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Entrepreneurship: State of grace or human action?

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  • Ferlito, Carmelo

Abstract

Joseph A. Schumpeter developed a very well-known theory of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship, centred on the concept of ‘new combinations’. According to him, innovation and entrepreneurship are destructive elements driving the system beyond an equilibrium position and setting in motion a competitive process, in order to reach a new equilibrium point. Though Austrian, Schumpeter was never a member of the Austrian School of Economics. However, his position as regards entrepreneurship is widely commented on by Austrian School members. In particular, Israel M. Kirzner devoted his research activity to develop an alternative concept of entrepreneurship rooted in Misesian human action and the concept of ‘alertness’. This paper aims to analyze and compare the two positions, in an attempt not so much to stress differences but to find possible common paths for further developments of the concept of entrepreneurship.

Suggested Citation

  • Ferlito, Carmelo, 2015. "Entrepreneurship: State of grace or human action?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 27(1-2), pages 11-36.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:espost:181660
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    1. Israel Kirzner, 1999. "Creativity and/or Alertness: A Reconsideration of the Schumpeterian Entrepreneur," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 11(1), pages 5-17, January.
    2. Richard N Langlois, 2003. "Schumpeter And The Obsolescence Of The Entrepreneur," Advances in Austrian Economics, in: Austrian Economics and Entrepreneurial Studies, pages 283-298, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    3. Schumpeter, Joseph A., 1947. "The Creative Response in Economic History," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 7(2), pages 149-159, November.
    4. Israel M. Kirzner, 1997. "Entrepreneurial Discovery and the Competitive Market Process: An Austrian Approach," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(1), pages 60-85, March.
    5. Carmelo Ferlito, 2014. "The Natural Cycle: WHY Economic Fluctuations are Inevitable. A Schumpeterian Extension of the Austrian Business Cycle Theory," Journal of Reviews on Global Economics, Lifescience Global, vol. 3, pages 200-219.
    6. Yuichi Shionoya, 2005. "The Soul of the German Historical School," The European Heritage in Economics and the Social Sciences, Springer, number 978-0-387-23085-6, December.
    7. Ebner, Alexander, 2006. "Schumpeterian Entrepreneurship Revisited: Historical Specificity and the Phases of Capitalist Development," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 28(3), pages 315-332, September.
    8. Enrico Santarelli & Enzo Pesciarelli, 1990. "The Emergence of a Vision: The Development of Schumpeter's Theory of Entrepreneurship," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 22(4), pages 677-696, Winter.
    9. Hugo Reinert & Erik S. Reinert, 2006. "Creative Destruction in Economics: Nietzsche, Sombart, Schumpeter," The European Heritage in Economics and the Social Sciences, in: Jürgen G. Backhaus & Wolfgang Drechsler (ed.), Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900), chapter 4, pages 55-85, Springer.
    10. Panayotis G. Michaelides & John G. Milios, 2009. "Joseph Schumpeter and the German Historical School," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 33(3), pages 495-516, May.
    11. Ferlito, Carmelo, 2011. "Sylos Labini’s Unpublished Notes on Schumpeter’s Business Cycles," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 14(1), pages 88-129.
    12. Marcel A. G. Meerhaeghe, 2006. "Nietzsche and Economics," The European Heritage in Economics and the Social Sciences, in: Jürgen G. Backhaus & Wolfgang Drechsler (ed.), Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900), chapter 3, pages 39-53, Springer.
    13. Kirzner, Israel M., 2008. "The Alert and Creative Entrepreneur: A Clarification," Working Paper Series 760, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    14. Kirzner, Israel M, 1999. "Creativity and/or Alertness: A Reconsideration of the Schumpeterian Entrepreneur," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 11(1-2), pages 5-17.
    15. Spiethoff, Arthur, 1952. "The “Historical†Character of Economic Theories," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(2), pages 131-139, April.
    16. Redlich, Fritz, 1970. "Arthur Spiethoff on Economic Styles," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 30(3), pages 640-652, September.
    17. Paolo S. Labini, 1993. "Economic Growth and Business Cycles," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 268.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ferlito, Carmelo, 2015. "Ludwig M. Lachmann contro la Scuola di Cambridge [Ludwig M. Lachmann against the Cambridge School]," MPRA Paper 67759, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Ferdinando Meacci & Carmelo Ferlito, 2018. "The classical roots of the Austrian theory of capital and entrepreneurship," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 31(3), pages 315-339, September.
    3. Ferlito, Carmelo, 2019. "The Property Market, Affordability and the Malaysian National Housing Policy," EconStor Preprints 197287, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Entrepreneurship; Schumpeter; Kirzner;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • B53 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Austrian
    • B13 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - Neoclassical through 1925 (Austrian, Marshallian, Walrasian, Wicksellian)
    • B25 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary; Austrian; Stockholm School
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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