On the Constitutive Role of Law for Economics: An Elaboration on the Contribution by the German Socio-Legal School

摘要

This article draws attention to the forgotten German socio-legal school of economics. According to this school, the actual starting point of economic theory is not the individual as such, but the social environment with its legal stipulations that the individual is necessarily a part of. Based on a corresponding retrospect, the article makes visible the tacit legal preconditions of economic theory. Some of the fundamental concepts of economic models-exchange, value, and equilibrium-require the existence of a legal system that defines legal persons and their rights and duties towards each other.