The theories of entrepreneurship, which are an integral part of economic science, in the past, certainly reflected both positive and critical approaches to the very fact of the existence of this phenomenon. Some researchers have argued that this is an inevitable evil. They regarded entrepreneurship as a negative phenomenon. This was due to the fact that such activities went beyond the boundaries of morality, ethical attitudes and the prevailing ideology. Researchers who spoke about the positive direction of this phenomenon, saw in it the guarantee of economic and political freedom of society. A similar concept is currently considered dominant.
Origin
Since ancient times, documents of primary registration in the form of clay tablets have come down to us. They reflected loan agreements, sales contracts, as well as laws relating to property rights.
The earliest works affecting the problems of entrepreneurship were the works of philosophers of ancient Greece. One of the first to consider this phenomenon was Xenophon (456 BC). In his work Domostroy, household management was described, or, as he called it, oiconomia. Hence the name of science - “economics”. Xenophon already drew attention to the fact that the main purpose of entrepreneurial activity is to increase the value of property. The price of land will increase significantly if proper care is taken. A similar approach reflected the attitude to your site as capital.
The economic theory of entrepreneurship was also considered in ancient Greece. Plato (347 BC) condemned such a phenomenon. He believed that in an ideal state, the veneration of gold and silver violates the order and tranquility of citizens. And even the authors of the modern theory of entrepreneurship, who are followers of the Platonic ethics, continue to consider private business as an inevitable evil. They are convinced that the state itself must provide people with everything necessary for life.
Aristotle (384-322 BC), being a student of Plato, built the ideal semi-natural family slave holding. This philosopher welcomed trade, but condemned financial entrepreneurship, which in those years had the form of usury.
The philosophers and writers of Ancient Rome (Cicero, Varrona, Seneca and others) discussed this phenomenon. They paid much attention to the most rational methods of economic life.
They described the entrepreneurship and thinkers of ancient China. The basis of all their works was the teachings of Confucius (551-479 years. BC. E.). Thinkers of the Celestial Empire well understood how the market mechanism works. This allowed them to describe how to regulate it, for example, using public procurement and sales.
Despite the emergence of the beginnings of the theory of entrepreneurship, tsarist power was still too strong in those days. She considered her main task to increase the effectiveness of public administration only. The activity of individuals in the field of purchase and sale was not at all in the center of attention of such rulers.
Entrepreneurship in medieval Europe
States and churches on this continent saw only the defense of faith as their main task. The position that a person occupied in society, from his very birth, was determined by belonging to one or another estate. Any social mobility in medieval Europe was completely absent.
Artisans, money-lenders and merchants flourished at this time. They worked only on order, while having a lower status compared to the clergy and feudal estates. Of course, private enterprise also took place at that time. However, it was mainly considered as an object of taxation, as well as a source of loans and credits.
But gradually, the critical attitude of society towards entrepreneurship began to weaken. This was facilitated by the development of urban crafts, the emergence of fairs, the emergence of an education system in the form of universities, as well as the expansion of consumer demand. However, up to the 16th century. all the facts concerning economic life have not received the necessary scientific and philosophical assessment.
Nevertheless, in medieval Europe, the first banks appeared, guilds and associations of merchants appeared. Entrepreneurial character began to bear typography.
All these events have necessitated the birth of accounting. The work of Luca Pacioli (Italian mathematician) “A Treatise on Records and Accounts” has been used for more than 500 years to take into account the results of entrepreneurial activity.
Age of Reformation
The revision of attitudes towards private business began in Europe only from the 16th century. In Protestant ethics, an entrepreneur was considered from the point of view of an honest person, faithful to his duties. These teachings are fully consistent with Christian thought. In the same period, the emergence of the ethics of an entrepreneur who was seen as a frugal and modest man. A striking example of such a direction were the works of B. Franklin (1708-1790). It was these scholars who proclaimed the slogan, which is now considered an entrepreneurial credo. It sounds like this: "Time is money." What did Franklin mean in this case? The fact that a businessman needs to spend his time making money only with honest work, strengthening his image of an honest, lean and hardworking owner in the eyes of creditors.
The ideological foundation of entrepreneurship is reflected in the writings of English thinkers J. Locke and T. Hobbes. They separated state property from private property, and justified the freedom of a businessman to make decisions in conditions of risk, as well as the freedom to choose a buyer.
Entrepreneurship in Russia
In our country, private business has existed since the earliest times. In the form of crafts and in the form of trade, entrepreneurship arose in Kievan Rus. The first representatives of this direction are merchants and small traders.
The heyday of entrepreneurship in Russia occurred during the time of Peter I. Manufactories began to be created throughout the country, linen, cloth, arms and mining industries were developing rapidly. Entrepreneurial dynasties began to arise. The most famous of them was the Demidov family. The ancestor of this dynasty was the usual Tula blacksmith.
After the abolition of serfdom, entrepreneurship began to develop even more rapidly. The construction of the railway began, the heavy industry was reorganized, and joint-stock activity revived.
The industrial base of entrepreneurship finally developed in Russia in the 1890s of the 19th century.
Emergence of the theory
For the first time, the term “entrepreneur” in the interpretation closest to the modern one was used by the French banker and financier R. Cantillon (1680-1741) in his Essay on the Nature of Trade. The author of this theory of entrepreneurship pointed to the existence of three groups of economic agents. Among them are landowners (capitalists), entrepreneurs and wage earners. In his theory of entrepreneurship, Cantillon was the first to emphasize the significant role of the businessman that he plays in the economy of the state. Moreover, the author proposed the very term of this phenomenon. He introduced the definition of "entrepreneur" into economic science. At the same time, Cantillon emphasized that this term means the possibility of making profit in the market in a certain situation.
The entrepreneur, according to this theory, is an intermediary trader who responds to the existing difference between supply and demand. At the same time, he buys the goods at a known price, and will sell at an unknown price. That is, there is always a risk in such an operation. This is the essence of the theory of entrepreneurship developed by Cantillon. The remaining two agents are passive.
Refinement of the theory
In the scheme proposed by Cantillon, it was not clear what the participation of capital and its owner in entrepreneurial activity was. This necessitated the evolution of the theory of entrepreneurship. The cantillon scheme was specified by the French physiocrat, politician and economist A.R. J. Turgot. According to his theory of business and entrepreneurship, the owner of the capital is able to take the following actions:
- become a capitalist by giving money in a loan;
- become a landowner by buying a plot and leasing it;
- become an entrepreneur by purchasing goods for sale.
Adam Smith Theory
This scientist regarded economics as a self-regulatory mechanism. Currently, his discourse on the role of competition, as well as on those market processes that lead a businessman to profit, are considered classical. However, Smith did not pay any attention to the creative, creative side of entrepreneurship. He believed that the mechanism of competition arises and acts automatically.
Like all physiocrats, Smith identified the entrepreneur with the owner of capital. Moreover, the term coined by Cantillon, he tried not to use at all. Smith called an entrepreneur either a "manufacturer", or a "merchant" or an "industrial entrepreneur." But on the whole, the founder of economic theory took such an activity very negatively, arguing that the interests of these people never coincide with the interests of the country.
Follower of A. Smith
The development of theories of entrepreneurship was reflected in the writings of the Frenchman Say. He saw in the businessman a great capitalist. As a participant in the economic process, the entrepreneur plays a key role in the development of the economy, and also ensures the redistribution of capital, labor and land as the main factors of production between various spheres of economic activity.
Say pointed to the creative and active role of a businessman. At the same time, the theory of entrepreneurship was brought to the macroeconomic level. This made it possible to formulate a law that supply creates demand.
It was Say who founded the tradition of the scientific study of the phenomenon of entrepreneurship.
Proceedings of J. Mill
The economic theory of entrepreneurship continued its evolution. In the published work "Principles of Political Economy" (1848), an English economist J. Miller considered a person who takes not only the risk that exists in a transaction, but also the management of a business (management). This person is the entrepreneur. Mill also identified the distinction that exists between a businessman and shareholders. The latter also take risks, but do not take any part in organizing the case.
Mangoldt's writings
This German economist is also among the classics of the theory of entrepreneurship. Mangoldt put forward the concept of income. By him, the German economist understood the profit that is obtained after deducting from him the remuneration for the work of the entrepreneur and the repayment of loans. The main factor that determines the final amount is, according to Mangoldt, the businessman’s abilities and his risk.
German School of Economics
The essence of entrepreneurship theories has been especially carefully considered in Germany. At the beginning of the 19th century In this country, the so-called historical school of economics was created. Its supporters considered in aggregate the economic theory of entrepreneurship and the theory of personality. For example, V. Sombart in his work “Capitalism”, by which he understood a specific business, considered it as the result of the actions of individual individuals. They are the entrepreneurs who possess talent, tirelessness, perseverance and caution. Zombart first created a psychological portrait of such a person. According to the author, the spirit of entrepreneurship is one of the components of capitalism. A Zombart businessman is considered the “organizer,” “conqueror,” and “trader.” Moreover, he is characterized by a desire for risk, spiritual freedom, perseverance and a wealth of ideas.
Tunen's writings
After economists began to consider the businessman as a person, innovative theories of entrepreneurship began to appear. One of them was the one proposed by the German economist I. Thünen. He considered the entrepreneur’s income as a payment for risk, which is unpredictable. Thünen determined that the size of the income-remuneration is considered the difference between the profit earned from conducting business activities and the interest on invested capital, insurance against losses and losses, as well as the salary of managers.
Theory of Effective Competition
In his attempts to answer the question about the reasons for the violation of the state of the market, an economist from Austria J. Schumpeter (1883-1950) came to the conclusion that the dynamics of the development of the production sphere directly depends on entrepreneurs. They form a kind of innovative environment. It represents a new combination of factors of production.
Schumpeter's theory of effective competition indicates that the entrepreneur does not want to realize his abilities in the traditional economy. He is not at all satisfied with the routine and monotonous business. Moreover, an entrepreneur may not be a capitalist or an owner. He can be a manager or a top manager. Thus, a connection was found between the theory of entrepreneurship and the firms people work for. Their author called innovators. In his opinion, the function of an entrepreneur is available only to those people who have the ability and instinct for innovation. However, they can implement their plan. Entrepreneurs are understood as a special type of business entities. Schumpeter defined their work as qualitatively new. And this fact becomes especially obvious if we compare their activities with ordinary business entities. Schumpeter called it the work of an innovator. According to this Austrian economist, the process of entrepreneurship is not limited to making ordinary profit. It should be superprofit, achieved when new combinations are used in the production process.
Theory of J. M. Keynes
The development of basic theories of entrepreneurship was continued in the future. One of the new works was the work of the father of macroeconomic theory, J. M. Keynes. He published A Treatise on Money Reform, in which he analyzed the impact of price factor shifts on the standard of living of the population. At the same time, they were allocated three categories of social groups:
- rentier;
- functioning entrepreneurs;
- salary workers.
In the general scheme of economic relations, the author determined the place of the entrepreneur. He called it an active element of macroeconomics. However, Keynes emphasized that the solvency of the population, which arises on the basis of its income and available savings, is also an important factor. A favorable situation for the entrepreneur is a decrease in the salary of the population. The fact is that in this case, consumers have a tendency to save.
Keynes also noted the relationship that should develop between the entrepreneur and the state. They involve active lending and financing of businessmen. A similar policy was called by Keynes the socialization of investment.
The modern stage of the theory of entrepreneurship
In the last quarter of the 20th century. in countries with a high level of economic development, the role of knowledge-based business has significantly increased. This led to an entrepreneurial boom. This phenomenon was expressed in a significant increase in the number of small enterprises.
The theory of entrepreneurship and practice began to go hand in hand. The economists' research has shifted mainly to management. At the same time, the modern theory of entrepreneurship by Michael Porter, as well as Peter Drucker, acquired great importance. The authors of these developments pointed to the positive impact of innovative entrepreneurial management on maintaining the company's competitiveness.
In connection with the increasing importance of large corporations, entrepreneurship was forced to solve new problems. . , -. , .
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