This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

The Evolution of Entrepreneurial Spirit and the Process of Development

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Oded Galor
Stelios Michalopoulos

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

This research suggests that the evolution of entrepreneurial spirit played a significant role in the process of economic development and the dynamics of inequality within and across societies. The study argues that entrepreneurial spirit evolved non-monotonically in the course of human history. In early stages of development, the rise in income generated an evolutionary advantage to entrepreneurial, growth promoting traits and their increased representation accelerated the pace of technological progress and the process of economic development. Natural selection therefore had magnified growth promoting activities in relatively wealthier economies as well as within the upper segments of societies, enlarging the income gap within as well as across societies. In mature stages of development, however, non-entrepreneurial individuals gained an evolutionary advantage, diminishing the growth potential of advanced economies and contributing to the convergence of the intermediate level economies to the advanced ones.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://www.carloalberto.org/files/no.111.pdf
File Format: application/pdf
File Function:
Download Restriction: no

Publisher Info
Paper provided by Collegio Carlo Alberto in its series Carlo Alberto Notebooks with number 111.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Length: 45 pages
Date of creation: 2009
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:cca:wpaper:111

Contact details of provider:
Postal: Via Real Collegio, 30, 10024 Moncalieri (To)
Phone: +390116705000
Fax: +390116476847
Email:
Web page: http://www.carloalberto.org/
More information through EDIRC

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Giovanni Bert).

Related research
Keywords: Elasticity of Substitution; Growth; Technological Progress; Evolution; Natural Selection;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
O11 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
O14 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
O33 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Technological Change - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
O40 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General
J11 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Demographic Trends and Forecasts
J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Antonio E. Bernardo & Ivo Welch, 2001. "On the Evolution of Overconfidence and Entrepreneurs," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 1307, Cowles Foundation, Yale University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Weibull, Jörgen & Salomonsson, Marcus, 2005. "Natural selection and social preferences," Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 588, Stockholm School of Economics, revised 20 Jul 2005.
  3. Matthias Doepke & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2005. "Social Class and the Spirit of Capitalism," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 3(2-3), pages 516-524, 04/05. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. David B. Audretsch & Roy Thurik, 2001. "Linking Entrepreneurship to Growth," OECD Science, Technology and Industry Working Papers 2001/2, OECD, Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry. [Downloadable!]
  5. Feinerman, Eli & Finkelshtain, Israel, 1996. "Introducing socioeconomic characteristics into production analysis under risk," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 13(3), pages 149-161, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Oded Galor & Omer Moav, 2002. "Natural Selection And The Origin Of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 117(4), pages 1133-1191, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  7. José A. M. Borghans & Lex Borghans & Bas ter Weel, 2005. "Is There a Link between Economic Outcomes and Genetic Evolution? Cross-Country Evidence from the Major Histocompatibility Complex," IZA Discussion Papers 1838, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Thomas Dohmen & Armin Falk & David Huffman & Uwe Sunde & Jürgen Schupp & Gert G. Wagner, 2005. "Individual Risk Attitudes: New Evidence from a Large, Representative, Experimentally-Validated Survey," IZA Discussion Papers 1730, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  9. Enrico Spolaore & Romain Wacziarg, 2006. "The Diffusion of Development," NBER Working Papers 12153, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  10. Matthias Doepke & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2007. "Occupational Choice and the Spirit of Capitalism," SFB 649 Discussion Papers SFB649DP2007-049, Sonderforschungsbereich 649, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  11. Hans-Peter Kohler & Joseph L. Rodgers & Kaare Christensen, 1999. "Is Fertility Behavior in Our Genes? Findings from a Danish Twin Study," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 25(2), pages 253-288. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. David Audretsch & Max Keilbach, 2005. "Entrepreneurship capital and regional growth," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 39(3), pages 457-469, 09. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Galor, Oded & Weil, David, 1998. "Population, Technology and Growth: From the Malthusian Regime to the Demographic Transition," CEPR Discussion Papers 1981, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  14. Jorgen W. Weibull, 1997. "Evolutionary Game Theory," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262731215, January.
  15. Alberto Bisin & Thierry Verdier, 2000. ""Beyond The Melting Pot": Cultural Transmission, Marriage, And The Evolution Of Ethnic And Religious Traits," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 115(3), pages 955-988, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  16. Palacios-Huerta, Ignacio & Santos, Tano J., 2004. "A theory of markets, institutions, and endogenous preferences," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(3-4), pages 601-627, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  17. Nils-Petter Lagerloef, 2000. "From Malthus to Modern Growth: The Three Regimes Revisited," Econometric Society World Congress 2000 Contributed Papers 1248, Econometric Society. [Downloadable!]
  18. Matthias Doepke & Fabizio Zilibotti, 2006. "Patience Capital, Occupational Choice, and the Spirit of Capitalism," UCLA Economics Working Papers 848, UCLA Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  19. Bar-Shira, Z. & Just, R. E. & Zilberman, D., 1997. "Estimation of farmers' risk attitude: an econometric approach," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 17(2-3), pages 211-222, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  20. Gary D. Hansen & Edward C. Prescott, 2002. "Malthus to Solow," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(4), pages 1205-1217, September. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  21. Galor, Oded, 2005. "From Stagnation to Growth: Unified Growth Theory," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 4, pages 171-293 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  22. Matthias Doepke, 2004. "Accounting for Fertility Decline During the Transition to Growth," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 9(3), pages 347-383, 09. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  23. Graziella Bertocchi, 2006. "The Law of Primogeniture and the Transition from Landed Aristocracy to Industrial Democracy," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 43-70, 03. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  24. Garett Jones & W. Joel Schneider, 2005. "Intelligence, Human Capital, and Economic Growth: A Bayesian Averaging of Classical Estimates (BACE) Approach," Development and Comp Systems 0507005, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  25. Mette Wik & Tewodros Aragie Kebede & Olvar Bergland & Stein T. Holden, 2004. "On the measurement of risk aversion from experimental data," Applied Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 36(21), pages 2443-2451, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  26. Grisley, William & Kellog, Earl, 1987. "Risk-taking preferences of farmers in northern Thailand: Measurements and implications," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 1(2), pages 127-142, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  27. Aghion, Philippe & Howitt, Peter, 1992. "A Model of Growth through Creative Destruction," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 60(2), pages 323-51, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  28. Robson, Arthur J., 1996. "A Biological Basis for Expected and Non-expected Utility," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 397-424, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  29. Miklos Koren & Silvana Tenreyro, 2005. "Volatility and Development," CEP Discussion Papers dp0706, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  30. Arthur J. Robson & Hillard S. Kaplan, 2003. "The Evolution of Human Life Expectancy and Intelligence in Hunter-Gatherer Economies," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(1), pages 150-169, March. [Downloadable!]
  31. Samuel Bowles, 1998. "Endogenous Preferences: The Cultural Consequences of Markets and Other Economic Institutions," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(1), pages 75-111, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  32. Hansson, Ingemar & Stuart, Charles, 1990. "Malthusian Selection of Preferences," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(3), pages 529-44, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  33. John Knight & Sharada Weir & Tassew Woldehanna, 2003. "The role of education in facilitating risk-taking and innovation in agriculture," The Journal of Development Studies, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 39(6), pages 1-22, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  34. Kihlstrom, Richard E & Laffont, Jean-Jacques, 1979. "A General Equilibrium Entrepreneurial Theory of Firm Formation Based on Risk Aversion," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(4), pages 719-48, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  35. Sachiko Miyata, 2003. "Household's risk attitudes in Indonesian villages," Applied Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 35(5), pages 573-583, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  36. van Praag, C M & Cramer, J S, 2001. "The Roots of Entrepreneurship and Labour Demand: Individual Ability and Low Risk Aversion," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 68(269), pages 45-62, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  37. Jacob L. Weisdorf, 2004. "From stagnation to growth: Revisiting three historical regimes," Journal of Population Economics, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 455-472, 08. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Mariko Klasing, 2008. "Culturally Risk Averse? – A Model of Economic Growth with Endogenous Culture," University of St. Gallen Department of Economics working paper series 2008 2008-23, Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen. [Downloadable!]
  2. Brian Snowdon, 2008. "Towards a Unified Theory of Economic Growth: Oded Galor on the Transition from Malthusian Stagnation to Modern Economic Growth," Working Papers 2008-4, Brown University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  3. Quamrul Ashraf & Oded Galor, 2008. "Dynamics and Stagnation in the Malthusain Epoch: Theory and Evidence," Working Papers 2008-14, Brown University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? RePEc and its associated services are free for contributors and users, and do not accept any advertising.

This page was last updated on 2009-11-2.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.