In this article we start from the well-known contribution of the Austrian school with respect to the problem of knowledge and its role in inter- individual coordination. Focusing on two authors of this school - his founding father Carl Menger and Friedrich von Wieser, we show that the y both appreciate the role of knowledge in the emergence of economic and social institutions. However, their divergences regarding methodological individualism and subjectivism lead them to provide two different perspectives concerning the emergence and dynamics of institutions. This is exemplified by Menger and Wieser’s way of dealing with the emergence of money: on one hand, Menger takes for granted the involuntary formation of shared knowledge about the validity of social institutions such as money; on the other hand, Wieser favours an explanation whereby collective beliefs are more than shared knowledge since they do have some autonomy vis-à-vis individuals.
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Paper provided by ICER - International Centre for Economic Research in its series ICER Working Papers with number
39-2007.
Length: 30 pages Date of creation: Mar 2007 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:icr:wpicer:39-2007
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