Entrepreneurship and Economic Theory (original) (raw)

Action, Entrepreneurship and Evolution

Handbook of Whiteheadian Process Thought, 2008

Let us define entrepreneurship as creativity and the evolution of novelty. Let us suppose, which is the main thesis of the chapter, that entrepreneurship is an action that does not differ from everyday action such as walking, driving, or chewing gum. If the definition and main thesis of the chapter are granted, we can conclude that the theory of everyday action, such as chewing gum, is one and the same as the theory of evolution.

Evolution and Entrepreneurship

Perspectives in Entrepreneurship: A Course Text, Palgrave, 2011

‘From so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved’ (Darwin, 1859, p. 490). In the closing lines of Darwin’s Origin of the Species he wonders at the force of evolution in biology, while at the same time putting forward the tantalising possibility that evolutionary forces might be at work in other domains of study. Since the publication of Darwin’s Origin of the Species (Darwin 1859), researchers in domains of study at times far removed from biology have expanded the key principles of Darwinian change to disciplines such as language, psychology, economics, behaviour and culture (Aldrich, 1999; Dennett, 1995; Durham, 1991; Nelson and Winter, 1982; Plotkin, 1994; Richerson and Boyd, 2005; Tooby and Cosmides, 1992). While there are differences in approach amongst these diverse strands of research, a perspective has emerged which has been labelled the Universal or Generalized Darwinist approach (Dawkins, 1983; Hodgson and Knudsen, 2010; Stoelhurst, 2008). Generalized Darwinists argue that at a sufficiently general level of abstraction a core set of general Darwinian principles of variation, selection and retention can be used to describe evolution within a variety of domains (Campbell, 1965; Hodgson and Knudsen, 2004), including biology, psychology, culture and economics. In this way the words of Darwin quoted above might even describe the evolution of different forms of organizations and industries from the simple beginnings of an entrepreneurial start-up in a Schumpeterian style industry birth.

The eclectic necessity of an evolutionary approach to entrepreneurship

2005

This paper explores that application of evolutionary approaches to the study of entrepreneurship. An eclectic approach that aims to highlight the multiple sources of evolutionary thought that frequently remain outside the boundaries of organizational theorizing is used. It is argued that any evolutionary theory of entrepreneurship must appreciate the foundations of evolutionary thought as much as it must consider the nature entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurship As Economics With Imagination

The Ruffin Series of the Society for Business Ethics, 2002

To date, economics has failed to develop a useful theory of entrepreneurship because of its inability to break out of the static equilibrium framework and the modeling of success/failure as a 0-1 variable. Entrepreneurship research also has not achieved this task due to its preoccupation with the quest for “the successful entrepreneur” and/or the successful firm. This essay calls for a new vocabulary for entrepreneurship, consisting of (1) a plural notion of the entrepreneurial process as a stream of successes and failures, wherein failure management becomes the key science of entrepreneurship; (2) an effectual notion of bringing together particular entrepreneurs and particular environments through creative action; and (3) a contingent notion of aspirations that places imagination at the center stage of economics. Together, the new vocabulary allows us to ask new questions and develop new approaches that allow entrepreneurship to tackle the central task of imagination in economics, ...

Entrepreneurship and the discovery of economic theory

Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics , 2013

ABSTRACT: Richard Cantillon is credited with the discovery of economic theory and was the first to fully consider the critical role of entrepreneurship in the economy. Cantillon described entrepreneurship as pervasive and he casted the entrepreneur with a pivotal role in the economy. Using a sample of models from Cantillon’s Essai, we provide evidence that his theory of entrepreneurship was the fundamental tool by which he constructed economic theory and that absent his theory of entrepreneurship his theoretical constructions fail. We believe this discovery both highlights the importance of entrepreneurship and contributes to our understanding of the nature of economic theory.

An Evolutionary Approach to the Theory of Entrepreneurship

Industry & Innovation, 2003

The building blocks of our model are bounded-rational actors with specific sets of endowments: 'entrepreneurial spirit', human capital and venture capital. The entrepreneurial behavior to found a firm is triggered by the individuals' endowments, their social network and the evaluation of the economic situation. Bandwagon effects occur when high growth rates in emerging markets increase firm entries and firm entries in return increase growth rates until competition unfolds its selective power. The firms' survivability is determined by its founders endowments and its competitiveness. If actors are right or wrong in evaluating their economic situation and their consequent decisions is proven ex post. Thus, there will be winners and losers.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND RATIONALITY

Revista Pretexto, 2011

The phenomenon of entrepreneurship has been a significant issue in economics, with repercussions in other sciences, which seek to clarify what the role actually played by the entrepreneur in social development. The studies seek to explain how he or she operates from the standpoint of business creation, identifying opportunities and the pursuit of profit, and also from the personal view, in terms of decision-making and choices, and its mechanisms. This paper presents a brief discussion about the reasons that led the neoclassical authors to "abandon" the character of the entrepreneur, which became the main debate between these neoclassical authors and their critics, especially Schumpeter. Subsequently, highlights the decision context in which the entrepreneur operates, both from his/her personal view and from the environment in which he/she works. Finally, the paper discusses the issue of rationality in the process, presenting considerations and issues for further discussions and studies.

In search of the meaning of entrepreneurship

Small Business Economics, 1989

This paper is an attempt to build a bridge between the popular and the academic usage of the terms entrepreneur and entrepreneurship, and to identify the raw materials needed to construct an interpretive framework capable of illuminating the nature of entrepreneurship and its role in economic theory. We review briefly the contributions made to this topic by Cantillon, Schumpeter, Schultz and Kirzner. We advance a 'synthetic' definition of the entrepreneur as someone who specializes in taking responsibility for and making judgemental decisions that affect the location, the form, and the use of goods, resources, or institutions. We then conclude with some observations on the basic choice confronting economics regarding the place of entrepreneurship in economic analysis.