The individual, economic agent has antecedents and consequences that shape her perceptions of the world, in other words, form the individual’s mental models. Furthermore, the individual is a totality of mental models, which shape perception and influence the selection of relevant models...

The Elgar Companion to Austrian Economics is a major new reference work which highlights the common ground between all the branches of the school while demonstrating the breadth and diversity within it. The Companion reflects the many areas where Austrian economists have made contributions,...

Public health concerns played a major role in driving the shift from private to government ownership of water works in Britain and the US. Poor water quality is one of the criticisms made of the eight water companies providing piped water to London during the nineteenth century. Critics argued...

The longstanding debate on the exact theoretical role and nature of the entrepreneur has traditionally featured the works of three great economists, Joseph Schumpeter, Frank Knight and Israel Kirzner. Each had a somewhat different take on this question, but each of them shared the common...

Emergence is a unifying theme of both evolutionary economics and complex systems theory. In spite of this centrality, emergence in economics has not been subject to an extensive critical analysis. This paper remedies this deficit. We identify several conditions that economic patterns (i.e....

Examining the economics of entrepreneurship from the perspectives of productive versus unproductive entrepreneurial behavior and the role of institutions in economic outcomes, the authors in this book seek to advance the research on institutions by providing a simple framework to analyze the...

Over the last few decades, there has been a great deal of management literature recommending the removal of firms’ hierarchies and the empowerment of employees. Ivan Pongracic, Jr. examines these themes through the lense of the economic theory of the firm. Balancing the tendency for management...

The article is an answer to the publication The Ideas of Ludwig von Mises for the Development of the Austrian Economic School by N. Gerchev (iss. 4/ 2005), constructed as a critical analysis of positions and statements, presented in our study on the Austrian School. An attitude has been taken...

According to Colander, modern economics is economics of the model. Models have to be testable, in order to get a "theory with measurement". This procedure was recently criticized vehemently by Blaug maintaining that there is only little empirical progress in the economics of today. He makes the...

Economics has firms maximizing value and people maximizing utility, but firms are run by people. Agency theory concerns the mitigation of this internal contradiction in capitalism. Firms need charters, regulations and laws to restrain those entrusted with their governance, just as economies need...