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Spring 2010

ISSN

Volume 25, Number 2

Categories: Entrepreneurship | Spring 2010

Alertness, Action, and the Antecedents of Entrepreneurship

Nicolai J. Foss, Copenhagen Business School

Peter G. Klein, University of Missouri

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TheJournalofPrivateEnterprise25(2),2010,145-164Alertness,Action,andtheAntecedentsofEntrepreneurshipNicolaiJ.Foss*CopenhagenBusinessSchoolNorwegianSchoolofEconomicsandBusinessAdministrationPeterG.KleinUniversityofMissouriAbstractWereviewandcritiqueIsraelKirzner’sconceptoftheentrepreneur,offeringthreechallengestohisbasicanalyticalframework.First,wecharacterizeKirzner’semphasisonequilibrationasadeparturefromthecausal-realistpricetheoryofMengerandhisnineteenth-andtwentiethcenturyfollowers.Second,wecontrastKirzner’sideaofentrepreneurshipasdiscoverywithamorerealistic,andoperationallymeaningful,notionofentrepreneurshipasaction,onethattiestogethertheentrepreneurialandownershipfunctions.Finally,wediscussaninconsistencyinKirzner’streatmentoftheantecedentsofentrepreneurialdiscovery.JELCodes:B53,D1,D83Keywords:Austrianeconomics;Entrepreneurship;Action;Discovery;JudgmentI.IntroductionIsraelKirzner’sconceptofentrepreneurshipasalertnesstoprofitopportunitiesisadominantstrandofthecontemporaryentrepreneurshipliterature,alongwithSchumpeter’s(1911)notionofentrepreneurshipasinnovationandKnight’sideaofentrepreneurshipasjudgment.Thedistinctionbetween“Schumpeterian”and“Kirznerian”entrepreneurshasbecomestandardintheliterature(althoughKirzner(2009)himselfconteststhedistinction).AmongAustrianeconomists,Kirzner’sunderstandingofthemarketas“anentrepreneuriallydrivenprocess”(LudwigvonMisesInstitute,1997,*WethankDanKleinandJoeSalernoforhelpfulconversationsandPerBylundandClausVistesenforresearchassistance.Theusualcaveatapplies.145

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Title	Alertness, Action, and the Antecedents of Entrepreneurship
Authors/Creators:	Nicolai J. Foss, Copenhagen Business School Peter G. Klein, University of Missouri
Year:	2010
Volume:	25
Number:	2
Pages:	145 - 164
Publisher:	The Association of Private Enterprise Education
Document Type:	Articles
Keywords:	Economic coordination, Market economy, Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, Methodology, Liberalism, Israel Kirzner, Austrian Economics, Discovery, Concatenation, Price theory, Equilibrium

Citation:
Foss, Nicolai J. ; Klein, Peter G. / 2010. "Alertness, Action, and the Antecedents of Entrepreneurship." The Journal of Private Enterprise, 25(2): 145-164.