Friedrich Hayek's theory of spontaneous order: Two problems

The paper finds Hayek's basic building block, the natural/artificial contrast, to be illuminating. But the manner in which Hayek classifies entities according to the contrast generates two major problems in his socioeconomic theory. First, Hayek's concept "design" confuses the technical construction of, e.g., a chair with the deliberate organization of division of labor within the firm. Second, Hayek's notion "spontaneous order" fails to note two kinds of natural order - firms and markets. © 1997 Kluwer Academic Publishers,.