What Should be the Standards for Scholarly Criticism

Abstract

Should scholars, like columnists, exaggerate and aggregate opposing views into men of straw? I analyze an example of scholarly criticism that characterizes the treatment of development in institutional economics as a simplistic and extremist paradigm. I argue that scholarly standards demand a complete and honest portrayal of contrary opinions and that straw men should be banished from scholarly discourse.

Keywords: institutions, scholarly criticism, development, standards

JEL Classification: B15, B52, O1, O17