A sweeping global history of entrepreneurial innovation

Whether hailed as heroes or cast as threats to social order, entrepreneurs—and their innovations—have had an enormous influence on the growth and prosperity of nations. The Invention of Enterprise gathers together, for the first time, leading economic historians to explore the entrepreneur's role in society from antiquity to the present. Addressing social and institutional influences from a historical context, each chapter examines entrepreneurship during a particular period and in an important geographic location.

The book chronicles the sweeping history of enterprise in Mesopotamia and Neo-Babylon; carries the reader through the Islamic Middle East; offers insights into the entrepreneurial history of China, Japan, and Colonial India; and describes the crucial role of the entrepreneur in innovative activity in Europe and the United States, from the medieval period to today. In considering the critical contributions of entrepreneurship, the authors discuss why entrepreneurial activities are not always productive and may even sabotage prosperity. They examine the institutions and restrictions that have enabled or impeded innovation, and the incentives for the adoption and dissemination of inventions. They also describe the wide variations in global entrepreneurial activity during different historical periods and the similarities in development, as well as entrepreneurship's role in economic growth. The book is filled with past examples and events that provide lessons for promoting and successfully pursuing contemporary entrepreneurship as a means of contributing to the welfare of society.

The Invention of Enterprise lays out a definitive picture for all who seek an understanding of innovation's central place in our world.

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Yes, you can access The Invention of Enterprise by David S. Landes, Joel Mokyr, William J. Baumol, David S. Landes,Joel Mokyr,William J. Baumol, David Landes, Joel Mokyr, William Baumol in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Economics & Entrepreneurship. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Publisher

Princeton University Press

Year

2012

Print ISBN

9780691154527, 9780691143705

eBook ISBN

Topic

Subtopic

Index

Cover Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents
Foreword
Preface: The Entrepreneur in History
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Global Enterprise and Industrial Performance: An Overview
Chapter 1 : Entrepreneurs: From the Near Eastern Takeoff to the Roman Collapse
Chapter 2: Neo-Babylonian Entrepreneurs
Chapter 3: The Scale of Entrepreneurship in Middle Eastern History: Inhibitive Roles of Islamic Institutions
Chapter 4: Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneurship in Medieval Europe
Chapter 5: Tawney's Century, 1540-1640: The Roots of Modern Capitalist Entrepreneurship
Chapter 6: The Golden Age of the Dutch Republic
Chapter 7: Entrepreneurship and the Industrial Revolution in Britain
Chapter 8: Entrepreneurship in Britain, 1830-1900
Chapter 9: History of Entrepreneurship: Britain, 1900-2000
Chapter 10: History of Entrepreneurship: Germany after 1815
Chapter 11: Entrepreneurship in France
Chapter 12: Entrepreneurship in the Antebellum United States
Chapter 13: Entrepreneurship in the United States, 1865-1920
Chapter 14: Entrepreneurship in the United States, 1920-2000
Chapter 15: An Examination of the Supply of Financial Credit to Entrepreneurs in Colonial India
Chapter 16: Chinese Entrepreneurship since its Late Imperial Period
Chapter 17: Entrepreneurship in Pre-World War II Japan: The Role and Logic of the Zaibatsu
Chapter 18: “Useful Knowledge” of Entrepreneurship: Some Implications of the History
List of Contributors
Index

About this book

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Table of contents