Abstract
Abstract:
In the real world, an entrepreneur requires capital to produce. Thus, the Austrian school of economics, which theorizes the real economic world as it is, must be based on capital the- ory. This means that distinctive areas of the Austrian school of economics, such as Business Cycle, Economic Calculation, Entrepreneurship, Knowledge, Spontaneous Order, and Market Process must be understood based on capital theory. However, Austrian Capital Theory(ACT)is not a unique theory; rather, it is plural. This plurality makes understanding its diverse roles in Austrian Economics difficult.
Examining these plural theories, I find the shared similarity in these theories lies in the viewpoint of an entrepreneur. In the first place, we reveal the plurality of ACT by tracing its genealogy. Next, we classify them using the controversy between Endres & Harper and Braun in the History of Economic Thought(2014). Lastly, I group them into three capital functions by ranking plural concepts of capital alongside a process of change in entrepreneurial asset composition. These functions are ‘production factor,’ ‘purchase,’ and ‘calculation.’ Plural concepts of capital are integrated into the viewpoint of an entrepreneur who uses the three functions to produce in the real world. That is a distinctive feature of ACT, and this also means that ACT and entrepreneurship theory are never isolated. Rather, this distinctiveness becomes one of the sources of its plurality.
JEL classification numbers: B13, B25, B41.
