Entrepreneur
The Entrepreneur performs the function of carrying out "new combinations" of labor, natural resources or capital goods for the purpose of making a profit.[1] The entrepreneur is distinct from the capitalist because he does not risk capital while the capitalist does.[2][1] The above distinction is part of the "imaginary construction of functional distribution as different from from actual historical distribution."[2] Individuals, in the market economy, often perform both functions.
According to Ludwig von Mises:
"[Economics] also calls entrepreneurs those who are especially eager to profit from adjusting production to the expected changes in conditions, those who have more initiative, more venturesomeness, and a quicker eye than the crowd, the pushing and promoting pioneers of economic improvement."[2]
Mises suggests the term "promoter" for this second definition of entrepreneur.
"The driving force of the market, the element tending toward unceasing innovation and improvement, is provided by the restlessness of the promoter and his eagerness to make profits as large as possible."[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Joseph Schumpeter, The Theory of Economic Development, trans. Redvers Opie (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1961) 75
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Ludwig von Mises. XVIII. The Scope and Method of Catallactics, 7. The Integration of Catallactic Functions, Human Action, online version, referenced 2011-02-05.