ABSTRACT
Without wishing to obscure their differences, generally the Austrians support a substantial approach to social institutions (money, language, etc.). In Menger there is a degree of similarity between social institutions and natural organisms in that their origin is outside all deliberative activity (with the exception of ‘pragmatic’ institutions) and they can be accounted for precisely (Garrouste, 1994). In response to constructivist rationalism, Hayek shows that institutions are made up rules of conduct that are not decided by men ‘but which eventually govern individuals’ action because, when they apply them, their actions are more efficient and successful than those of competing groups’ (Hayek, 1973: 21).
