Similar or different? A comparison of Austrian and feminist economics

Abstract

Some researchers, including Horwitz (1995), point out similarities between two heterodox schools of economic thought, viz. the Austrians and the feminists. These similarities include criticisms of neoclassical assumptions about the rationality of market participants, perfect competition, and the mathematization of economics. This paper, however, argues that these similarities are superficial, as there are numerous methodological differences between these two schools that have led to divergent views on such issues as the nature of orthodox economics and its research methods, subjectivity, utility functions and their interpersonal comparison, market competition, and gender discrimination in the labor market. It is contended that these differences are difficult to reconcile, making any rapprochement between the two schools unlikely.

Keywords

• austrian economics
• feminist economics
• methodology
• utility
• interventionism
• discrimination