uh...no. They are not stirring the pot. Proposing rigorous processes that approximate observed phenomena is a very common line of research. Many of the phenomen

uh...no. They are not stirring the pot. Proposing rigorous processes that approximate observed phenomena is a very common line of research. Many of the phenomena in financial markets that I cared about when I was trading had researchers coming up with models/modifying existing models to attempt to generate the same observed risk premia.