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Structure, agency and causality in post-revival Austrian economics: tensions and resolutions

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  • Paul Lewis

Abstract

This paper aims to illustrate the benefits that accrue from critical realism's sustained, explicit reflection about ontological issues. The paper pursues this aim by examining the work of radical subjectivist Austrian economists as it has developed since the post-1974 revival in the fortunes of the Austrian school, focusing in particular on their account of the generation of socio-economic order in decentralized market economies. Ambiguities and tensions can be discerned in the radical subjectivist account of the causal forces at work in the market process. It is argued that the conceptual resources required for resolving those tensions and ambiguities are to be found in critical realism. The final section of the paper draws out some of the broader implications of the suggested resolution for radical subjectivist Austrian economics.

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  • Paul Lewis, 2005. "Structure, agency and causality in post-revival Austrian economics: tensions and resolutions," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(2), pages 291-316.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:revpoe:v:17:y:2005:i:2:p:291-316
    DOI: 10.1080/09538250500067320
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    Cited by:

    1. Andrea Migone, 2011. "Embedded markets: A dialogue between F.A. Hayek and Karl Polanyi," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 24(4), pages 355-381, December.
    2. Lewis, Paul & Runde, Jochen, 2007. "Subjectivism, social structure and the possibility of socio-economic order: The case of Ludwig Lachmann," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 167-186, February.
    3. Paul Lewis, 2008. "Solving the “Lachmann Problem”: Orientation, Individualism, and the Causal Explanation of Socioeconomic Order," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(5), pages 827-857, November.
    4. Lewis, Paul, 2021. "Elinor's Ostrom's ‘realist orientation’: An investigation of the ontological commitments of her analysis of the possibility of self-governance," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 623-636.
    5. Paul Lewis, 2021. "Entrepreneurship, novel combinations, capital regrouping, and the structure-agency relationship: an introduction to the special issue on innovation and Austrian economics," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 34(1), pages 1-12, March.

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