Entrepreneurs play a pivotal role in boosting progress, productivity and prosperity. They drive economic growth and create new opportunities. Their innovations transform people’s lives. Yet their enormous contribution is not widely understood – and is often completely overlooked in economics textbooks. Here, author Eamonn Butler sets the record straight – explaining the vital role of entrepreneurship, exploring its economic and social significance, and examining the conditions needed for it to thrive. Along the way, he considers the kind of “unusual” people who become entrepreneurs. Who knew, for example, that Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and Uber founder Travis Kalanick all dropped out of university? Or that Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson and IKEA founder Ingvar Kampgrad never went to university at all? An introduction to Entrepreneurship spotlights the strengths of entrepreneurship, whilst acknowledging its shortcomings. It discusses (often-misguided) attempts by governments to foster it. And it eloquently states the case for rehabilitating entrepreneurship into mainstream economics and politics. Above all, it provides an appreciation of – and a basic introduction to – what entrepreneurship is, why we need it, and how we can encourage it.
Author(s): Eamonn Butler
Publisher: London Publishing Partnership
Year: 2020
Language: English
Pages: 146
City: London
Chapter1
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About the author
About the AIER
1 Introduction
What this book is about
Who this book is for
Entrepreneurship and the author
Structure of the book
2 Why care about entrepreneurship?
The unseen factor of production
Innovation and economic growth
How to promote entrepreneurship
Encouraging experimentation
How economists neglect entrepreneurship
The importance of competition
Entrepreneurship and diversity
3 Different views of entrepreneurship
Structures, roles, personalities
Firm size and entrepreneurship
Kinds of entrepreneur
Entrepreneurs are unusual people
The entrepreneurial mind
Sociological factors
4 The economic role of entrepreneurship
Economics and uncertainty
The textbook model
The entrepreneur as creative disruptor
The entrepreneur as discoverer
Entrepreneurs as information processors
Entrepreneurs and uncertainty
Entrepreneurs and judgement
5 The importance of entrepreneurship
Economic benefits
Rising productivity
Human benefits
Social benefits
The social role of profit
6 The spread of entrepreneurship
Global presence
Country similarities and differences
Developing countries
Entrepreneurship and migration
Industries suited to entrepreneurship
The future of entrepreneurship
7 Productive and unproductive entrepreneurship
Is entrepreneurship always productive?
Productive, unproductive and destructive
The crucial effect of rules
Manipulating the rules
Occupational licensing
The rise of political entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship and institutions
8 Can government promote entrepreneurship?
The Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Other strategies
Why politicians get involved
Public investment vehicles
For and against government intervention
Setting the right climate
Objective-led encouragement?
Lessons from experience
9 The entrepreneurial environment
Why is the US so entrepreneurial?
Wealth, freedom and culture
Permissionless innovation
The importance of taxation
The regulatory burden
The right conditions
The importance of management
The lessons
References
About the IEA
