The implications of Knightian uncertainty are frequently discussed in the context of market-based institutional settings. Given money prices, entrepreneurs can engage in calculative action, in conjunction with ‘judgment’, to guide decision-making and bring about a coordination of production plans with consumer preferences. However, if the existence of Knightian uncertainty is ubiquitous and applies to all human action, then what are its implications in non-market institutional settings? This paper explores questions related to the implications of Knightian uncertainty for two important non-market institutional settings: democratic government and the nonprofit or philanthropic sector, where there is an explicit lack of monetary calculation, yet nonprofit and political entrepreneurs still must use ‘judgment’ to deal with Knightian uncertainty. For instance, what are the implications of private property and privatized cost in the case of nonprofits versus the absence of private property and socialized cost in the case of democracy, in the presence of Knightian uncertainty? Which group of ‘consumers’ is likely to have their preferences satisfied when it comes to nonprofits (benefactors or beneficiaries) and democratic government (voters or lobbyists)? The paper, thus, points to the importance of further research on the implications of Knightian uncertainty in the hard case of non-market institutional settings.

中文翻译：

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非市场制度环境中的奈特不确定性：民主和非营利公民社会的案例

奈特不确定性的含义经常在以市场为基础的制度环境中进行讨论。在给定货币价格的情况下，企业家可以结合“判断”进行计算，以指导决策，并使生产计划与消费者偏好相协调。然而，如果奈特不确定性的存在是无处不在，适用于所有人类行为，那么它在非市场制度环境中的含义是什么？本文探讨了与奈特不确定性对两个重要的非市场制度环境的影响相关的问题：民主政府和非营利或慈善部门，其中明显缺乏货币计算，但非营利和政治企业家仍然必须使用“判断”处理奈特不确定性。例如，私有财产和私有化成本对非营利组织有何影响相对在存在奈特不确定性的情况下，民主情况下私有财产和社会化成本的缺失？当涉及到非营利组织（捐助者或受益者）和民主政府（选民或游说者）时，哪类“消费者”的偏好可能会得到满足？因此，该论文指出了进一步研究奈特不确定性在非市场制度设置的困难情况下的影响的重要性。