does organizational sociology do a better job than austrian economics?
One of the big issues in Austrian economics is entrepreneuship. It goes something like this: Capitalist economies depend on cycles of creativity and destruction. Markets settle into rigid patterns, then creative individuals see something that others don’t. They organize to gather resources so they can take risks. If successful, the entrepreneurs topple incumbent industries by drawing away customers with innovative products and services. It’s a cool idea. It’s likely Schumpeter’s enduring legacy in the wider intellectual world. But there’s a few problems with Austrianism’s focus on entrepreneurs. What’s so special about the Austrian account? Does it add anything to what a standard search theory already has? Why should we accord any special role to entrepreneurs other than being first in line? I think a better account of entrepreneurs can be hatched from recent work in institutional theory. A key idea in organizational institutionalism is the “field” – all the social junk that constitute
