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Toward a Unified Theory of Value: From Austrian Economics to Austrian Philosophy

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Abstract

Under one understanding of marketing, this discipline focuses on the creation of customer value. Although nobody doubts today that value is subjective and it emerges from consumer judgment, the causality is less clear. Do producers bring about value, or do consumers receive ‘raw’ products that only attain value in their estimation? Or, do producers and consumers co-create value as much of contemporary marketing theory assumes? Recent works on value creation, the building of customer relationships, and the service-dominant logic are related to insights derived from both Austrian schools of value theory. The emphasis on value as a ratio between perceived benefits and perceived costs may be seen as a continuation of Menger’s and Wieser’s work. The focus on relations as a category distinct from goods goes back to Böhm-Bawerk. And the service-dominant logic reflects insights developed both by Menger and by philosophers of the Brentano School. The direct influence of Austrian economics on business studies is small and is restricted to very few scholars. But the potential is great for a fruitful development of current approaches in marketing by drawing on insights from Austrian economics and, perhaps even more so, from Austrian philosophy. This paper defines the relations between the thought from economists and philosophers and presents examples for how cutting-edge marketing thinking may profit from both Austrian schools of value.

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Notes

  1. See Eaton (1930), Kraus (1937), Fabian and Simons (1986), Grassl (1982, 1986), Smith (1986), Smith (1994), Chisholm (1986b) and Dappiano (1996). The Austrian School of Art History was also influenced by Brentano; Alois Riegl’s theory of value shares characteristics also with the Austrian economists (see Svoboda 2011).

  2. Von Wieser (1893, p. xxxv).

  3. See Yagi (1993, p. 709).

  4. Kraus (1894, p. 53).

  5. Perry (1926, ch.1) and Eaton (1930).

  6. Marshall (1890, p. 61).

  7. See Smith (1947).

  8. Empirical validation will be left to future publications.

  9. See Smith (1990, 1994, Ch. 10).

  10. See Svoboda (2011).

  11. See Aristotle, Categories, II.

  12. Menger (1976, p. 146).

  13. See Engländer (1935).

  14. Von Mises (1996, 124 n3): “Classes are not in the world. It is our mind that classifies the phenomena in order to organize our knowledge”.

  15. Husserl (2001), vol. II, p. 25 (sect. III, ch. II, §14); on this, see Correia (2004).

  16. Von Mises (1996, p. 14f).

  17. See Engländer (1914).

  18. See Brentano (1969, p. 18).

  19. See Von Meinong (1968, pp. 280frf., 425ff., 625ff., 639).

  20. See Grassl (1999) and Chemero (2003).

  21. See Woo (1992, pp. 23ff).

  22. Debreu (1959, p. 33).

  23. Ibid., p. 32.

  24. See Menger (1976, pp. 52, 58, 101, 116, 120, 145).

  25. See Von Mises (1960, p. 184).

  26. See Von Wieser (1891, 1893).

  27. See Von Meinong (1972, p. 125) and Von Ehrenfels (1897–98).

  28. See Von Ehrenfels (1897–98, §24).

  29. See Von Böhm-Bawerk (1891, Book III, ch. I, §1; Book III, ch. 8, §§2ff).

  30. See Woo (1992, p. 42).

  31. See Gramm (1988).

  32. See Kraus (1914, p. 27f).

  33. Pace Smith (1990, 1994, pp. 320–329).

  34. See Gibson (1986, ch. 8) and Chemero (2003).

  35. Von Ehrenfels (1896a, b, p. 104).

  36. See Sánchez-Fernández and Iniesta-Bonillo (2007).

  37. Von Mises (1996, p. 97).

  38. See Grassl (1986).

  39. See Mulligan et al. (1984) and Smith and Simon (2007).

  40. See Aristotle, Metaphysics, Book V, 1020b.

  41. See Smith (1994, pp. 320–325).

  42. Von Mises (1996, p. 120).

  43. Rothbard (1956, p. 224).

  44. Ibid., p. 229.

  45. The propositions are not necessarily independent of each other but overlap. They are only meant to characterize typical traits of a Unified Austrian Theory of Value.

  46. See (Chisholm 1986b, pp. 183 and 192f).

  47. See Fabian and Simons (1986), Grassl (1986), Smith (1986) and Ingarden (1983, pp. 141ff).

  48. Von Böhm-Bawerk (1891, Book III, ch.1, §4).

  49. See Zúñiga y Postigo (1998).

  50. Menger (1976, p. 52).

  51. Ibid., p. 115.

  52. Von Mises (1996, p. 95).

  53. Ibid.

  54. Menger (1976, p. 116 n3).

  55. See Von Mises (1996, p. 123f).

  56. Brentano (1995, p. 211).

  57. See Huemer (2009, pp. 278ff).

  58. Von Mises (1996, p. 121).

  59. Kolnai (1998, p. 582).

  60. See above, fn. 44.

  61. Riegl (1982, p. 24).

  62. It is reported that, since 1900, Menger had studied many works of psychology and physiology, including those of Brentano, Kraus, and Ehrenfels. See Kauder (1965, p. 89).

  63. Von Mises (1928, p. 36, 2003, p. 184).

  64. Von Wieser (1884, p. 39).

  65. See Von Wieser (1927, p. 3).

  66. See Čuhel (1907).

  67. See Grassl (1986, p. 150).

  68. Engländer (1914, p. 1513).

  69. See Hayek (1952).

  70. See De Vecchi (2003).

  71. Husserl (2001, p. 40).

  72. Brentano (1969, §23).

  73. See Mulligan et al. (1984).

  74. Kraus (1986, p. 80).

  75. Von Meinong (1972, p. 127).

  76. Von Böhm-Bawerk (1891, Book III, ch.1, §4).

  77. See Dappiano (1996, p. 396).

  78. See Menger (1976, p. 131).

  79. Ibid., pp. 122, 128.

  80. Von Mises (1996, p. 121).

  81. See Grassl (1999).

  82. Hill (2013, p. 5).

  83. See Chisholm Chisholm (1986a, b).

  84. Kolnai (1969/70, p. 107).

  85. See Menger (1976, p. 119f).

  86. Ibid., p. 121.

  87. Von Mises (1996, p. 228).

  88. See Riegl (1982, p. 46f).

  89. Panofsky (2008, p. 44).

  90. See Chisholm (1986a, ch. 7).

  91. See Anderson (1996, ch. 2, 2013, ch. 3).

  92. See Kolnai (1998, p. 584ff).

  93. See Menger (1985, Book III, §§1–3).

  94. See Hayek (1967).

  95. Hayek (1979, p. 69).

  96. Smith (1994, p. 327).

  97. See Von Ehrenfels (1897–98, §§41f).

  98. See Von Wieser (1893, p. ix).

  99. See Riegl (1982).

  100. See Svoboda (2011).

  101. See Chisholm (1986a, ch. 6).

  102. See Menger (1976, p. 165) and Von Wieser (1893, Book III, Ch. 7).

  103. Menger (1976, p. 58).

  104. See Riegl (1982, p. 24).

  105. Brentano (1969, p. 74).

  106. See Von Meinong (1894, p. 23, 1972, pp. 125, 129) and Von Ehrenfels (1896a, 1897–98, Vol. I, §19).

  107. See Kolnai (1998).

  108. See Debreu (1959, p. 33).

  109. Von Wieser (1893, p. ix); see also Book I, Ch. 10.

  110. Von Wieser (1893, p. 31).

  111. See Simonson et al. (1994) and Luce (1998).

  112. See Wai Lee et al. (2009).

  113. See Von Böhm-Bawerk (1886, pp. 69–75, 1959, pp. 196–201) and Von Wieser (1893, Book I, chs. 9 and 11).

  114. Čuhel (1907), Von Mises (1996, p. 204f., 1980, p. 54f).

  115. See Von Mises (1996, p. 335).

  116. Brentano (1969, p. 23n).

  117. See Smith (1994, pp. 76–79).

  118. See Guigon (2005).

  119. See Von Ehrenfels (1896a, b).

  120. See Von Ehrenfels (1897–98, § 29).

  121. See Von Ehrenfels (1897–98, p. 253f).

  122. Von Ehrenfels (1897, §25, 1998, §19).

  123. Von Ehrenfels (1896a, b).

  124. See Von Meinong (1972, p. 125).

  125. Scheler (1973, p. 261).

  126. See Chisholm (1986a), Fullbrook (2002) and Poli (2006).

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    Wolfgang Grassl

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Grassl, W. Toward a Unified Theory of Value: From Austrian Economics to Austrian Philosophy. Axiomathes 27, 531–559 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10516-017-9348-0

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