Structure, Agency and Causality in Post-Revival Austrian Economics: Tensions and Resolutions

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.

Keywords: Austrian economics, critical realism, causality, social structure, social ontology

JEL Classification: B1, B2, B3, B4