Historical Perspectives on the Entrepreneur (Foundations and Trends(r) in Entrepreneurship)

Historical Perspectives on the Entrepreneur preserves a vital historical perspective by chronologically tracing the entrepreneur in the economic literature to give a complete perspective to contemporary writings and teachings on entrepreneurship. It reviews the historical nature and role of the entrepreneur as described and analyzed in economic literature from the eighteenth century to the present. Historical Perspectives on the Entrepreneur shows how Joseph Schumpeter changed the ambiguous nature of a concept of the entrepreneur to that which now occupies a primary role in the theory of economic development. It also examines other conceptions of entrepreneurship besides Schumpeter's including the many different facets of entrepreneurship as they have been perceived by some of the great economists throughout the ages. Finally, it illustrates the tension that often exists between "theory" and "practice." Historical Perspectives on the Entrepreneur should be required reading for all students of economics and those interested in entrepreneurship practice. Introduction......Page 14 The Prehistory of Entrepreneurship......Page 20 Merchants and Adventurers......Page 21 Early Forms of Business Organization......Page 22 Property Rights and the Entrepreneurial Function......Page 24 The Evolution of a Concept......Page 25 Postscript......Page 26 Early French Contributions......Page 28 Entrepreneurs and Markets......Page 29 Uncertainty and Risk......Page 32 Capital and Entrepreneurship......Page 33 A Harbinger of the Future......Page 34 François Quesnay......Page 36 Nicholas Baudeau......Page 37 Anne-Robert Jacques Turgot......Page 39 Jean-Baptiste Say......Page 41 A.L.C. Destutt de Tracy and Henri Saint-Simon......Page 45 Postscript......Page 47 English Custom before Adam Smith......Page 50 Prodigals, Projectors, and Adam Smith'sPrudent Man......Page 51 Jeremy Bentham: The Entrepreneur as Contractor......Page 55 David Ricardo and the ``Unfortunate Legacy''......Page 59 The Decline of British Classical Economics......Page 61 Postscript......Page 63 The German Tradition......Page 64 Postscript......Page 69 The Neoclassical Era......Page 72 The Austrian School......Page 73 Léon Walras......Page 77 Alfred Marshall and His Disciples......Page 82 Postscript......Page 88 The View from America......Page 90 Amasa and Francis A. Walker......Page 91 Frederick Hawley and John Bates Clark......Page 94 Herbert Davenport and Frank Taussig......Page 96 Frank Knight......Page 101 Postscript......Page 104 Joseph Schumpeter......Page 106 The German Historical School......Page 107 The Schumpeterian Perspective......Page 109 Entrepreneurs and Innovation......Page 110 Entrepreneurial Profits......Page 114 Postscript......Page 117 Harvard Historical Studies......Page 120 Shackle's Anti-Equilibrium Approach......Page 122 Entrepreneurship and Human Capital......Page 124 The Austrian Revival......Page 128 Entrepreneurship and X-Inefficiency......Page 134 Postscript......Page 137 The Entrepreneur and the Firm......Page 138 Transaction Costs and the Firm......Page 139 Entrepreneurs and Output-Price Uncertainty......Page 141 Is the Firm the Entrepreneur?......Page 144 Postscript......Page 147 Conclusion......Page 148 Risk, Uncertainty, and Organization......Page 152 Past as Prologue......Page 154 References......Page 156 Originally published as Foundations and trends in entrepreneurship v. 2, issue 4 (2006).