Body of economic theory developed by several late 19th-century Austrian economists.
Carl Menger (1840–1921) published a paper on their new theory of value in 1871. The concept of value was subjective, the source of a product's value being its ability to satisfy human wants. The actual value depended on the utility derived by the consumer from the product in its least important use ( marginal utility ). The theory was also applied to production and pricing. Other founders of the school included Friedrich von Wieser (1851–1926) and Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk (1851–1914). See also opportunity cost ; productivity .