The Concept of Entrepreneur

The concept of entrepreneurship has a wide range of meanings. As we mentioned in our earlier blog about entrepreneur(ship), entrepreneur is used in various ways and various view. These are broadly classified into three groups

1. Entrepreneur as risk bearer

Richard Cantilon defined entrepreneur as an agent who buys factors as production at certain prices in order to combine them into a product with a view to selling it at uncertain prices in future. He illustrated a former who pays contractual incomes, which are certain to land owners and laborers, and sells at prices that are ‘uncertain’. He includes merchants also who make certain payments in expectation of uncertain receipts. Hence both of them are risk-bearing agents of production.

P.H. Knight described entrepreneur to be a specialized group of persons who bear uncertainty. Uncertainty is defined as risk, which cannot be insured against and is incalculable. He made distinction between certainty and risk. A risk can be reduced through the insurance principle, where the distribution of outcome in a group of instance is known, whereas uncertainty cannot be calculated.

2. Entrepreneur as Organizer

According to J Baptist Say “an entrepreneur is one who combines the land of one, the labour of another and capital of yet another, and thus produces a product. By selling the product in the market, he pays interest on capital, rent on land and wages to labourers and what remains is his/her profit”. Say made distinction between the role of capitalist as a financer and the entrepreneur as an organizer. This concept of entrepreneur is associated with the functions of coordination, organisation and supervision.

3. Entrepreneur as an innovator

Joseph A SchumPeter in 1934 assigned a crucial role of ‘innovation’ to the entrepreneur. He considered economic development as a dynamic change brought by entrepreneur by instituting new combinations of factors of production, i.e. innovations. The introduction of new combination according to him, may occur in any of the following forms.

1. Introduction of new product in the market.
2. Use of new method of production, which is not yet tested.
3. Opening of new market.
4. Discovery of new source of raw materials.
5. Bringing out of new form of organisation

SchumPeter also made distinction between inventor and innovator. An inventor is one who discovers new methods and new materials. An innovator utilizes inventions and discovers in order to make new combinations. Hence the concept of entrepreneur is associated with three elements risk-bearing, organizing and innovating

 

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