IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/gre/wpaper/2024-06.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Hayek's Austrian Theory of the Business Cycle

Author

Listed:
  • Harald Hagemann

    (Universität Hohenheim)

Abstract

The essay begins with Hayek's grappling with the equilibrium framework as the starting point for the analysis of cyclical fluctuations and the fundamental methodological challenge raised by Lowe's attack against the construction of business-cycle theory within the system of general economic equilibrium. It then shows that Hayek elaborated his Austrian theory of the business cycle on the innovative combination of five building blocks: (1) Wicksell's theory of the cumulative process where price changes are caused by the discrepancy between the market rate and the natural (equilibrium) rate of interest; (2) Mises's theory of money and credit in which banks artificially lowering the money (market) rate of interest are responsible for overinvestment and a misallocation of resources which necessarily has to be corrected; (3) Böhm-Bawerk's theory of capital with its emphasis on the time structure of the production process; (4) Cantillon effects of changes in the money supply on the price structure and hence on the structure of production (non-neutrality of money); (5) Ricardo effects of a shortage of consumption goods on the production of investment goods (disproportionality of circulating and fixed capital).

Suggested Citation

  • Harald Hagemann, 2024. "Hayek's Austrian Theory of the Business Cycle," GREDEG Working Papers 2024-06, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    • Handle: RePEc:gre:wpaper:2024-06
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://195.220.190.85/GREDEG-WP-2024-06.pdf
    File Function: First version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Plosser, Charles I, 1989. "Understanding Real Business Cycles," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 3(3), pages 51-77, Summer.
    2. Scheide, Joachim, 1986. "New classical and Austrian business cycle theory: Is there a difference?," Open Access Publications from Kiel Institute for the World Economy 1317, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    3. Amendola, Mario & Gaffard, Jean-Luc, 1998. "Out of Equilibrium," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198293804, Decembrie.
    4. Axel Leijonhufvud, 1997. "The Wicksellian Heritage," Department of Economics Working Papers 9705, Department of Economics, University of Trento, Italia.
    5. Dal-Pont Legrand, Muriel & Hagemann, Muriel Dal-Pont Legrand and Harald, 2013. "Lutz and Equilibrium Theories of the Business Cycle," OEconomia, Editions NecPlus, vol. 2013(02), pages 241-262, June.
    6. Hahn, L. Albert, 2015. "Economic Theory of Bank Credit," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198723073, Decembrie.
    7. Simon Kuznets, 1930. "Equilibrium Economics and Business-Cycle Theory," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 44(3), pages 381-415.
    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. Hagemann Harald, 2019. "Impulses and Propagation Mechanisms in Equilibrium Business Cycles Theories: From Interwar Debates to DSGE “Consensus”," Working Papers halshs-02386344, HAL.
    2. Venkatachalam, Ragupathy & Kumar, Sunil Mitra, 2022. "Economic Structures and Dynamics: A Morphogenetic View," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 474-485.
    3. Blomberg, S. Brock & Hess, Gregory D., 2003. "Is the political business cycle for real?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(5-6), pages 1091-1121, May.
    4. Stefano Zambelli & N. Dharmaraj, 2013. ""Carry-on-Activity" and Process Innovation," ASSRU Discussion Papers 1306, ASSRU - Algorithmic Social Science Research Unit.
    5. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/6493 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Gertjan Vlieghe, 2010. "Imperfect credit markets: implications for monetary policy," Bank of England working papers 385, Bank of England.
    7. J.P.G. Reijnders, 2007. "Impulse or propagation? How the tides turned in Business Cycle Theory," Working Papers 07-07, Utrecht School of Economics.
    8. Ghassan Dibeh, 2001. "Time Delays and Business Cycles: Hilferding's model revisited," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(3), pages 329-341.
    9. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/6762 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Jean-Luc Gaffard, 2014. "Crise de la théorie et crise de la politique économique. Des modèles d'équilibre général stochastique aux modèles de dynamique hors de l'équilibre," Revue économique, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 65(1), pages 71-96.
    11. Marvin Goodfriend, 2004. "Monetary policy in the new neoclassical synthesis : a primer," Economic Quarterly, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, vol. 90(Sum), pages 21-45.
    12. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/1931 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Krajewski, Piotr, 2011. "Efekty podażowe szoków fiskalnych w gospodarce polskiej na podstawie modelu realnego cyklu koniunkturalnego," Gospodarka Narodowa-The Polish Journal of Economics, Szkoła Główna Handlowa w Warszawie / SGH Warsaw School of Economics, vol. 2011(4), April.
    14. Tony Caporale & Barbara McKiernan, 1998. "The Fischer Black Hypothesis: Some Time‐Series Evidence," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 64(3), pages 765-771, January.
    15. Andrea Borsato & André Lorentz, 2025. "Public science vs. mission-oriented policies in long-run growth: An agent-based model," Post-Print hal-05092674, HAL.
    16. Decker, Frank & Goodhart, C. A. E., 2018. "Credit mechanics: a precursor to the current money supply debate," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 100017, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    17. Mauro Napoletano & Jean-Luc Gaffard, 2010. "Performances et politiques de croissance. Un éclairage empirique à partir d'une étude de l'effet de la taille des pays et nouvelles réflexions théoriques," Revue de l'OFCE, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 0(1), pages 213-248.
    18. Scott Scheall, 2016. "A brief note concerning Hayek’s non-standard conception of knowledge," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 29(2), pages 205-210, June.
    19. Jean-Luc Gaffard, 2003. "Coordination, marché et organisation. Essai sur l'efficacité et la stabilité des économies de marché," Revue de l'OFCE, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 85(2), pages 235-270.
    20. Marletto, Gerardo, 2011. "Structure, agency and change in the car regime. A review of the literature," European Transport \ Trasporti Europei, ISTIEE, Institute for the Study of Transport within the European Economic Integration, issue 47, pages 71-88.
    21. Jean-Luc Gaffard, 2022. "Instabilité et résilience des économies de marché: Essai sur l'économie du libéralisme social," GREDEG Working Papers 2022-33, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    22. Tommaso Ciarli & André Lorentz & Marco Valente & Maria Savona, 2019. "Structural changes and growth regimes," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 29(1), pages 119-176, March.
    23. Mario Amendola & Jean-Luc Gaffard & Francesco Saraceno, 2004. "Technological Shocks and the Conduct of Monetary Policy," Revue économique, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 55(6), pages 1241-1263.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • B22 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Macroeconomics
    • B25 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary; Austrian; Stockholm School
    • B31 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought: Individuals - - - Individuals
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles

    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:gre:wpaper:2024-06. 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: Patrice Bougette (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/credcfr.html .

    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.