and in economics. Most generally the word «model» means a simplification. For example, we all work with models of human behavior that a person will act in a particular way because he or she is a teenager, a man, a woman, rich, poor, black, white, or whatever. Of course one of the important aspects of growing up is to realize that such models are wrong so often that they are essentially useless and that we need to meet and judge people one person at a time. So perhaps one of the most important things you can learn about models of any kind is that they are often wrong. But often they are correct, and usually, incorrect, they can be useful. So armed with a healthy skepticism we can go on to see what models really are. This chapter is in some respects a continuation of ► Chap. 16 on mathematical tools ► [1].
References
Hall, C.A.S., and J.W. Day, eds. 1977. Ecosystem modeling in theory and practice. An introduction with case histories. New York: Wiley Interscience.
Aveni, Anthony F., ed. 2008. People and the sky: Our ancestors and the cosmos. London: Thames and Hudson.
Pyper, B.J., F.J. Mueter, and R.M. Peterman. 2005. Across species comparisons of spatial scales of environmental effects on survival rates of Northeast Pacific salmon. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 134: 86–104.
McAllister, M.K., and R.M. Peterman. 1992. Experimental design in the management of fisheries: A review. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 12: 1–18.
Hall, C.A.S. 1988. An assessment of several of the historically most influential theoretical models used in ecology and of the data provided in their support. Ecological Modeling 43: 5–31.
Hess, H.H. 1962. History of ocean basins. In Petrologic studies: A volume in honor of A. F. Buddington, ed. A.E.J. Engel, Harold L. James, and B.F. Leonard, 599–620. New York: Geological Society of America.
LeClerc, G. 2008. In Making development work: A new role for science, ed. G. LeClerc and Charles Hall, 13–38. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
Hallock, J., P. Tharkan, C. Hall, M. Jefferson, and W. Wu. 2004. Forecasting the limits to the availability and diversity of global conventional oil supplies. Energy 29: 1673–1696. Hallock J., Jr., W. Wu, C.A.S. Hall and M. Jefferson. 2014. Forecasting the limits to the availability and diversity of global conventional oil supply: Validation. Energy 64: 130–153.
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2234
Krugman, P. “How did economists get it so wrong: Mistaking beauty for truth”. New York times. Sept 2, 2009.
Daly, H. and J. Cobb 1992. For the Common Good: Redirecting the economy toward Community, the Environment and a sustainable future. Beacon Press Boston.
Pyndyck, R.S., and D.L. Rubinfeld. 2005. Microeconomics. Saddle River: Prentice Hall, Inc.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hall, C.A.S., Klitgaard, K. (2018). The Role of Models for Good and Evil. In: Energy and the Wealth of Nations. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66219-0_20
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66219-0_20
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-66217-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-66219-0
eBook Packages: EnergyEnergy (R0)