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William J. Baumol: An Entrepreneurial Economist on the Economics of Entrepreneurship

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  • Gunnar Eliasson
  • Magnus Henrekson

Abstract

William J. Baumol is the 2003 winner of the International Award for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Research. Throughout his career Baumol has urged the profession to pay attention to the instrumental role of entrepreneurship in economic renewal and growth. At the same time he has insisted that economists continue to use their usual tool box when the purview of analysis is extended to entrepreneurship. Hence, Baumol can be characterized as a revolutionary from within. In this article we present and discuss Baumol's research contribution in the areas of entrepreneurship and small business economics, notably from a growth perspective. In addition to placing his work in these areas into the wider context of his full contribution, we emphasize Baumol's findings that growth cannot be explained by the accumulation of various factors of production per se; human creativity and productive entrepreneurship are needed to combine the inputs in profitable ways. As a result, an institutional environment that encourages productive entrepreneurship and human experimentation becomes the ultimate determinant of economic growth.

Suggested Citation

  • Gunnar Eliasson & Magnus Henrekson, 2004. "William J. Baumol: An Entrepreneurial Economist on the Economics of Entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 1-7, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:23:y:2004:i:1:p:1-7
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    Cited by:

    1. Victorovna Kuznetsova, Natalia & Alexandrovna Vorobeva, Natalia, 2015. "Analysis Of The Aspects Of Changing The Economic Paradigms In The World Economy (Xx – Xxi Centuries)," Ekonomika, Journal for Economic Theory and Practice and Social Issues, Society of Economists Ekonomika, Nis, Serbia, vol. 61(2), pages 1-14, June.
    2. Henrik Egbert & Teodor Sedlarski, 2019. "Foundations of contemporary economics: William Baumol and entrepreneurship," Economic Thought journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 5, pages 109-117.
    3. Hartwig, Jochen, 2008. "What drives health care expenditure?--Baumol's model of 'unbalanced growth' revisited," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 603-623, May.
    4. Vera Catarina Rocha, 2012. "The entrepreneur in economic theory: from an invisible man toward a new research field," FEP Working Papers 459, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.
    5. Héctor Salgado-Banda, 2005. "Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth: An Empirical Analysis," DEGIT Conference Papers c010_031, DEGIT, Dynamics, Economic Growth, and International Trade.
    6. David B. Audretsch & Antje Fiedler, 2023. "Does the entrepreneurial state crowd out entrepreneurship?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 573-589, February.
    7. Kathrin Bischoff, 2021. "A study on the perceived strength of sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems on the dimensions of stakeholder theory and culture," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 1121-1140, February.
    8. Magnus Henrekson & Anders Lundström, 2009. "The Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 1-14, January.
    9. Sholihah, Puput Ichwatus & Chen, Shaojun, 2020. "Improving living conditions of displacees: A review of the evidence benefit sharing scheme for development induced displacement and resettlement (DIDR) in urban Jakarta Indonesia," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).
    10. Héctor Salgado-Banda, 2007. "Entrepreneurship And Economic Growth: An Empirical Analysis," Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship (JDE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 12(01), pages 3-29.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • B49 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology - - - Other
    • B52 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary; Modern Monetary Theory;
    • B53 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Austrian
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives

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