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The Entrepreneurial Theory of the Firm and the Theory of the Entrepreneurial Firm

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  • Richard N. Langlois

Abstract

abstract The entrepreneurial theory of the firm argues that entrepreneurship, properly understood, is a crucial but neglected element in explaining the nature and boundaries of the firm. By contrast, the theory of the entrepreneurial firm presumably seeks not to understand the nature and boundaries of ‘the firm’ in general but rather to understand a particular type of firm: one that is entrepreneurial. This paper is an attempt to reconcile the two. After briefly delving for the concept of entrepreneurship in the work of Schumpeter, Kirzner, and (especially) Knight, the paper makes the case for the entrepreneurial theory of the firm. In such a theory, the firm exists as the solution to a coordination problem in a world of change and uncertainty, including Knightian or structural uncertainty.

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  • Richard N. Langlois, 2007. "The Entrepreneurial Theory of the Firm and the Theory of the Entrepreneurial Firm," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(7), pages 1107-1124, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jomstd:v:44:y:2007:i:7:p:1107-1124
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2007.00728.x
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    1. Richard Langlois & Giampaolo Garzarelli, 2008. "Of Hackers and Hairdressers: Modularity and the Organizational Economics of Open-source Collaboration," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(2), pages 125-143.
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • B25 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary; Austrian; Stockholm School
    • L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure
    • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups

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