Chameleons:
The Misuse of Theoretical Models
in Finance and Economics
Paul Pfleiderer
Stanford University
March 2014
Abstract
In this essay I discuss how theoretical models in finance and economics are used in ways
that make them “chameleons” and how chameleons devalue the intellectual currency and
muddy policy debates. A model becomes a chameleon when it is built on assumptions
with dubious connections to the real world but nevertheless has conclusions that are
uncritically (or not critically enough) applied to understanding our economy. I discuss
how chameleons are created and nurtured by the mistaken notion that one should not
judge a model by its assumptions, by the unfounded argument that models should have
equal standing until definitive empirical tests are conducted, and by misplaced appeals to
“as-if” arguments, mathematical elegance, subtlety, references to assumptions that are
“standard in the literature, and the need for tractability.
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