IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/revaec/v30y2017i3d10.1007_s11138-016-0346-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Market process(es) and (un)knowledge

Author

Listed:
  • Loïc Sauce

    (ISTEC)

Abstract

By extending an underdeveloped idea of Lachmann, I show that the Austrian theory of the market process à la Kirzner is unable to explain the diversity of market processes because it neglects the imperfect inter-market mobility of factors of production. I show that by taking into account the imperfect mobility of capital equipment and the associated reshuffling costs, it is possible to formulate a set of empirically testable implications about the unfolding of the market process. Furthermore, I show that reshuffling costs shape the context in which the learning process takes place and that the epistemic assumption of structural opacity on which the Austrian theory of the market process relies is not incompatible with the epistemics assumption of structural transparency of neoclassical economics. These epistemic assumptions can be seen as the two poles of a “knowledge spectrum”, from potential omniscience to sheer ignorance.

Suggested Citation

  • Loïc Sauce, 2017. "Market process(es) and (un)knowledge," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 30(3), pages 305-321, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:revaec:v:30:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s11138-016-0346-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s11138-016-0346-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11138-016-0346-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11138-016-0346-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kurrild-Klitgaard, Peter, 2001. "On Rationality, Ideal Types and Economics: Alfred Schuutz and the Austrian School," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 14(2-3), pages 119-143, September.
    2. Kirsten Foss & Nicolai J. Foss & Peter G. Klein & Sandra K. Klein, 2007. "The Entrepreneurial Organization of Heterogeneous Capital," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(7), pages 1165-1186, November.
    3. Nelson, Richard R. & Nelson, Katherine, 2002. "Technology, institutions, and innovation systems," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 265-272, February.
    4. Loïc Sauce, 2014. "Ludwig Lachmann on expectations in his early writings: an aborted theory?," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 38(5), pages 1115-1131.
    5. Per L. Bylund, 2015. "Signifying Williamson's Contribution to the Transaction Cost Approach: An Agent-Based Simulation of Coasean Transaction Costs and Specialization," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(1), pages 148-174, January.
    6. Grossman, Sanford J & Miller, Merton H, 1988. " Liquidity and Market Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 43(3), pages 617-637, July.
    7. Israel M. Kirzner, 1997. "Entrepreneurial Discovery and the Competitive Market Process: An Austrian Approach," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(1), pages 60-85, March.
    8. Koppl, Roger, 2000. "Fritz Machlup and Behavioralism," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 9(4), pages 595-622, December.
    9. DeTienne, Dawn R., 2010. "Entrepreneurial exit as a critical component of the entrepreneurial process: Theoretical development," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 203-215, March.
    10. Boettke, Peter J, 2002. "Information and Knowledge: Austrian Economics in Search of its Uniqueness," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 15(4), pages 263-274, December.
    11. Giovanni Dosi, 2012. "Economic Coordination and Dynamics: Some Elements of an Alternative "Evolutionary" Paradigm," LEM Papers Series 2012/08, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    12. Foss,Nicolai J. & Klein,Peter G., 2012. "Organizing Entrepreneurial Judgment," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521697262.
    13. Roger Koppl, 2002. "Big Players and the Economic Theory of Expectations," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-62924-0, December.
    14. Lachmann, Ludwig M, 1976. "From Mises to Shackle: An Essay on Austrian Economics and the Kaleidic Society," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 14(1), pages 54-62, March.
    15. Roman Frydman & Edmund S. Phelps (ed.), 2013. "Rethinking Expectations: The Way Forward for Macroeconomics," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 10002.
    16. Koppl, Roger, 2001. "Alfred Schutz and George Shackle: Two Views of Choice," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 14(2-3), pages 181-191, September.
    17. Wennberg, Karl & Wiklund, Johan & DeTienne, Dawn R. & Cardon, Melissa S., 2010. "Reconceptualizing entrepreneurial exit: Divergent exit routes and their drivers," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 361-375, July.
    18. Israel Kirzner, 2009. "The alert and creative entrepreneur: a clarification," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 32(2), pages 145-152, February.
    19. Hausman,Daniel M., 2008. "The Philosophy of Economics," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521883504.
    20. Richard N. Langlois, 2013. "The Austrian theory of the firm: Retrospect and prospect," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 26(3), pages 247-258, September.
    21. Klaes, Matthias, 2000. "The History of the Concept of Transaction Costs: Neglected Aspects," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(2), pages 191-216, June.
    22. Vaughn,Karen I., 1994. "Austrian Economics in America," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521445528.
    23. Robin Cowan & Mario J. Rizzo, 1996. "The Genetic‐Causal Tradition and Modern Economic Theory," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(3), pages 273-317, August.
    24. Richard N. Langlois, 1985. "Knowledge and Rationality in the Austrian School: An Analytical Survey," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 11(4), pages 309-330, Oct-Dec.
    25. Koppl, Roger & Whitman, Douglas Glen, 2004. "Rational-choice hermeneutics," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 55(3), pages 295-317, November.
    26. Ulrich Witt, 2009. "Novelty and the bounds of unknowledge in economics," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(4), pages 361-375.
    27. Peter Klein & Per Bylund, 2014. "The place of Austrian economics in contemporary entrepreneurship research," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 27(3), pages 259-279, September.
    28. Endres, Anthony M. & Harper, David A., 2013. "‘Wresting meaning from the market’: a reassessment of Ludwig Lachmann's entrepreneur," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(3), pages 303-328, September.
    29. L. M. Lachmann, 1958. "Mrs. Robinson On The Accumulation Of Capital," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 26(2), pages 87-100, June.
    30. Hausman,Daniel M., 2008. "The Philosophy of Economics," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521709842.
    31. Peter Lewin, 1997. "Capital in Disequilibrium: A Reexamination of the Capital Theory of Ludwig M. Lachmann," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 29(3), pages 523-548, Fall.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Peter Klein & Per Bylund, 2014. "The place of Austrian economics in contemporary entrepreneurship research," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 27(3), pages 259-279, September.
    2. Darcy W E Allen, 2020. "When Entrepreneurs Meet:The Collective Governance of New Ideas," World Scientific Books, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., number q0269, December.
    3. Darcy W.E. Allen, 2019. "Governing the entrepreneurial discovery of blockchain applications," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 9(2), pages 194-212, October.
    4. Steffen Korsgaard & Henrik Berglund & Claus Thrane & Per Blenker, 2016. "A Tale of Two Kirzners: Time, Uncertainty, and the “Nature†of Opportunities," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 40(4), pages 867-889, July.
    5. Nicolai J. Foss & Giampaolo Garzarelli, 2007. "Institutions as knowledge capital: Ludwig M. Lachmann's interpretative institutionalism," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 31(5), pages 789-804, September.
    6. Manuel Oyson & Hugh Whittaker, 2015. "Entrepreneurial cognition and behavior in the discovery and creation of international opportunities," Journal of International Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 303-336, September.
    7. Shastitko, Andrey & Golovanova, Svetlana, 2016. "Meeting blindly… Is Austrian economics useful for dynamic capabilities theory?," Russian Journal of Economics, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 86-110.
    8. Erik Lundmark & Anna Krzeminska & Dean A. Shepherd, 2019. "Images of Entrepreneurship: Exploring Root Metaphors and Expanding Upon Them," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(1), pages 138-170, January.
    9. Magnus Henrekson & Dan Johansson & Johan Karlsson, 2024. "To Be or Not to Be: The Entrepreneur in Neo-Schumpeterian Growth Theory," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 48(1), pages 104-140, January.
    10. Matthew McCaffrey, 2014. "On the Theory of Entrepreneurial Incentives and Alertness," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 38(4), pages 891-911, July.
    11. Mark D. Packard & Brent B. Clark & Peter G. Klein, 2017. "Uncertainty Types and Transitions in the Entrepreneurial Process," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(5), pages 840-856, October.
    12. Hirokazu Kano, 2021. "The dilemma and its solution of deep uncertainty in the dynamic capabilities framework: Insights from modern Austrian economics," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(3), pages 605-611, April.
    13. James Caton, 2017. "Entrepreneurship, search costs, and ecological rationality in an agent-based economy," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 30(1), pages 107-130, March.
    14. Anthony J. Evans & Vlad Tarko, 2014. "Contemporary Work in Austrian Economics," Journal of Private Enterprise, The Association of Private Enterprise Education, vol. 29(Fall 2014), pages 135-157.
    15. Marco, Passarella & Hervé, Baron, 2010. "Concorrenza senza equilibrio. La "scoperta imprenditoriale" nella Teoria Economica Austriaca [Competition without equilibrium. The 'entrepreneurial discovery' in Austrian Economic Theory]," MPRA Paper 28505, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Berg, Nathan, 2014. "Success from satisficing and imitation: Entrepreneurs' location choice and implications of heuristics for local economic development," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(8), pages 1700-1709.
    17. Carmen Elena Dorobat & Mihai-Vladimir Topan, 2015. "Entrepreneurship and Comparative Advantage," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 24(1), pages 1-16, March.
    18. Victor I. Espinosa & William Hongsong Wang & Jesús Huerta de Soto, 2022. "Principles of Nudging and Boosting: Steering or Empowering Decision-Making for Behavioral Development Economics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-18, February.
    19. Steven E. Phelan, 2016. "Austrian theories of entrepreneurship: Insights from complexity theory," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 29(3), pages 277-297, September.
    20. Koppl, Roger & Whitman, Douglas Glen, 2004. "Rational-choice hermeneutics," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 55(3), pages 295-317, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Austrian economics; Knowledge; Capital; Entrepreneurship;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B53 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Austrian
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:revaec:v:30:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s11138-016-0346-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.