Cambridge Journal of Economics Advance Access originally published online on May 15, 2007
Cambridge Journal of Economics 2007 31(5):789-804; doi:10.1093/cje/bem003
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Institutions as knowledge capital: Ludwig M. Lachmann's interpretative institutionalism
* Copenhagen Business School and Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, Bergen; and School of Economics and Business Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg and University of Catanzaro, Italy, respectively
Address for correspondence: Giampaolo Garzarelli, School of Economic and Business Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, WITS 2050, Johannesburg, South Africa; email: giampaolo.garzarelli{at}wits.ac.za
This article revisits the socioeconomic theory of the Austrian School economist Ludwig M. Lachmann. By showing that the common claim that Lachmann's idiosyncratic (i.e., eclectic and multidisciplinary) approach to economics entails nihilism is unfounded, it reaches the following conclusions. (1) Lachmann held a sophisticated institutional position vis-à-vis economics that anticipated developments in contemporary new institutional economics. (2) Lachmann's sociological and economic reading of institutions offers insights for the problem of coordination.
Key Words: Comparative institutional analysis Coordination Expectations Institutional evolution Interpretative institutionalism
JEL classifications: B31, B52, B53, D80
Manuscript received June 9, 2006; final version received October 2, 2006.