Formal Models in Historical Political Economy

Abstract

Abstract This chapter discusses approaches to formal modeling in historical political economy and leading examples of formal models in this area. It argues that formal models are useful because they can depict causal mechanisms with a high degree of clarity. This in turn enables causal explanation, an important complement to causal identification from credible empirical research. Moreover, the clarity of causal mechanisms in models can help us understand when two seemingly disparate historical processes potentially result from a similar mechanism, thus enabling a sort of causal generalization.