Money and academic finance: the role of paradigms

Abstract

Any adequate analysis of the nature and role of money necessarily requires fundamental understanding of the worldviews underlying the views expressed with respect to the nature and role of money. This paper starts with the premise that any worldview can be positioned on a continuum formed by four basic paradigms: functionalist, interpretive, radical humanist, and radical structuralist. It looks at the current state of mainstream academic finance and notes that it is founded on the functionalist paradigm. It argues that any view expressed with respect to the nature and role of money is based on one of the four paradigms or worldviews. It, therefore, discusses four views expressed with respect to the nature and role of money. The paper emphasizes that the four views expressed are equally scientific and informative; they look at the nature and role of money from a certain paradigmatic viewpoint. It concludes that there are opportunities for mainstream academic finance to benefit from contributions by the other three paradigms.

Citation

Ardalan, K. (2003), "Money and academic finance: the role of paradigms", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 30 No. 6, pp. 720-740. https://doi.org/10.1108/03068290310474111